Harris Family

Take a hike, Ike!!

2008-09-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted lately, we've been busy catching up with friends and spending time with family. I PROMISE I will post an update on Sofia and many MANY new stories, antics later this weekend but for now I just want to let you all know that we are safe and sound.

Ike made landfall here last night around 4:00am. The winds in our area were ridiculous. Most of the evening we had strong winds and around 12:30am, they really picked up and were said to be in the 70-100mph range. Sofia slept like a baby all night, I on the other hand was up every 10 minutes watching the trees blow in the wind, praying they wouldn't be uprooted and fly through one of the 10,000 windows in my parents house. Syd and Sofia slept through the storm and I managed to get some rest. When we awoke this morning, there was tons of debris in the streets, our yard and throughout the neighborhood but thank GOD we weather the storm better than some other Houston cities.

We were without power all day and managed to keep ourselves entertained without our usual amenities such as INTERNET, TV, A/C, oven, stove. Thanks to the hard working people at Center Pointe Energy, our electricity was restored at around 8:30pm and we are back to our 'normal' life. We hope to head downtown tomorrow to check out Cheo's condo. It's in the middle of Houston and we've heard windows have been shattered by the winds and there is heavy flooding so we are hoping his condo was spared. He's out of the country till Tuesday so we need to check out the scene for him.

Here are some fotos of our Ike adventure:

Please keep all of the areas affected by Ike in your prayers!

Puerto Rico

2008-08-27T07:16:00.001-07:00

Sofia and I are back home safely after a wonderful trip to Puelto Rico. We had a great time and I couldn't have asked for a better baby to travel with. The trip initially began on a bad foot, our plane was delayed 3 hours because of 'fumes', however they didn't decide to delay it until we were already boarded! We spent that time reading, coloring, trying to distract Sofia from running up and down the aisles. On top of that, our trip to San Juan was going to be longer than usual because we were re-routed so instead of being on the plane for 4 hours as planned, we were on it for 7.5. I thought things would end disastrously, BUT once we were in the air, Sofia fell right to sleep. She slept almost the whole way there, that meant mama was able to rest as well. It was a huge blessing traveling with Nana, Aunt Liz and Aboo too, we all took turns watching the babe.

The first night we were in San Juan, we were all tired, but somehow we managed to find the energy to go out to eat and explore the city. Sofia tried running into the casino area of the hotel but was quickly denied entry. She was quite upset about it but rules are rules, 18+ to enter.

Saturday, we relaxed by the pool and took Sofia to the beach for the very first time. As I've said before, she loves water, so naturally, she loved the beach. As the waves reached her tiny feet, she would laugh and inch her way into the water. She didn't really appreciate the current, but Abuelo and Nana had her taken care of in the water. I HATE the ocean and have had too many bad experiences so I got out after a few minutes, while Sosa and the fam. stayed for a while.

side note: i'm sure many of you are wondering how it's possible for me to not like the ocean, well the reason is two fold 1. i stepped on a stingray while in the Caymans, not to worry, i didn't get stung, i just had a massive cut on the bottom of my foot. 2. a crab latched onto my lip while I was snorkeling, it wouldn't come off for a good 5 minutes! so there you have it, i love the beach, hate the ocean.

After swimming, we went to our room, took a nap and prepared for the night's activities. We ate dinner at a great Puerto Rican/Cuban restaurant, then headed to the park downtown for Le Lo Lai's performance with a folkloric dance group. Sofia wore my mom's shoes the whole night and danced her hiney off. Everyone watched her as she danced, commenting on how she was able to walk in 4 in. platforms.

Sunday, the ladies headed to Old San Juan. We walked through the historic district of San Juan. It was neat to see the colonial side of the island. My favorite part was the 'Raices' monument. It is a representation of the diversity that exists in Puerto Rico. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and swam, ate, and relaxed in the hammocks. Oh how I wish I lived on a tropical island, I love the climate and the laid back lifestyle.

After our afternoon nap, we prepared to dance the night away once again on our last night. We ate dinner at a highly recommended Puerto Rican restaurant, Ajili Mejilli, and walked to the Marriot for live music and dancing. We were all exhausted from the day's activities so none of us danced much, but we enjoyed the music AND watching the other couples shake their thang. The most entertaining part of the evening was watching an older couple, probably in their late 60s, dance their hearts out. The older gentleman was twirling his lady while she was shaking her bom bom.

The trip home was smooth and we were excited to be back home and see our sweet papa. We missed him so much! He managed well without us, Uncle Cheo took good care of him.

