outdoor fun

Gotta love summertime, it's peach season. Sofia grabbed this one off the table and sunk her teeth into it. It's almost as big as she is!

this week, we have enjoyed the great outdoors. Tuesday, Sofia, Carson and Avey enjoyed playing on the playground in Grand Lakes. they've got huge trees for shade but we were all sticky and sweaty before the park adventure was over. Sofia LOVES to swing. she swung most of the time we were at the park. she and Ava also enjoyed the jungle gym and slides, but the swing was definitely her favorite.

Mr. Giggles loved the swing

Sweet Avey was a pro. She didn't even need a baby swing
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Beauty
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wednesday, I had a doctor's appointment so Titi Ivy did me a huge favor by watching Sosa. we woke up at 7:30am which is early for us, and Sofi hung out with Ivy while I had my appointment. they had so much fun playing in Ivy's backyard. she's got birds back there and Sofia was fascinated by them. at first, she was afraid but by the time I got back, she had made friends with them. I LOVE YOU, Ivy. you're a lifesaver. thank you for loving my child so much and being such a beautiful friend.
Titi Ivy and Sosa

today, we went to the zoo!! i haven't been in a good 10 years and i have to applaud the city of houston for having such a wonderful zoo. and keeping it so clean. the only suggestion i could give would be cleaning up the monkey area. the whole walkway leading to the monkeys smells like cat pee. i know, i know, it's a zoo. what did i expect? other than that, they get my two thumbs up! we went with Missy, Ava, Isabella, Carson, Mer and Caylee. it was so much fun to watch all the kiddos as they checked out the animals; it was especially cute to see baby Carson and Ava as they took it all in. w Sofia and Caylee were instant bffs. it was so nice to have her ther (she's Missy's 11 yr. old neighbor by the way) and she is awesome with kids. we saw birds, monkeys, elephants, giraffes and fish. it was great, although after 2 hours, we were all ready to head home. everyone, including the babies, agreed it was entirely too hot. sweet little Carson fell asleep on the way out so Sosa rode home with the Nass girls. they sang all the way back to katy. they are darling together. thanks for such a wonderful day, ladies. love you!
My girl

i've got a bit more packing to do and then Syd and I are off to Cozumel tomorrow at 4:30am. isn't it great traveling at the butt crack of dawn?! i'm not looking forward to the early wake up but it will all be worth it once land.

hope you all have a splendid weekend! keep the harris' in your prayers, especially our little girl. she's going to miss us, but nana and abuelo will treat her right!

joyful joyful

well ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for not writing sooner. i hope you enjoyed the photo montage of our week. as you can see from our photos, we hung out with the gang, spent time with family and soaked up some sunshine by the pool.

this weekend we spent time with our precious primitas out by the pool at Lifetime. although Sofia was happy to be at the pool, she was acting very much unlike the sweet Sofia I know. we stayed for an hour but Sofia made it loud and clear by 2:00 that she needed a nap so we headed back home and she slept for 2 hours. we decided to have a low key night at home, just the fam. at around 8:30, we turned on the tv to catch the tail end of Peter Pan. Sofia had been pretty sluggish since it was approaching her bedtime but when we turned on the tv, she was mesmerized. she broke into a dance and started 'singing' along with the movie. it was too cute!

sunday we went to church with TiTi (Ivy). we really enjoyed the service and got to hear an interesting group called the Sideshow Tramps. the jury is still out on their music. either way, we were happy to catch up with the busy bee and her beau Troy. I think Syd was just glad to have someone taller than him around, it doesn't happen often anymore.

afterwards, we went to Nana and Aboo's for lunch and then Papa, Abuelo, Liz and Adam headed out into the 100F weather for some good ol' soccer. i don't understand HOW they can run, full speed, for 2 hours with this heat! i love the fact that so many of our friends play with them too. it's sweet that we've got a sort-of-family soccer game going on, however i won't be participating until they change the sport to something less physically taxing. like volleyball, anyone up for some sand volleyball?!

