Cookin' in the kitchen

Sophie and Skyler playing in Skyler's kitchen last night.
They were laughing and giggling, non-stop.

They had fun playing together.

The girls at Spaghetti Works banging on the table.

Scary Lady Bug

There is this lady bug toy that is on our bedroom floor. Sophie for some reason is afraid of this thing too. When she walks in our room she doesn't even like walking by this lady bug, she will go around it in a big arch, avioding it. Finally, one day Vernon tried to have her tickle the lady bug, so she wouldn't be as afraid. Vernon wanted to get a video of her with the lady bug.

Scaredy Cat...I mean, Dog

I am laughing so hard right now I can barely type. Sophie was playing by my chair with one of the toys my neighbor just donated to us for the new baby. It is a toy puppy that when you pull the cord it shakes and rattles. Sophie didn't know that it did that and accidentally pulled the cord while playing with it and when the dog shook she got scared and threw the dog over on me. She had the most frightened look on her face and kept backing up farther and farther away from it. I was laughing so hard and couldn't stop for like 5 minutes. She wouldn't even come close to me for me to show her how it worked and that it wasn't scary. I had to throw it across the room for her to even come over to me. It is still making me laugh thinking back to the look on her face.

Song to Daddy

Kookie Monkey

I think it is so funny that she is saying Rocky, Rocky and then says Monkey, Monkey. I don't know where she is getting those from.

Did you think I wouldn't take pictures of this too???

Well, we could be getting close... To what you say...potty training!

Two times last week I found Sophie after her nap with her pants and diaper off and if that wasn't bad enough, she peed on her bed. Today she took her pants off in the living room and then took her diaper off and said poopy. So I told her come over here and sit on your big girl potty. She sat on it and looked like she was trying, but nothing came out. Then she didn't want to put her diaper back on for a LONG time. Finally she did, but then a half hour later she would take it off again and say poopy and do it all over again. She ran around quite a long time today with nothing on but her shirt. I thought she would really go potty or poopy on the big girl potty seat if she had the urge to go, but next thing I knew she had peed on the floor right next to the potty seat, hey at least it was on the tile and not the carpet! But I think we could be on our way to starting potty training.

I really thought this video would be her very first time going potty on the potty seat, but no. We will have to keep waiting.

Hanging around

Sophie being silly sitting on her wagon handle.
Playing with her baby bear.

Here she is messing around on the dining room chairs.

Being a little monkey.

We had a fun day 'HANGIN' out.

Obama

After we ate dinner Sophie was playing around under the table and all of a sudden we hear her say Obama. I said, "What did you say?" She said Obama. It was weird how clear she was saying it. Then I tried to have her say it on video. Maybe it was all the inauguration coverage we were watching last week!

Long time no swaddle

Daddy was practicing swaddling again with Sophie.

Sophie had fun getting all wrapped up like a baby.
She loves this position and says, "Rockie, Rockie". She will also do this with her babies, she will rock them side to side and say that.

Love this song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVFacB1rk34

I have heard this John Mayer song so many times in the past and never really payed too close attention to the words. The other day in the car I was really listening to the lyrics. It really hits home when you have a daughter. I feel like so many times she sees and repeats everything we do, it's almost scary that we are what she is learning from, but at the same time I am so proud of so many things that we do role-model for her. One of my worst fears is that if something happens to one of us, our special personality traits and little things we do and say won't be passed onto our kids. There is only so many stories that one can tell about someone else, it is so different to actually be with them and around them everyday. I hope and pray that I don't have to ever deal with that kind of situation.

The messiest possible way to eat a peanut butter sandwich

Sophie just started eating her sandwiches this way. I give her a sandwich that has the slices together (like a regular sandwich). She likes to peal it apart and eat one side at a time.
She seems to just like to dive into the middle of the bread (the absolute messiest way to eat the sandwich). Her nose and entire face gets peanut butter on it.

At least she is a good eater.

Her sandwich looks like Swiss cheese.

One messy baby.

Missing Daddy

Although I am trying to make the best of this month and getting through one day at a time, we still have about 2 weeks left of really not seeing daddy. Poor Sophie was so upset last night. Out of the blue she started crying and said she wanted daddy. I knew she missed him terribly. He still wasn't due home for about an hour and a half. It broke my heart because she doesn't understand why daddy is not home very long. We will ALL be so happy when this is over!

We're getting through

Sophie in her wagon.
She put her babies on each side of her. I thought she looked really cute.

We put daddy's sweatshirt on her. She liked the zipper.

Naughty Bench

Last night we had time-out #2. It was a doozy. I seriously felt like I was on Super Nanny. Sophie started hitting me out of the blue and I gave her a warning to stop. She then deliberately hit me again with a smile on her face. So, onto the time out bench she went. She, of course, wouldn't stay on there and I had to pick her up and put her back on about 30 times, complete with screaming and whaling. It took about 15 to 20 minutes, but felt like an hour. Finally, she stayed put, but continued the crying. I asked her at one point are you ready to tell mommy you are sorry for hitting her. All I got in response was more crying. So, I left her for a little longer. Once she stopped the crying. I went over and explained to her why I put her on the naughty bench. She didn't seem to really understand, so I had her tell me she was sorry and give me a kiss and hug. She didn't really want to at first, but finally did. Then we snuggled and read a book. This whole process seemed a little easier for me since I had done it one time before, PLUS she had been through it once before and knew she needed to sit on the bench, even though she didn't want to. I think each time will get easier and hopefully shorter.