Sofia's favorite expression on our trip was 'I money' (I want money). Aunt Liz taught her what money was and Thursday, before we left, she walked up to Syd and said, "Papa, I money". I do believe his worst nightmare has come true, all at the tender age of 21 months. The WHOLE time we were in PR, she asked my mom and dad for money. Of course, they gave her some, which she keeps in her brand new Hello Kitty purse. I don't know whether to laugh or cry but either way, she knows what she wants and knows how to get it.

She's our parrot and we are constantly watching what we say. While we were in San Juan, my dad said 'cogno' which isn't a very nice word in Spanish and Sosa walked around for 30 minutes saying, 'ay, cogno'. Abuelo got in alot of trouble for that incident. We don't want Sofia to be like the baby on Meet The Fockers, do we?

Well ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all had a great weekend and that you all enjoy this long weekend relaxing and spending time with family. I know that's what we will be doing.

amor. abrazos y un besote para todos!

TMI??

2008-08-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sofia Helena has used the toilet 7 times this weekend. She has done so all on her own accord. We haven't even bought her pull ups yet, however, when nature calls, she will say 'pee pee' and run to the restroom. She informs Syd or myself of what is going on a few seconds before she needs to go so we race her to the restroom, rip off her diaper and set her up. 1-3 times she will actually go, the other 2, she will sit there for a minute, then say 'i wiiipe.' If we didn't grab the roll of toilet paper for her while she tears off a piece, she would use the whole roll for one wipe. Why kids are so fascinated by toilet paper is beyond me.

Since we are going to Puerto Rico this Friday. Oh wait, let me back up for a minute. Friday, the Alvarez ladies, Sosa and I will be going to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Que fino!! We are very excited BUT I'm a bit worried since our precious Syd/Papa won't be joining us. He has to work :(. We will miss him very very much. Nevertheless, since we will be traveling, I don't want to start Sofia on a potty and pull ups yet so until then, she can entertain us and herself by using the big potty.

It's quite hilarious to see such a tiny person on such a giant toilet seat. I forgot how often I used to 'get stuck' when I was younger since I was much smaller than the seat. Poor little Sofia has to hang on to me while she goes, otherwise she would end up soaking wet and terrified of the toilet.

Potty training will officially start next week, I know she's only 21 months old, but the signs are there. She wants to say bye bye to her wettie once and for ALL!

Speaking of potty training, I have to share this story, as it embodies the hilarity it is to be a mother (although this story is about my cousin, not my child in particular). Saturday, we were at Isabella and Aevary Nass's birthday party. The birthday girls looked precious as always and Missy rented a waterslide/moonwalk for all the kids to play on. It was a huge success!

Anywhoo, right after we cut the birthday cake, Isa runs up to me and says she has to go potty. I quickly follow her into the restroom where she proceeds to 'do her business'. She pees, wipes, then flushes. As we are about the leave the restroom, she says, "Hey, wait Alex. I still have some pee dripping down my leg. I have to wipe it off before we leave." How funny is that? I love children and their precious innocence. She cleaned herself up and we headed outside for more action.
Isabella Michelle Nass, 3 yr. old ballerina and the reigning pee pee princess

Shortly after the pee down the leg incident, Sofia wanted to try out the moonwalk waterslide. She was too little to walk up the steps on her own, so I decide to walk her up there, despite it being VERY slippery and me being in a nice dress. I make it to the top with Sofia and am attempting to walk down very slowly and gracefully when BAM! I lose my footing and fly from the top of the slide, to the bottom, it was a Marilyn Monroe-esque moment. If you don't know which Marilyn moment I'm referring to, see below:

Ashley, that last tidbit was for you. I initally wasn't going to write about it, since I was MORTIFIED! After reading your post, I thought you might find it comforting to know we're all klutzes.
This is the slide, to the left, you can see the stairs. It's a long way down!

The girls had such a great time. The fall was well worth it.

Happy almost 21 month birthday to my sweet semi-potty trained girl! You are our pride and joy and we our love for you grows with each day. We are planning the best 2 yr. old shoe themed birthday party so mark your calendars, ladies and gentlemen, Saturday November 22 is Sofia's big day! The best birthday gift for Sosa will be a visit from Opa and Oma, they will be here for the shindig!

I hope to post again before our trip, however if I don't, we will take tons of pictures and update you all after the weekend. Sorry I haven't been a good blogger, we've been busy AND my camera is broken.