enough about our boring weekend, let's talk about my growing girl:
lately, Sofia's been very clear in her speech and her word retention has increased dramatically. she knows how to say, 'gracias, your welcome, hapje, pizza, i want to dance, let's go, what's up,burning, banana, manana, daddy (she spontaneously started calling Syd daddy instead of Papa),toe, baby rock,trash, slippery, i want to sleep,bread, bagel, i want bubbles (hand sanitizer)...' the list goes on and on. she hears a word once, then picks it up. it's amazing. and she's clearly distinguished Spanish from English and Dutch and vice versa. i discovered that if i ask her anything in Spanish, no matter WHAT it is, she will respond with 'si', not yes or ja. it's mind blowing to see the human brain at work, soaking up information like a sponge and working so effortlessly. we have a truly amazing God who created us and watching my Sosa reminds me of that.


here are a few things i learned about Sofia last week: she loves arepas. she ate 2 whole ones for breakfast.she likes to put her napkin in her lap before she eats. she throws away the wrappers to food when she's done with them or when her papa has left them around. she lets me know when she's pooped. she does NOT like milk anymore. she likes to pretend like the bathtub is a pool and she says 'swimming' over and over again. she will say that food is hot, even if it's not. i took a strawberry out of the fridge and gave it to her and she said 'ouch, hot!'she's got very sharp teeth and her two missing bottom teeth and finally coming in. if you ask her "who's papa's girl" she will point and say, 'me'. she puts on her shoes and purse and says 'kiss' before she leaves a room. everyday is a new adventure with my loquita.

this Friday, mama and papa harris will be taking a weekend getaway to mexico. please pray for our family as we leave our sweet girl with Abuelo and Nana. no doubt, she will have a blast but it's always difficult leaving our baby.

i leave you with the chorus of a song that has been stuck in my head for the last 8 year, sometime circa 1998 when Sister Act II came out. regardless of that fact, it's beautiful and i had to share.
Joyful, Joyful
Lord, we adore Thee
God of glory
Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin, sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us with the light of day
Light of day!

our week in pictures

just thought i would add some new pictures since i don't have enough time to post a blog. as you can see, Sofia is changing so much. she really looks like a Harris with the very defined cheek bones. she's doing wonderful, playing with friends, dancing, swimming, eating and getting lots of love from papa and mama.
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hope you all have a blessed weekend. i will post when i get a chance. lots of love and kisses from the Harris family!

4 months till the terrible 2s

happy 20 month birthday sweet Sofia. she continues to melt our heart and light up our lives. it honestly seems like she's getting cuter each day. syd and i were talking yesterday about how much Sofia has changed since she was born. she is looking more like a Harris, in particular like Oma Ilse. she is also learning new words at fast and furiously. it seems like her vocabulary has tripled in the last week. she's a little dancer and singer. she loves babies, blueberries and bikes. she prefers juice over milk. she's a good eater, not picky like her mama. she is papa's princess. she is our little girl and we love her more than words can express.

we've had a wonderful weekend spending time with friends. since practically everyone in my family is out of town, we had alot of free time. friday night, we went to a fantastic restaurant in Fulshear called Ray's with the Thompsons. the restaurant came as a pleasant surprise and we all enjoyed ourselves. Sofia and her Godmama, Laura or RaRa, have a special connection. No matter what Laura does, Sofia laughs hysterically. all.the.time. for once, i was able to catch it all on video so here they are, best of friends.

saturday night, we went to an amazing new restaurant in Richmond. i don't know if you've heard of it but it's got the best food on the block, it's called Italian Maid Cafe. the Tichenors and Halls joined us for some good food and good fun. it was so nice to have all the dads are with us on outings because that means, when the mamas are too tired or can't handle something, there's a dad there to do his duties. it was so cute how each daddy had his turn taking the kids outside. it's alot to ask of a little one to sit through an hour and a half meal so Sosa, Avey and Carson were back and forth between the restaurant and the good ol' outdoors. we had a great evening with these 2 precious families.

today i went to Cheo's brand new condo. welcome to the club, brotha! we are so happy for him and excited as he moves into his very first home. this place is the epitome of a bachelor pad. we went furniture shopping and got some ideas so once he gets some furniture in there, we will be planning a house warming party- everyone is invited! i love my brother and am so proud of him.

