SuperNanny to the rescue!

Yesterday, I attended the Children's Museum Luncheon with special guest Jo Frost, aka the super nanny. Not only was the event for a great cause but it was nice to hear a specialist's insight on raising a child. For all you mommies out there, here's what Jo Frost has to say about raising children in a nutshell:

Establish a FLEXIBLE routine with your child.

Set boundaries.

Give your children clear warnings and expectations.

Verbalize why you are pleased/displeased with your children.

Make time to relax.

Don't reward naughty behavior, there need to be consequences.

For all you SuperNanny fans, you will be happy to know that there will be a 5th season so if you know anyone who needs Jo's help, go to abc.com.

That's a wrap. Hope you all found her advice to be as helpful as I did.

Shakira.?!

Ok, so as I'm sure you all know, Sydmil loves to dance. It appears our little girl has inherited that same passion for dancing. This weekend, Liz and Adam were at our house and we popped in the latest and greatest platinum hits from Fisher Price (if you don't have the c.d., get it cause babies love it). Basically, the c.d. is a compilation of old lullabies set to hip new techno beats...does that even make sense? I will have to admit, I cringed when I first heard F.P. remix of Old McDoland but it is definitely growing on me.

Back to the point: Sofia is destined to dance. That girl knows how to shake it. I couldn't believe how much rhythm she had and she danced for an hour straight. Of course, she did have her Aunt Liz and her godfather dancing along with her but at the end of the day, we all agreed that they got served.

I believe Sofia's love for dancing began when she was just 3 months old. Syd started a tradition of listening to music after bath time and since then, whenever Sofia hears a beat, she starts clapping and shaking. There is just one thing that worries me: she can already pop lock. I know it sounds crazy but we were listening to 'Don't Stop the Music' last Friday and Sofia started pop locking. I CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!!! Who would have thought a 15 month old could possess such skill? Liz is my witness, my daughter is a better dancer than I am.

Yes, I believe that I have given birth to the next Shakira.

Take a look for yourself:
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3216325170336858811

Papa!

What a proud daddy. Yesterday, on Sofia's 15th Month birthday, the little princess took my cell phone and called Syd at work. Of course, she has called him many times before but yesterday was quite different. When he picked up the phone he said hello and he was bit confused because there was dead silence for the first few seconds He quickly realized that I was not the one calling him but his clever daughter had dialed him up, so he said, "Hi Sofia." What does she respond with? "Ha" which translates into "Hello." She asked him how his day was and they talked for a minute and then she just started saying, "Papa, papa, papa, papa, papa," she wouldn't stop! She kept going for another minute or so and then she started laughing. Why? I have no idea but I tell you, that baby was having the time of her life calling her daddy at work. It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard and it made Syd's day hearing Sofia's voice, it probably made his year. He put the phone on speaker and had all his co-workers listen to the conversation. I couldn't see his face but I know he had a huge smile on his face.

Sofia has so much to say and she is beginning to form words: she says hello, dog, moo, be bo (belly button), mama, papa, nana, agua. It is amazing how quickly her speech has developed and it is incredible to see how much she learns everyday. I am thankful for my beautiful, healthy, growing girl. We have been blessed with this gift from God and we couldn't ask for anything more.

P.S. Sofia has been known to randomly call people in my phone so don't be surprised if she calls you next!

Home sweet home!

Wow, it's been a while...so long in fact that I forgot my username AND password, how pathetic!

Yes, I have been neglecting my good ol' blog but I can explain just what I have been doing the past 3 months and why I haven't had any time to update in just 1 words: life.

Sofia has officially entered become a toddler, she walks, she talks, she opens things, she shuts them and is a beautiful mess. Since her first birthday, Sofia has been very active. She started walking right after her birthday and hasn't stopped since. In fact, she is now even running. I'm not sure how I feel about that since I am usually the one chasing her but I love every minute we share together whether we are playing with her baby dolls or shopping together at the mall, everything is just happier with her around.

Little Miss Sofia is also chattering up a storm, the language she speaks remains a mystery but she loves to talk and we love to listen! Syd thinks she is trying to speak Dutch because of the sounds she is making but I am not convinced, I think it's just baby babble. Whatever it is, it's joyful noise to my ears :)

Over the past 3 months, Sofia has gotten very sociable and we have been taking her to the nursery at Lifetime and also, Sunday school. She is just precious with other babies and everyone has been asking us when Sofia is going to have a little brother or sister, to answer that question: we're thinking we need an Taurus in our family. We need a little more time to get really settled in to our new place but if our next child is anything like Sofia (which I'm sure he or she will be) we will be more than happy to have 20 more.

In addition to chasing after an active toddler, I have also been busy decorating and organizing our new home. After 2 years of wandering around Europe, we are proud to call ourselves homeowners! We love our neighborhood and have found that it is very kid friendly. Sofia loves it here, mainly because it's a 1 story and she can play anywhere and everywhere. The previous owners had a 2 year old so we are very thankful that they installed all the baby proofing in the house so the day we moved in, things were set for Sofia. She is in her own room and doing great, the only problem we have had was on the second night we were here...she woke up at 6am and instead of us going to pick her up and bring her into our room, we let her cry it out. It was a gut-wrenching experience for both Syd and myself but we know that in the long run, it will be better for Sofia to get used to sleeping on her own. She cried for a good 30 minutes but after exhausting herself, she went back to sleep and didn't wake up till 10:30am. When she finally woke up the next day, Syd picked her up and she literally grabbed him, gave him the biggest hug she could manage and didn't let go, it was adorable.

We are getting the house together this weekend and I'll post some pictures soon. I am going to try to update everyone more often now that things have settled down. This is going to be an exciting month, this week it's Valentine's Day and my birthday, Sofia is celebrating her 15 month birthday, Syd's brother is coming to visit from Holland, I am going to a luncheon with 'The Supernanny' AND...we are going to Las Vegas! So I take back the part about things settling down but I am going to keep up the blogging so all you fellow mommies can keep up with us. I love talking about my baby so this shouldn't be hard!