Growing, learning and practicing

And wow - I couldn't be loving the development any more!
Sure, we have our moments of battle - generally when one of us hasn't had enough to eat or sleep, but if I somehow keep that in mind (sticky note to the forehead, magnets on the fridge maybe?) then we can make it through.

Besides those rare occurrences, I really have nothing to complain about. Sophia is a happy, healthy and super-vibrant toddler. She is in the wonderful phase of discovering people and their names (as well as non-human things too) so she is constantly asking for "Frances" and "Zac" and "Baby Evie" as well as many of our neighbors.


We had our first trip to the pumpkin patch this past weekend which was an adventure. Sophia kept insisting they were apples, but slowly came around to pumpkin. She also has developed her nana's love for the beach as every time we drive by in Newport she points out the beach, the water and the "Nay-Nay's" which is the carousel at First Beach.

She is also getting much better (relatively speaking) at sharing me, which is good being that she is going to be a big sister in February. During previous instances, she would often get quite bent out of shape if I held another baby, demanding to be picked up. As long as there are other folks around to play with or if she can look at the baby and happily point to it's "eye" (without causing permanent damage :) or "nose" then she is good.

We are very excited about our soon to be expanding family and have no doubt that Sophia is going to make an amazing big sister - though I have doubts if the poor little guy will ever get a word in edgewise and I'm quite sure she'll happily boss him around instructing him where to sit and how to make a good mess.


And I'll love every minute of it!

2 Year Photo Shoot

We went to the wonderful women at Two Mamas Photography for our semi-annual photo shoot and wow - did they capture some great shots of Sophia. They actually manage to get her to sit still long enough for the camera to catch her (though I will admit, she's a total ham once you point in her direction!) I can't recommend Renee & Mandy enough - they have watched Sophia grow and captures some of the best moments with her.

Enjoy the photos!

Kisses for Mama

Happy & Clappy

I'm a big girl in a chair!

And my personal favorite!!

This one is framed on my desk and makes me smile every time I look at it, even through the roughest, crappiest work days. Happy almost 2 year birthday Sophia Morgan!!

Words are flying around...

And so many of them are coming out of Sophia's mouth! Her vocabulary has really hit the "explosion" point that everyone talks about. She will mimic whatever we are saying, especially the last 2 or 3 words in a sentence. It's amazing (and really, really scary) to listen to. And she's started having "conversations" with us. Communication is an amazing thing, albeit still a little frustrating when she can't quite get the right word out.
Here she is seasoning her father - Sophia likes to "cook" while I'm cooking or baking.

Dave have been practicing her numbers with her a lot - while climbing stairs for the mail and on the swings and she's really picked up on them. Not a big fan of Seven, but otherwise, she's all over it. Especially when "1, 2, 3" is followed by "Wheee" and 2 people swinging her in the air!

What could be more fun than Nana & Poppa?

She also really enjoys sitting on her potty seat. Not actually using the potty, but it's a first step. She's been running around announcing poopy and pee pee for awhile now (whether there was any in there or not) so this was the logical next step. It'll be great, but I have to say, it's going to take a new found patience to go through the process of the entertainment value of climbing up the stool, on to the potty and back off again for about 20 minutes as we're trying to head out the door, clearly late for something! :) In due time, I know!

Sophia can also clearly say her name now. We started really sounding it out with her about a month ago - So - FEE - A - which is how she said it for awhile. Or we'd say the So and she'd chime in with Fee and we'd finish with the A. So now, during "Roll Call" (what we currently call her winding down for bed) we hear "Mama. Dada. So FEE A." it's adorable, and usually followed by the "A-Ca-Choo" sound from the Bear in the book "The Mitten".

She's also become hyper-aware of friends and playmates. It's great now - but look out- her and her best friend Frances are sure to cause trouble!


I can't believe we're less than a month away from her 2nd birthday! She's such a big girl now.

A Bath timeVideo for Nana & Pop Pop

Love, Sophia

Getting Closer to Two!

I'm going for a record 3 posts in a month, but this one will actually have some content as opposed to the normal ones! :)

It's been great being home in Boston the past few weekends. We've really taken advantage of a lot the city has to offer - the Stone Zoo, The Boston Garden, The Swan Boats and The Fells. And Sophia is getting to the point where she is really starting to verbalize what she is seeing. And in terms of exploring, she'll happily walk (on her terms) to explore places. Though I often still get "Up! Up!" if she feels like she can get me to carry her. We're working on this - I actually think she's inclined to walk and run the tougher the terrain. Boring old sidewalk - forget it. Trails at the Fells - bring it on! She can also jump and get both feet off the ground.
Here are some shots from the Boston Garden today. We made it on the Swan boats for the last ride of the season! (And Sophia's first ever.) But first we had to feed the ducks.





Sophia is getting so many new words each week, it's quite hard to keep track. In addition to stringing two and three words together, some of her new ones are:
- Apple
- Fork
- Cook
- Pillow
- Duckie (which is an upgrade from "Ca Ca" which is what she was previously, and often still does, call a duck.)
- Puppy
- Kitty Cat
- Bless You
- Aaa-choo (from the book "The Mitten" when the big bear sneezes.

Our nanny, Lidiana, has also been teaching her lots of Portuguese words. Some of the ones I've caught/understand are:
- Boca (mouth)
- Beju (kiss - not sure about the spelling)
- and whatever the word/phrase is for "eat all your lunch" :)

I can't believe she'll be two in 6 weeks. The time has flown and she is growing and learning so much every day.

Labor Day Visit in Newport

We spent our last weekend in Newport on Labor Day weekend. Unexpectedly (but happily) the house got rented out for the next three month.
Grandpa Ahouse & Aunt Hayley (Dave's dad & little sister) came up for a visit and helped us out around the house. Hayley is awesome is Sophia - ah, to be 16 and have a ton of energy again :)
And Grandpa shot some wonderful pictures of Sophia. Here are some of our favorites.

Sophia and the Hurricane!

Sophia got to experience her first hurricane this past weekend. We headed down to Newport to batten down the hatches late Friday afternoon, in preparation for Hurricane Irene.

Because our house is located closer to the Harbor (vs. the Ocean) we weren't as concerned about wind damage, but rather flooding. We're in a low lying area and evacuations were already being recommended on Friday evening when we arrived. Our basement is about 5ft above sea level, so if something was going to get wet - it was there.

Ready for the storm!

After lots of prep work Saturday and not much storm to show for it (luckily!) we decided to head out and explore the storm.

On the Cliff Walk aiming towards First Beach (the photo doesn't do it justice).
Ready to explore:

Family Shot on the Cliff Walk (about 35ft above sea level):
A video shot with some good wind in the background.