hope you all enjoyed this beautiful weekend! kusjes y besitos.

the joy, joy, joy joy down in my heart

after a great day out with the gang, sofia and i came home and all she wanted to do was talk. she's been talking more and more each day but today, it hit me, my baby isn't a baby at all anymore. the only thing 'baby' about her is that she wears a wettie and sleeps in a crib. and the wettie is on it's way out the door, per sofia's request. where has the time gone?!

sofia and i were sitting in the living room playing with her new block, when she suddenly looks up and says, "Lizzie, come here." when did this happen? when did sofia learn how to say 'Lizzie' instead of Liz and WHEN did she begin saying, 'come here'?! i was simply in awe of her. that was the most clear she has spoken in her life and the most words she's said consecutively. it's a huge milestone and all i could do was look at her a laugh. i started to laugh, then she started to laugh and since she thought it would make me laugh, she kept on saying "Lizzie, come here." the reason i was laughing wasn't because what she said was funny, it was because i was overJOYed.i started thinking about all the new words she can say, 'towel, it's hot, cookie, pizza, hola popy,' it's incredible. so for the next 10 minutes, i watched my not-so-baby, as she stacked blocks and ordered her aunt to come watch. i am so proud of my sweet Sofia.

It truly is a beautiful thing to watch your itty bitty tiny baby grow into a little person and I look at Sofia in wonder sometimes, amazed at how intelligent, kind, caring, and perfect she is. She lights up my days. children are little miracles and we are thankful to be blessed with our precious Sofia.


this week, Sofia has been a little ball of energy. no matter where we go, she said
'i waan' walk', so we let her walk and she eventually takes off, running, trying to grab and explore new things. we went to the children's museum Monday with Mer, Stac, Ava and Carson and they kiddos had a blast. Sofia didn't want to stay in the tot spot, she wanted to bang the drums they had, ride the motorcycle and drive the space ship simulator. she also painted her face; by herself! she grabbed the crayons, got them wet, looked in the mirror and went to town. she looked so cute!


yesterday, we went swimming at JiJi's and Sofia wore her new bathing suit for the first time. she was so proud of it, when we bought it, she actually took off the shirt she was wearing (on her own) and kept saying, 'mama, i waan'. Ava, Sofia and Carson had fun in the pool, Carson even had his own adorable frog pool to play in, but i think the older girls liked it more than he did.


while swimming, we got a call from Papa. Sofia wanted to say hello so she sat by the edge of the pool with my phone. not 1 minute after we hung up, Sofia grabbed the phone and flung it into the water so folks, if you've tried calling me, i might not answer because i'm trying to dry out my brand new phone. Syd was kind enough to let me use his for now but if anyone has got an extra one they would like to loan us, we would graciously accept it.




before i go, i would like to give a shout out to all the international readers. i checked my blog stats and there are people from Australia, Turkey, Slovenia, Taiwan, the U.K, Nicaragua, and of course our lovely friends in the Netherlands. thank you for caring about my family enough to read through my mindless banter.

priceless picture of motherhood

AND one more thing...NO, i'm not pregnant. 2 people this week have asked, i'm not...but i know someone who is. we're so happy for this family, but i will keep it my little secret till they make it public.

i'm back!

I hope you all enjoyed Syd's post. He is such a good storyteller, I thought it best he write about his accounts with Sofia since he experienced them first hand. She's becoming such a big girl, we can hardly believe she's almost 20 months.

This week Sofia and I were out and about as always. We had tons of fun with the Tichenors and the Hall ladies. Stacy's mom, Mimi, bought Sofia her very own floaties and she loved them. Thanks Mimi!! We took the girls swimming on Tuesday and Sofia had a blast, enjoying the independence the floaties provided. She giggled and grinned the whole time she was 'swimming' on her own. She's not afraid to venture out in the pool on her own but I keep a close eye on her, just in case she tips over.






Wednesday, we went to storytime at Cinco with Carson and Mer and afterwards, hung out at La Centerra. They've got alot of neat stores in there and after some shopping, Sofia needed to cool off so she jumped in the fountain. She was soaking wet afterwards but I let her play since we had just purchased a precious new outfit at Gymboree, complete with adorable heart sandals that she LOVED. She sat in the puddles, posed on the rocks, ran around and played in the fountain.






