Happy Little Reader

Papa Leo and those wacky dogs!

Aunt Cathy reads as Sophia points out pictures

Aunt Pam is happy to oblige too!

Sophia is a definitely one happy little reader from morning until night. The first thing she does after waking up in the morning, literally, is to grab the closest book and force it upon you. I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse! ;) Actually, it is wonderful to see her so excited by reading and learning new words. She is consistently adding new words to her vocabulary and I just giggle every time I hear a new one come out of her mouth! She also responds accurately when asked about the sounds of a dog, a cow, a duck, and sometimes cat (she used to be really good about that one, but maybe she hasn't been around Grandma Sue's cat enough recently!)

In the video Sophia is reading Go Dog, Go to herself. It's been hard to capture her "reading" on video but it is maybe the cutest thing ever! This video isn't quite a perfect sampling, but it's still pretty darn cute. My favorite part is when she scratches the page...that's the part I always use my finger to imitate the climbing of the dogs on the ladder--she does it twice, both times on the same page. Notice how she reads and points just like a pro!

The Heart Attack Method

Although the video is a little dark, you should be able to get this gist of her now preferred way of moving down a flight of stairs. She has yet to injure herself, but I swear it makes a mother a little (okay maybe a lot) nervous!!!

Stripey Little Elf

Well, seriously this outfit could not be passed up. I mean really. It is a full body sweater, with a hood...LOVE IT! I only hope that one day Sophia has similar clothing taste to me (although I'm sure my brother is cringing at the thought) because otherwise she is going to look back at some of these pictures and be mortified. She really did just look like a happy little elf toddling around the house, just too cute.

In this video you'll see Sophia happily playing with her puzzle and then singing and dancing along as the music starts.

Family Outings

Our first stop was Oxbow Park, a nature park that is home to many of Minnesota's native animals. We saw mountain lion, a lynx, bison, elk, deer, eagles, and various other snakes and birds. It is November in Minnesota so everyone was bundled up!

Sophia was content for a little while in the stroller but soon took to gazing by foot!

Little Red Nose!

Sophia and Aunt Ellyn looking at the bald eagles. Sophia even said eagle a few times. She also told AE that there were big birds in the cages by saying 'big bird' and pointing a few times. Wow, I didn't know she knew all that!

Brenden getting a lift from his mom, Louise!

We were all fascinated by the cougar who was getting fed as we arrived. It was pretty neat to watch it eat such big hunks of meat, but also a little gross.

After Oxbow and a lunch of yummy leftovers we headed to the bowling alley. We divided into three teams according to birthdays. My team won by a landslide, naturally!! ;)

No, Sophia the crane move is only for Karate, not bowling.

So many colors to choose from!

Ellyn and Owen relaxing

Louise asked for a print out of the scores so she could tally the totals herself! To her disappointment though, her team still lost!

Fun Times

This is Sophia in her "room" (AKA the closet). The 4 of us, Shelby, Sophia, Charlie and Myself, all had to share one room and with Sophia being such a light sleeper we decided it best to put the pack-n-play in the closet and see how it worked. And, surprisingly it was PERFECT! We didn't latch the door and in the morning she would push it open and call out to us to come get her.

Once Evan finally talked us into blackjack, we couldn't get enough! Uncle Owen kept us in line and instructed us how to play according to "The System" and although we were just playing with chips (no real money) everyone had a great time! Shelby and I were fairly new to the game and really honed our skills!

I also played Dominoes for the first time. We played regular style, Mexican train, and then Shelby and Jenny enjoyed just stacking them up and knocking them over too. Mexican Train was the most fun for me!

Sophia learned how to hoist herself onto the piano bench all by herself. We were entertained by her musical stylings all weekend!

Maren and Sophia hug it out after a long day of play!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sophia and her new buddy Jake--if it were up to her, she'd climb right up on in there to cuddle!

Charlie putting the squash down on Shelby and Connor's DS challenge

Everyone pitched in to help cook...here's Shelby chopping chestnuts for the stuffing!

Sophia and Aunt Jenny were two peas in a pod!

We traveled to the great state of Minnesota for Thanksgiving this year. All in all we had a wonderful time and couldn't have been happier to spend this time with family. We managed to leave just before 5am on Wednesday and it really worked out well. We stopped for breakfast in Des Moines and arrived at our destination right about noon. Which, as it turned out was perfect because poor Aunt Ellyn had just returned from a trip to the ER resulting in 5 stitches! Yowser! This way Sophia got acclimated to her sleeping conditions, which just so happened to be in the closet and we got to help prepare both Wed. and Thursday night meals.

Pumpkin Pie face! This was dessert, of course, and Sophia ate it up!

One Crazy November

So I know there's really no excuse, but seriously, this has been one heck of a month!!! Now, I realize that some of my stress I totally brought on myself, but I'm working on that too! In this month alone, we've had 4 birthdays, the anniversary of my dad's death, and 3 parties--and that doesn't even include the upcoming holiday and all the stress and travels that go into that! I feel like I have barely posted this month, so I tried to catch up before the holiday.

Here's a Sophia overview to help you get started! ;) Sophia is now speaking about 15-20 words. Her latest words include socks (which sadly sounds a little like sex), Shelby, and read. She is still very interested in books and she is starting to choose that most of her free time is now spent reading. She is also still very interested in the outdoors and that, sadly for Mother, has not diminished at all with the introduction of cold temperatures! We did just recently get her a winter coat and snowsuit though, so we're looking forward to the fun that will bring!

Cutest story of late: We were at dinner tonight and the woman at the table next to us began sneezing very loudly. Her sneezes truly didn't even sound human as they were very guttural and a little scary. Anyhow, Sophia, who was busy with other things at the time, only heard this noise drifting from the table next to us. She immediately popped her head up, smiled and pointed at the woman at the next table. Sophia then began imitating her by saying "woof, woof, woof!" She just smiled, clapped her hands and continued to woof at this poor woman while the three of us died laughing. Thankfully, this poor woman didn't notice Sophia (or was too humiliated to admit it) and we got off without having to apologize for our toddler...this time!