Love you all!

what's wrong little pookie?

2008-08-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sofia has enjoyed herself this week, playing with the usual suspects, along with her new friend Scarlett, or 'Calouh' as Sofia says it. Monday, we babysat Aevary and headed to Mer's for a playdate. There were 5 babies there, it was so neat! I love how our group is ever expanding, that means more babies and more mommy friends. Speaking of which, congratulations Thompsons!! Laura and Will Thompson are expecting and we couldn't be more thrilled for them. They have made the news public so if you know them and love them, let em know how excited you are for them. If I knew how to add links to my blog, I would highlight their name ever so subtly, but since I don't, here's their blog address if you want to get to know them: willthompsonfamily.blogspot.com.

Sofia seems to have developed more of a personality lately. She has such a sweet, funny, caring, shy-at-times, overall precious demeanor. Recently, when she meets someone new, she will immediately shout "Mama" or "Papa" to find us, and hide behind our legs. Yesterday a good college friend, Darius, and his girlfriend, Sarah, came over for dinner and while we ate dinner, she was hesitant to make eye contact with them. Then, after about an hour, she was instant bff with Darius. I've noticed this myself, and a few people have too, Sofia prefers men. She and Darius ran around the house, playing, changing the doll's diaper, and dancing. Darius said she was the cutest baby he had ever seen. I tend to agree.

Our little baby has also turned into quite the comedian. She LOVES to laugh and join in while others are laughing. If Syd is telling a joke (which he does alot), Sofia will look over at his audience and say something, then laugh loudly, at which point, she expect them to laugh at her just as much as they did at her daddy. It's so funny! Her sense of humor is adorable.
And, as usual, Sofia's speech continues to develop at a rapid pace. She's says "A bess u (God bless you), i miss you, i want milk (which is rarely the case), a sup! (what's up), i have a boo boo, pasta, soone (phone), uh wakie (your welcome), i'm sleepy, is sippy (it's slippery), i'm Dutch, kusje, tot zo, glacias (gracias), i heping (i'm helping).

Sof's also mastered the art of standing on people's feet and asking them to walk forward. She loves wrapping her arms around your knee caps and giggles as you walk. It's darling. She loves dipping things too. Whether it be a fry in ketchup, a chip in salsa or a cracker in ketchup, Sofia loves it all. I'm not sure whether she actually enjoys the sauces or just likes the dipping action, but she insists upon doing it whenever sauce is available.

Today, Sofia got her 2nd haircut. We returned to Snip Its for a trip and once again, they did a great job. When she first got in the chair, Sosa cried, mainly because she was scared but once Ida (our hairdresser) got started, she calmed down. She sat quietly, eating her 'cackas' (crackers) and watching a dvd. She looked like an angel when it was all said and done PLUS her bangs are out of her eyes so she's able to run and play without the obstruction.

Last but not least, I have to say that we are so proud of Sofia for peeing on the potty 2 times in the last 2 days. Funny enough, neither times was it our idea for her to do so, she voluntarily sat down and voila! Let me preface this story with quite a different one from Tuesday morning:
I go into Sofia's room to get her out of bed and am greeted by my darling daughter saying 'wettie, wettie, wettie.' I look on the floor right below her crib and sure enough, I see her wet diaper. I pick her up, expecting to find a naked booty but instead, I feel wet shorts. At some point in the night/early morning, Sofia took off her pj shorts, took off her diaper, put back on her shorts and went to bed. Silly girl!
Monday, before Syd gave Sofia her bath, he went to the restroom and while he was there, Sof came in and said 'i pee pee.' Then, today, there was a mini toilet in the restroom at Snip Its and Sofia walked up, sat down and asked to go again.

We didn't want to push potty training on our sweet Sofia but she is clearly giving us signals that the time is now. Wish us luck as we embark on this journey!

That's all folks. Congratulations if you're reading this. You have officially read the longest post ever.

Hope you all are doing fantastic!

P.S. Who else thinks thinks Michael Phelps should be the next president?

P.P.S This entry's is named after Sofia's current fav. book, it's hilarious!

a picture is worth a thousand words

2008-08-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

...and since I am too busy to sit down and let you all know how wonderful we are doing, I leave you with these pictures from our week/weekend. I promise I will catch you all up on our lives sometime this week. I can't make any promises since we've got a busy week, including another haircut for Sosa, but I'll try.

One last thought before I go: The subject of yesterday's sermon was worrying. I know everyone worries, some more than others. This is one of the verses the pastor read yesterday:

Philippians 4:6-8 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Hope you all feel that indescribable, incredible peace described in that verse.

