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!