Thursday we headed back to the pool at Nana and Abuelo's house. Sofia, Ava and Hayden (a friend's 2 yr. old nephew), swam for an hour. Melinda and Lily, our adorable neighbors, joined us too. They all had so much fun and were entertaining one another. They all loved jumping in the pool on the count of three. Sometimes they would jump holding hands, other times they would go one by one. It was so cute!

This weekend we have been very busy. My mom's birthday was Saturday and since we had a wedding to go to on her actual birthday, we celebrated Friday at Bistro 829. Might I say, it is a wonderful restaurant but NOT with a toddler. They don't cater to children at all so while the other patrons enjoyed themselves, we were busy thinking of wayt to keep Sofia busy. My sweet mom took her outside for a while and then I went out with her so she could walk around and explore the area. Turns out there was a kid's store nearby and she found a bike to ride. She kept saying 'bike' 'i want bike' so I believe, we will be purchasing little Miss Sofia a tricycle sometime in the near future.

Saturday, we headed to the Rockett/Housberg wedding while Sofia and my family went to Perry's. They had a fabulous evening with our angel baby. Sofia was the source of entertainment for several tables sitting around them. Whenever my mom told her to put her food in her mouth, 'in de mond', she would burst out laughing. My brothers also enjoyed spending time with their neice. Cheo, being the fantastic uncle that he is, even told her to put her fork in her ear- and she did! Then, they took the fork away and she put green beans in her ear. My dad, in an attempt to "distract" her got her to put bread on her ears like ear muffs. Aren't they just the best babysitters anyone could ask for?! Not only do they teach her to do all these ludacris things, they take pictures of it all. I will post them next time because they are pretty darn hilarious.

Until then, hope you all have a wonderful week! No doubt, we will be running around with our favorite mommies and kiddos...love love love you all!



Una preguntita: quien esta leyendo desde argentina? necesito traducirlo?

Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Hello everyone, as you can tell by the somewhat unorthodox syntax, this is not Alex. It’s Sydmil. Alex has asked me to appear as a guest blogger, due to the great Sofia stories I have to share. I don’t get to spend as much time with Sofia during the week, but on the weekends I get to experience some “Sofiaisms” ifI’m lucky.

Sofia is on the verge of speaking a human language (Dutch or English), and I find it to be very exciting. I my opinion there are three major developments a baby goes through. First they start walking, and then they start talking, and then they use a toilet instead of using a diaper. Sofia learning how to walk was very exciting. I wonder if the parents who read this agree with me, when I say that I cannot even imagine her making full sentences. Just like I could not imagine her walking. To me Sofia is always going to be the way she is. I guess that is why parents are always so afraid in the beginning, when their kids start driving. To them, they are still those little babies that can’t really do anything.

Although I say I can’t imagine Sofia talking, I definitely am noticing progress in her speech, and her understanding of words. Her favorite word is “no”. Her second favorite word is “mama”. She sometimes says the word mama for no apparent reason. This makes the sporadic mentions of the word papa all the more sweet though.

I would now like to share some stories involving my little Sofia. Saturday July 5^th, Alex woke up before Sofia and I, and went to “Latin Fusion” (go to www.Lifetimefitness.com for a detailed explanation). When I entered Sofia’s room, the smell of poop welcomed me with a bang. This was not uncommon. Sofia was laying on her pillow singing one of her songs. I greeted her by shouting her name with glorious joy. “Sofia!!!” Sofia jumped up to greet me and said “wetty”, as she pointed to the floor. Wetty is the word for diaper. My heart stopped. I feared she had pooped after she took the diaper off, and started flinging feces across the room like a rogue monkey. I took a look around and let out a sigh of relief when I realized she had spared me the horror. As I proceed to put a fresh diaper on her I notice something on her forehead. Something brown. Then I see some on her hands and a ton of it in her hair. Sofia did poop after all, and she smeared it all over her head. She must have done it quite some time before I came to wake her, because it was nice and dry. I took off all her bedding and washed it, because some of the poop missed her head and landed in the bed. Not much though, Sofia is very precise and thorough. I spent the next thirty minutes washing her hair.