Have a fantastic, worry-free week! love, kisses, hugs.

cuculcan

2008-08-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

our weekend in cozumel was amazing. Syd and I had a wonderful time relaxing and spending time together. Sofia also had a great time back at home with my mom and dad. she didn't even cry when we got home (when we got back from the derby, she was ticked off at us), she just looked up and said, 'hey!' and then ran over and gave us a big hug. it was precious.

Friday and Saturday, we hung out by the pool all. day. long. we caught up on a few books we had wanted to read, talked, ate, and drank virgin pina coladas. i know, we're so boring. both nights we ate dinner at this great Asian restaurant- yes it was worth passing up fajitas and queso. we've both figured out we would much rather have tex-mex food than real mex. food. Both nights, we hung around the hotel, watched a bit of the 'broadway show' they put on Friday and Saturday we hung out in the lounge. the first night it was really hard to be away from Sosa. we talked to her on the phone and my parents reassured me she was doing well so we were able to enjoy the rest of our trip without worrying about her...too much.

Sunday, we took a day trip to Chichenitza. it has now been named one of the seven wonders of the world and since Syd had never been, we decided it was worth it. we woke up at 6:00, took a ferry to Playa del Carmen and then proceeded to a bus which drove 3 hours to the ruins. definitely not my idea of a good time but i'm glad we did it, for Syd's sake. once we got the Chichen, we took a tour and the guide explained the history of the ruins. we were constantly being interrupted during the tour by little mexican kids who wanted to take pictures with Syd. they thought he was famous. one even asked if he played for the lakers. Ha! another time, a woman came up to Syd and asked his name, he said, "Syd" which I guess sounds like 'si' so she got mad and asked again, "WHAT'S YOUR NAME!". S-Y-D. geez!

after we explored Chichenitza on our own, we left for a 'mayan feast' as the travel agent has described. if by mayan feast you mean american baseball game, he was spot on. for lunch, they served us hot dogs, nachos, spaghetti and fajitas. it was terrible. the tour guide, however, redeemed himself when he took us to our next stop. we went to a cenote (a 50 meter deep well) outside of vallolid and it was beautiful. in order to get to the water, you had to walk through a cave. it was awesome! Syd is afraid of heights so he wasn't too keen on the idea of jumping off something 20 feet high into freezing water so he stayed and photographed while i went on an adventure.

once we finished at the cenote, we left for one of the oldest cities in mexico, vallolid. we went to the cathedral, prayed, admired the church, and then bought some mamones. mamones are small berry-like fruits that i've eaten since i was a kid. when we would go to venezuela, we would eat them by the bag full and this was the first time i had seen them anywhere else. we bought a huge bag and ate them on the long trip back to cozumel.

monday morning, we woke up early, ate breakfast and then said goodbye to cozumel. we were glad to be heading back home to our little girl.

this week we're going to spend lots of time loving on our Sofia, making up for the weekend, and hanging out with family and friends.

speaking of friends, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACY HALL!! I love you! We are so glad to have you and your family so close. hope today is fabulous.

outdoor fun

2008-07-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

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.
=

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

2008-07-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

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 kissy look 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!

Yabadabadoo!

2008-06-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today, after I got off the phone with Nanny Ilse and Opa Rudolph, I decided that I needed to record Sofia since it's been a while since they have seen her on camera so here it is, guys! This was my best attempt at capturing Sofia, it's hard to keep her focused but I'll keep videoing so you can see her progression.

Syd and I both agree that this 'talking spurt' is just as exciting as when she took her first steps. She is on the verge of being a full fledged talker, she just needs a couple more days and a perhaps a translator. Clearly I've got to work on my Dutch but my little one will be fluent in Dutch, Spanish and English.

My mom and I made this video after dinner. She was on a roll, repeating EVERYTHING she heard. A family friend stopped by while golfing and Uncle Alex said, "Hey Michael" and suddenly, Sofia said the same thing! I don't even think she's heard that name before but she said it loudly and almost clearly. You can hear her version of "Michael" at the beginning of the video. She's also starting to form sentences which I tried to get on video but then again, she isn't known to perform so I couldn't get it all. I did, however, manage to get her sticking her finger up her nose. Lovely.

We had a great weekend celebrating Cheo's birthday both Friday and Saturday. He's the sweetest brother and I am delighted that he enjoyed himself at his parties, he deserves it. Love you brother, happy birthday!