Baby Brother

Sophie kissing my tummy 'Vollen'.
She was talking into my belly button.

She kept poking at it and knocking on it to say hi to her brother.

She was talking to him saying 'Wuv you Bo-lin'

Sophie & Skyler

Playing on Grandma's piano

The girls got grandma's remote control and vanilla wafers.

They love sitting together in grandma's chair.

Zah Zah....aka 'Raja'

Sophie made me laugh so hard today with what she was doing to Raja. She was fixated on wanting Raja to eat her food and drink her water. She even picked up both of her bowls and moved them over to where Raja was laying. Then she would yell at Raja to eat. She was very bossy today with her. She actually got in trouble at the end of the night for hitting Raja. She was put in timeout and HATED it, she got up three different times from her timeout bench and went over and hit Raja again and start laughing. Finally, she got really upset and eventually learned not to do it anymore. Hopefully.

What a mom won't do....

So a while back I wrote on the blog that Sophie had been acting like a chipmunk, storing her food in her mouth for hours for no reason. Well, today after we ate lunch I had to run a few errands. We went to pick up a speciality light bulb. When we were waiting for the guy to go get it I asked her what was in her mouth. She wouldn't tell me. Finally, I said open your mouth. It was a pretty big piece of half-chewed up orange and she let it fall out into my hand. I looked around for a trash can, none. I didn't know what else to do with it, I wasn't going to throw it on the floor. So....I ate it. It was warm and full of saliva, gross. What a mom won't do!

Funny Stories

Today I was getting ready for work and I was listening on the monitor to hear if Sophie was awake yet. I really didn't hear her saying anything, every once in a while I would hear a small noise hitting the crib. So, once I was dressed, I went to wake Sophie up to get her dressed. I walk into her room and find her sitting butt naked (diaper and all) reading one of her books in the dark room looking like she was sitting on the pot. She looks over at me and then goes back to reading the book. It was so funny. I was cracking up.

When I was fixing dinner Sophie was playing in my chair and got my empty tea mug and took it over to her kitchen and "poured" her tea pot into my cup. Too cute.

When Vernon got home we sat down to eat dinner. Sophie had already eaten dinner, but was sitting up at the table with us. After a while of talking, Vernon sat back in his chair and did that kind of sigh saying So....(how was your day). Right then Sophie sat back in her chair and said, "So.... It was exactly how Vernon said it. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off the chair. She thought she was so cute and said it two more times the same way and then was laughing at herself.

Another perspective

So, as some of you know this month Vernon does not have a day off and pretty much is gone from 8:15am until 8:15pm due to the new doctor he hired not being able to start until February. She had to give 30 days notice to her other practice, not two weeks. I am thankful though that he did find someone and it won't be any longer than a month. This has been a change and hard for all of us. But, I am trying to put it in another perspective. I think about all the families that have a loved one that has to go overseas to war for several months or years at a time and they never get to see them. At least we get to spend a little time in the mornings and evenings together. Plus, it IS only one month. So, since I have been thinking about all of this in a new way, it really doesn't seem that bad. We will get through it one day at a time and this will make us appreciate his days off in the future even more so.

Random Randomness

A few times today I realized that things had been unusually quiet for some time, so I went to investigate. I always bring my camera along because I don't know what I may find. Here is where she was today. She was sitting in the chair with her babies not talking, not doing anything, just sitting and for quite a long time I would say a good 15-20 minutes. Later on in the day I found her again in the same spot doing the same thing again for a long time. I guess she just wanted some quite time with her babies. Fine by me!!!

She came running through the room pushing her stroller and she had put her hood up.

Here she is being silly with Raja. She kept wanting to lay under her. A little scary, but Raja was very careful not to step on her.

Here she is again trying to get under Raja.

Here is where I found her another time today. She had pulled some clothes off the changing table and was trying to put them on.

We were goofing around putting my glasses on her. She looks so old in them.

Checkup

Another visit to the perinatologist today. This time Vernon's mom went with me to see Vollen up on the big screen. Everything checked out great. No problems. The doctor doesn't foresee any problems arising still. He said probably the biggest thing that will happen is that Vollen could be a little jaundice when he comes out which is no big deal. So, all is well. They measured all the different anatomy again today which was a challenge for them, he was doing summer saults in there. His head would be up, then down, then up again within a matter of seconds. They were chasing him all around in there. They did manage to get a picture of his face and printed it out for me. Those always look so creepy since it is like looking at a skeleton face. I am hoping that we will be able to see a 3-D picture of him in the next couple of visits. That would be really cool.

Sophie was taught a new word

Grandpa and Uncle Robby taught Sophie a new word today complete with hand gestures.

Pictures from today

Kristie's baby shower. Sophie went over and gave her a hug. What a nice party to celebrate a new mom!
Sophie and grandma

Sophie licking the spoon of the dirt cake pudding.

Helping daddy blow out his candle

Sushi Celebration

For daddy's birthday we went out for Sushi. We tried to get Sophie to try some of it. She really liked the Miso Soup, but not the Ginger Carrot Dressing on the Salad. She didn't like the California Rolls or Gayoza. She LOVED the green tea ice cream!!! We will keep working on her!

It was a fun family night out.

Fishy kisses for daddy.

Yogurt Face

On Friday I threw a baby shower for a girl from work. Here is the punch bowl (before the punch). I thought it was pretty.
Sophie eating yogurt.

She loves feeding herself and getting every last bit out of the container.

Messy face.