What are you up to these days?

It's been quite awhile since I've blogged - with "Nugget's" impending arrival (due date is tomorrow...we'll see when he shows) we've been trying to get as much one-on-one time with Sophia as possible.
A quick report of what she is up to -

• She's growing like a weed. We definitely just had another little growth spurt where she ate and slept a ton this week.

• Vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds. She seems to have most of her books memorized (I guess we read them all enough) that she fill in the words as you read along. Sometimes, I will over hear her reciting part of them to herself when no one is around. It's pretty adorable.

Her favorite books are constantly evolving. Recently some of her tops include:

• The Little House
• A Bedtime for Bear
• Muddy Paws
• Richard Scarry's Best First Book Ever (she is kind of obsessed with Mr. Frumble - or "Frumple" as she calls him!)

It's kind of fun to moving on to new, longer books. While the Sandra Boyton collection will always be near and dear, the longer form stories are fun.

One of my favorite things that has happened was actually her repetition of a phrase she picked up from "A Bedtime for Bear." We were having a conversation and Sophia interjects with "How Interesting..." in almost the right context. I about burst out laughing, because really, there is nothing funnier than having your two year old comment "how interesting" on something you were saying! (It's also a line from the book from the mouse to the bear...)

That's about all of it on the growth and development charts. She's definitely getting to be a big girl now before our very eyes!

Pajama Party

Sophia was invited to her first pajama party this weekend - by our downstairs neighbor Eleanor. At 5:00p, we headed down, Sophia in PJs, to meet up with Eleanor and Zac, from across the street.
Story time, popcorn and some mac 'n' cheese after a dance party were everything she needed to make the night complete!

The kids played, the adults got to talk - and we have some great photos to boot!

Storytime (Sophia was more interested in popcorn)

Dinner

The Three Amigos

Preparation for Nugget

It's been a great start to the New Year with all of us finally getting over our Christmas/winter colds and finally feeling back to normal.

We also realized with far less than 6 weeks to go until "Nugget" (as we have been affectionately referring to the baby as) arrives, we had better do a little something to prepare for his arrival.
His room (formerly known as the walk-in closet room) was in need of transformation. Priority one - minimize Dave's clothes and shoes (he has far more of both than I do). Then, painting was in order, as well as reorganizing the rest of the house to accommodate the overflow.

Dave tackled the painting straight away:

(Don't mind the scowl - I was interrupting Sports Radio to take the picture :)

The finished product.
(There may be some stencils/clouds that go up later, so we'll call it semi-finished.)

So the cleaning out of clothes will come...we're waiting to get some built-ins installed in our room. But the changing table is there and the organization of the other rooms has commenced.

Of course, through it all, Sophia did what she does best - play and climb on anything available! :)


Happily, all of this is or will be relocated and put to good use. (Not that an indoor jungle gym isn't good use!)

And if you ask Sophia her current knowledge on "Baby Brother's" impending arrival - she'll point to my tummy and kiss it. When asked if who's going to be a big sister, she'll happily proclaim "Sophia!" And, when asked if she's excited to meet him, she promptly replies, "No."
Ok, I guess we'll take 2 for 3, right?

Tired Out after Christmas

Sophia was a trooper with all the travel for Christmas this weekend. Normal schedule, sleeping and meals have all gone out the window. It's a good thing someone once gave me the tip that no toddler will starve if there is food available, because she is existing solely on applesauce, yogurt and some Annie's Mac & Cheese (did I mention her 2 year molars are also coming through? Merry Merry.)
Anyway, without a lot of out door time today, she needed to burn off some energy.
Here's a quick video (about 30 seconds) of a 10 minute race she was running...She is happily sound asleep now.

Merry Christmas!

The start of Christmas Fun

Sophia opened one of her first Christmas presents this evening - from our friends Mark, Morgan and Frances. It was her very own backpack, in anticipation of the sleepovers we're anticipating the girls to have (though from every parent I've talked to, the word "sleep" in sleepover is highly overrated!)
She was so excited she ran around the house wearing it (and not much else) for a solid 5 minutes. Here's a quick video snippet (and please excuse the coughing fit at the end - she has this cold that the rest of the world, including Mom and Dad are trying to get rid of!)

Merry Christmas and Thanks for the hours of entertainment!

Captain Obvious

At a little over 2 years old now, Sophia has taken on the role of "Captain Obvious" and likes to point out everything we do (sometimes it's pointing out, other times it's instructing us exactly what to do).
Examples include:
"Mama Sit." Yes, Sophia, Mama just sat down.
or "Dada Fart" Yes, Sophia, that's exactly what that sound that emanated from your father's tuckus was. (She often likes to follow this one up by walking over and pointing directly to Dave's behind, which I find highly humorous.)
"Mama go potty" Yes indeed. I'm going potty.

It's all very entertaining, and very helpful for the other adults in the house who can now be sure they know exactly what the other is doing.

Sometimes, though, she repeats what she thinks you'd like her to say, such as the time I walked in when she was supposed to be napping but rather was performing a series of "Big Jumps" onto her crib mattress. I stood behind her and watched for a moment before clearing my throat and saying, "Sophia should be sleeping, not jumping." Her response, "Sophia sleep. No jump." and then she proceeded to do a final "Big Jump" and cruise off to nap time.

Recently, she's figured out that her finger fits perfectly up her nose. I know that all kids pick their nose and she's had a particularly rough cold lately, but we've been trying to discourage her none the less. Her translation, "No Poke-a-nose" as she attempts to restrain her finger from making its way up there.

I love this stage.

Bath time Giggles

Whenever Dave travels, which isn't that often, I try to capture some funny photos or video to send him so he can see Sophia. If you can't quite tell, she has figured out how to make the duck sounds like he is passing gas. We knew she was talented, but this is impressive. (Really - is my two year old actually a 13 year old boy??)