Here are some pictures from our weekend:

beautiful baby
Mama Alv and the birthday boy"riding a bike, riding a bike, 2 plants are riding a bike" singer and songwriter, Isabella. Sofia sang back up. they are adorable.

temptation...

they have too much fun together

happy birthday!

potty time

2008-06-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sosa sitting in Isa's big girl seat

The past week, Sofia has been saying 'pee pee' and then heading towards the bathroom. When we get to the restroom, she proceeds to take off her pants (or at least try to) and then she wants me to sit her on the toilet. She has never actually peed but she then will 'wipe'. She begins first by wiping her face, then she wipes downtown, and throws the toilet paper in the potty. After that, she shuts the lid, flushes the toilet and heads to the sink to wash her hands. At my parents, she cleverly moved the stool from the piano into the bathroom so she could reach the sink. Is she a baby Einstein or what?

Thursday is wedding soup at Italian Maid, Sofia loves her 'sooop'

Sofia loves to hang out in the restroom while other people are doing their business. I'm sure that is how she figured out what the toilet was for. At her 18 month well check, the doctor told me we could introduce a potty whenever we thought she was ready but some part of me thought she was still too young. After this week's consistent potty 'performances' I am quite sure she can handle a training seat. I'm just not sure that I can.

my little lovies

take 2

On another note, one thing I did learn that I can handle today is 3 kiddos. Today, I had the pleasure of babysitting Isabella and Aevary. We had fun playing, eating at the restaurant and most of all, we had fun napping. Luckily, Isa fell asleep on the way home from lunch and Sofia went to sleep shortly thereafter. Little Aeva is fighting it but either way, I'm proud to say that I survived a day in Lanie Alvarez's shoes. My poor mom had all 4 of us under the age of 6 at one time- I can't even fathom what her life was like in the mid 80s, early 90s.

priceless

Well folks, we've got a busy weekend ahead of us. Cheo is celebrating his 26th birthday and Syd and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary.

Love you all! Have a blessed weekend and we hope to hear from you all soon!

Psalm 139:14

2008-06-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

This week we've had one activity after another so pardon me for not updating sooner and for missing Sofia's 19 month birthday. Little Miss Chatterbox is doing great. She's having a fabulous summer hanging out by the pool, going to storytime, playing with sweet new friends and enjoying the Texas sun. She is so active these days, naps have become a regular part of her daily routine.

look at all those teeth my 19 month girl has!

Sofia's speech is becoming clearer. She says I love you, "I want..", juice, water, nope, yeah, um I don't know, lotion, wettie (translation: diaper), pee pee, poo poo and so much more, the rest just isn't understandable. She's also jumping, twirling, running, and climbing all over the furniture. I believe that Sofia is destined to become an engineer because she is great at problem solving. What she loves to do most is move the furniture. Whether we're at home or out, Sofia will take it upon herself to move chairs, purses, even tables (kid sized ones of course). She could entertain herself all day long doing it!

mama and me taking a break at the Children's Museum

Sofia is also very helpful these days. She loves to clean, here's an example: our rug sheds tons. I am always picking up carpet fuzz and so is she. She even gets down on her hands and knees and scrapes the lint off the top of the carpet- wonder where she learned that? She also has taken a great interest in the sponge. If she gets her hands on that, everything turns up wet and soapy. Sofia also loves to help take care of other babies and her baby dolls. When we are with Aevary, she is constantly taking out her pacifyer and then giving it back to her. I know it defeats the purpose when she removes it, but she lovingly gives it back. She has also started to put her baby dolls to sleep by rocking them. Once they are sleeping, she says 'shhh'. She's too cute! One of these days, I'll make a video of it because it's too precious for words.

sof and carson sharing toys. we've learned that sharing means caring.

Sofia has fallen in love with the pool. Saturday, at Lifetime, she walked in the shallow end by herself, played in the fountain, danced in the water and even jumped to me in the deep end. We swam with Ava, Carson, Isabella, and Aevary for 2 1/2 hours. We had too much fun!

aren't thesee 3 just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

My sweet girl is getting sweeter by the day. My mom actually asked me, "Has she gotten cuter since yesterday?" Sosa is growing and changing so much, I cherish these days and am thankful for such wonderful family and friends, sharing the experience with us. Love you all!

indoor picnic with laura and joaquin

hill country hooligans

2008-06-16T21:59:00.001-07:00

this weekend, we packed up and headed to San Antonio for a relaxing weekend at the hyatt hill country. we had quite the adventure!

