First Tooth - Gone!!

February 4, 2015

Sophia loses her first tooth. It had been wiggly for quite some time (a good 3+ weeks). We survived a dentist appointment (where she got a tooth box from the dentist for when it fell out), numerous meals (for which EVERYTHING had to be cut really really small) and nightly wiggling. 

Finally, the tooth was ready to come out and with a gentle tug, out it came. Sophia was a trooper and was very excited. 

The tooth fairy came and brought 2 half dollars and a $5 bill. 1 down, 20 more to go. 

The Great Winter of 2014-2015

Winter 2014-2015 is going down in history. Literally.  We got 108"+ of snow - the most ever recorded in the city of Boston. Ever. The trains stopped for days and when they were running, they were so delayed it was crazy. I ended up biking into work because it was more efficient and traffic moved so slowly that it didn't really matter.


It was truly historic. The kids loved it for the most part. Mom & Dad got to be home a lot more (attempting to work and trading off coverage.) Dave took the kids sledding a lot. We did family walks around the neighborhood in most all of the storms, pulling the kids on the sled.


We also launched them down a few epic hills, some that ended with faces full of snow and tears. But everyone had fun.

We had 2 official blizzards and any storm under 8" became a non-storm. School was closed a ton, but luckily we got heartier as the winter went on. We met a lot of neighbors, helped people shovel out and got to see the awesome "Snow Eater" come up the street and shoot tons of snow into dump truck after dump truck.


By March, though, Sophia was ready for summer, and kept telling me repeatedly we had to go find it. I told her that "Spring was around the corner." To which she promptly responded, "Mama, can we go around the corner tomorrow and find it?"

Outside the basement door

Prospect Hill Tower

Backyard after the President's Day storm

Theo's First day of Nursery School

Theo has been ready to start "school" for some time now, but between his EI Speech sessions and EI playgroup, he had enough going on.
When he turned 3, he aged out of EI services, which was perfectly timed with the late winter session of Tot-Time at the rec center down the street.

He was so excited his first day - new backpack and all! He went right in, played with the train table and didn't look back as Sophia & I left.

Day two was a bit tougher on everyone. What I hadn't realized is that his routine, since he was 2 weeks old, was having Nonni & Milla show up every day to play, talk, read and take care of him. And this was an epic change for his routine.

When I dropped him off on the second day, he dissolved into tears and wouldn't let go of me. I had to do the handoff after we read books, went the bathroom and found more trains. The teachers said he settled down pretty quickly, but still, it broke my heart to leave him.

The 3rd day was more of the same - but then, Nonni brought Milla with her to pick him up. And he got to show her off to all his new friends.

From that point on, whenever I drop him off, after we say goodbye he says "Nonni come? Milla come?" Yes buddy, they'll be there.

#ittakesavillage

What I want to be when I grow up!

Sophia and I read one of my favorite books tonight - Rosie Revere, Engineer. That prompted the discussion of what she wanted to be when she grew up.
A scientist? An engineer? I asked.
Maybe Mama. But first...

I want to be a policeman. And an artist. And what was that other thing, with animals?

A veterinarian?

Yes, that's it.

For the life of me, I had no idea why she wanted to be a policeman. Nothing wrong with it, but she never has had (thankfully?) a meaningful experience with a policeman or law enforcement in general. So I asked her.

Sophia, why do you want to be a policeman.

"Well Mama, when I grow up to be an adult, I want to be a policeman....so I can drive REALLY REALLY FAST. "

Yup. She's got the need for speed. At 5.

Wow - it's been awhile - 6month update on Sophia

Somehow, 6 months has passed since I last posted. Vacation, summer, beach and fun - it was such a relaxing time.
Life just goes - there isn't a pause button, or even a slow-mo. And definitely, no mute button!
Most of the time, though, it's exhilarating to experience it all in full speed.

So much has happened - Sophia has just grown leaps and bounds. For her, this summer was all about friends - finding new ones, nurturing the friendships and settling into an easy way with her little buddies. Newport became (as it is ours) her happy place. Every weekend spent with Avery or Ainsley or Addison or Katherine, or any combination of them. Endless hours on the beach, working on swimming and paddling on the boogie board.

But soon, as it always does, summer drew to an end and it was back to school time. Sophia would be back at Agassiz, in the oldest group again. With friends from last year and new friends for this year. What never ceases to amaze me is her empathy and caring. Welcoming of the new kids and finding an immediate kinship. She also made sure to be the protector and buddy to her long time neighborhood friend who joined the class this year. It made my heart soar when she told me stories of defending her and making sure that everyone included her friend in the games.

Weekends brought us to soccer games, where I coached her team again this year - but it was different. We had a practice on Wednesdays and games on Saturdays. Coaching 4 & 5 year olds is like herding cats. But harder. Looking back, we got progressively better each week, all the kids managed to make it onto the field under their own interest for at least a part of one game. And they all had fun at some point or the other. Even me. Theo was the consummate little brother and ball boy - anything he could do to play with the big kids. I think their favorite were the pig piles after the games and practices.

More and more, Sophia has become a little person - her teacher told me a few weeks ago that she was truly becoming a little girl. Her mannerisms, opinions and her established position as "management" when it comes to the sibling pecking order leave no doubt about how much she has grown.

The stats for her 5 year check up (December '14) - 44", 43lbs, 1 6 year molar and, as of 1/19, her first wiggly tooth!!

More to come.

16 Days of Summer Vacation: Day 13

Thursday left us with not much planned. After feeling well-sunned at the beach the past few days, I decided to take Theo for a meander through town and up to the library. Unlike Sophia, he is a rock star walker. I brought the stroller along but it turned out to be more fun for him to push it and run after it than to sit in it - which was fine with me. We walked down Thames Street and popped into Frazzleberries to check out some home decor. Specifically, we're looking for Fifth Ward (our area of town) stuff: Flags and stickers. No luck, but found lots of cool stuff and Theo befriended the owner's daughter.

We moved on to the Newport Library and stumbled on a great live music player. They have fantastic Kids Programming throughout the summer. After listening and heading up to the kids reading section for some truck books, we headed home to meet Dave for lunch. Nothing better than lunch with my two men!

After Sophia got home from camp, we headed out to the 3rd beach Duck Races, which has become a yearly tradition. A fundraiser to support MEC, we buy our duckies and watch them float to the finish line. First ones across win prizes. We don't win, but the kids have a blast swimming, getting face painting and of course, for Sophia, dance time with the duck!

(Sophia loves him-
Theo won't go anywhere near the duck!) 

Snuggly after a late afternoon swim!

 Face painting success!

Happy Duckers!

16 Days of Summer Vacation: Day 12

Wednesday brought more of the same: Camp for Sophia, working for Dave and the beach for Theo and I! No complaints, it's a good life to be leading.

Friends were already at the beach, so Theo (for as much "playing" as he does with others) had his built in buddies there. Though not having Sophia there meant most of the toys were all his!

Afternoon meant I got some QT with Sophia after camp. The wind has been honking lately, so we busted out the kite and headed to Fort Adams to test it out. Sophia got pretty bored with it last year, but this year she was hooked. She launched it herself and ran all over. We even took "Froggy" for a pretty long walk around the Fort, making it up into the Navy housing playground (where the allure of the playground won out over kite flying!)

After dinner (and before my yummy dinner out at TSK) we went to Ballard Park - an old quarry that has events in the field. We had been wanting to go for awhile and this great little swingband was playing. The kids were into it, though Sophia hit the wall after a very long day and we heading out after about 45 minutes. They do all types of concerts and movies throughout the summer. They have a big kids show, but it's mid-week in the morning. Oh well!