My second story happened the day after the poop incident. Alex had gone to the grocery store, so Sofia and I had the house to our selves. After some dancing to the Blackeyed Peas,and some Coldplay, Sofia and I were relaxing, watching the gentleman’s Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer. Best tennis match I have ever seen by the way. Sofia and I were at the edge of our seats. During the rain intermission, Sofia gets up from her chair and walks towards me holding up her shirt exposing her belly. Yes babies have a belly, when you’re older it becomes a stomach. She was saying the word peepee. This of course means pee, she just like to say things twice.I remember thinking to myself; “Does she want, what I think she wants?” Needless to say I was very excited, and I rushed to take her pants and diaper off and put her on the toilet. She started peeing almost immediately. She even tried to wipe herself when she was done, but her arms were too short.She did flush the toilet herself though. When i asked her if this was going to be the end of the wetty, she said: "bye bye wetty" I remember thinking how ironic it was for her to one day take her diaper off and rub poop into her hair, and the next day she asks me to use the toilet. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum… for those of you who are wondering, no, sofia did not get potty trained in a day. She still wears diapers.

Hope you enjoyed it, don’t get used to it. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Sofia’s vader.

i gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out

As I said in my last post, Sofia has been on a roll, talking away! Today, I actually think she told me "I want to sleep." I'm never 100% sure what she is saying but she grabbed my hand and led me to her room for a nap, it was precious.

my beautiful flowers from Syd and Sof

Yes, I am one lucky lady. I get to spend all day playing with my perfect little girl and her darling little playmates. This week we've had a great time hanging out with the Halls and Tichenors . Syd has dubbed us 'the gang.' I've accepted the nickname willingly since it takes too long to name each and every person with us on each excusion so from here on out, 'the gang' we will be.

baby love

love bugs

kissy kissylook at the big boy!sweet little babies

We have had a relaxing week since and it seems everyone has been sleep deprived or just plain exhausted from this Texas heat. In any case, we have a lovely time just sitting around, talking, let the kiddos play around, wearing one another out.

Yesterday, Sofia and I had a wonderful mommy/daughter day. We woke up, went to storytime at the Cinco Library and then hung out at home all day. As I said earlier, we've been exhausted this week so it was just what we needed. Sofia had tons of fun singing and dancing during storytime. We both particularly love the song "Shake My Sillies Out" by Rafi, I know, I know, Rafi?! But honestly guys, it's a great song to sing and dance to so if you don't already know if, I suggest you familiarize yourself with it so you can join in the fun.

Here are some of the new and fun things Sofia loves to do these days:
jump, dance, walk backwards, take care of her babydolls as if they were real babies, play tag, put hand sanitizer after leaving the gym (she thinks it's bubbles and loves putting her hand under the automatic dispenser), sing 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", blow bubbles and kick while swimming, stare at pictures and name everyone in them. Yesterday, she sat in front of the entertainment center looking at the pictures and said "Ra Ra" (her Godmother, Laura) for a good 10 minutes. She also loves to look for Syd and I when we aren't in the room with her. She will shout "Papa," "Mama," until she finds us. It warms my heart when she does that.

Some of the not so fun things Sofia loves to do these days:
Say NO! Not only does she say "no" but she will actually scream it and then throw her hands in the air emphatically. It's not a pretty sight when she does that, especially when it's in response to us asking her to do something, like sit in her high chair. She also has become fond of picking her nails- ewww. She actually tore her fingernail off on her right index finger. She wasn't in any pain when she did it, she just called me, then handed me the nail. Sofia also likes to share her bottle with her babydolls which would be fine if there wasn't actual milk in it, but since there is, it tends to create a big mess.

We have a long weekend ahead of us, and we are excited to spend time with family and friends. I hope you all have a blessed weekend celebrating our freedom and independence.

Happy 4th of July!

This picture is random but I had to post it to show everyone that Syd is learning to overcome hsi fear of heights. Way to go, love!