friday when we arrived, we took Sofia swimming and explored the golf course. our goal for the evening was to wear her down so she would fall asleep without a struggle. last time we took a trip, things got ugly so we wanted to avoid bedtime troubles. Sofia entertained herself all night evening long going up and down the hills on the golf course. she would giggle all the way down as she ran. it was precious. she was exhausted after all the fun.

right around 9:00, i decided to ask the receptionist if we could borrow one of the rocking chairs from the lobby so that Syd could rock Sofia to sleep in our room. to my delight, they had a chair to our room within 10 minutes. we decided to make a palette on the floor for her since she tends to roll and Syd got her to bed immediately. things went smoothly...a little too smoothly.

so at 4:00am Syd and I awake to a little person standing at the side of the bed. Sofia was calling us, "Papa", "Mama". surprise! she was awake and she showed no signs of wanting to go back to sleep. let me digress for a moment- I've read that toddlers often awake in the night but at home, Sofia puts herself back to sleep by turning on her lullabies so we have never encountered this situation before. back to the story: i picked Sofia up, went straight to the rocker, and began her nighttime routine once again. i rocked her for 20 minutes. nothing. she was fighting me. i woke Syd up and told him i didn't know what to do so he took her to the other bed and laid with her. she fought him too. big mistake. what Sofia doesn't realize is that although she's strong willed, her papa is the strongest willed person i've ever met. so here we are at 4:30am, surrounded by sleeping hotel guests and Sofia starts wailing. literally, you could hear her down the hall. of course it's every child's typical reaction to not getting what they want but it's not normally at 4:30am that they do so. she cried and cried and cried some more. she did NOT want to sleep and Syd just held her, comforted her and told her that it was time for bed. she cried for a good 20 minutes, then silence. she wasn't actually sleeping but she had realized that her tactics had failed and she had no other choice but to go to sleep, so she did.

saturday, we all woke up refreshed after finally getting to bed. Sofia was happy to play outside, float down the lazy river and swim. the resort was beautiful and very kid friendly. they even had a mini spa for the little girls, Sofia was just a tad too young for it all. saturday afternoon, Syd got Sofia down for a nap, no problem. after Sofia's nap, we went on a walk, ate dinner and then played taboo! soon, it was bedtime and both Syd and I were nervous. thankfully, Sofia went to sleep quickly and quietly. Syd slept with her in a separate bed and she slept all night long. throughout the night, i would hear her breathing loudly and think "oh no, this is it, she's awake." i was so glad to wake up at 9:00 and see her sound asleep in the bed next to me. i'm sure our neighbors were relieved too.
sunday, we celebrated Father's Day in San Antonio. Syd loved his gifts and the card Sofia made him. we ate Sunday brunch together, walked around and relaxed. i think Sofia knew it was a special day for papa because she seemed to pay extra special attention to him. she also gave Abuelo extra love. when we got home, she talked to Opa Rudolph and told him how much she loved and missed him. what a darling little girl we have and what amazing men we have in our life. we loved celebrating Father's Day and glad to be back home, in our own beds!

side note: for those of you wondering, yes, Sofia recovered from her Friday night sleep deprivation today. she took at 2 hours nap. what an angel.

little swimmer

2008-06-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

I am proud to say that Sofia is now a pool lover. Tuesday, after story time at the library, we went swimming at the Firethorne pool and she loved it. Missy and I both agreed she just needed to warm up to the pool so when we got there, we put our feet in the baby pool. Then, we headed to the shallow end of the big pool. At the end of the day, Sofia didn't want to leave.

my little swimmer

Missy, Isabella, Sofia and I had a great time playing at the pool with one exception. When we got out of the pool, I heard Sofia saying "uh oh" so I looked back at her and saw that she was going to the bathroom. Turns out the "swim diaper" she was wearing wasn't a diaper at all, it didn't do anything! Before we headed to the pool, I put a reusable swim diaper on Sofia. I should have known it wouldn't do any good when I saw it, it looked more like panties than a diaper. Needless to say, from now on we will be sticking to Little Swimmers.

i love the look on her face!

Wednesday, we took the girls to the Lifetime pool and Sofia loved it. She sat in the water for a little while with Aevary, just taking it all in. Then, once Sofia got up the courage, she headed out into the deeper water- and by deeper I mean 2 feet. She walked all around the shallow end by herself and then Missy took her further out. I love how Missy and I take turns with one another's children, it's great. Sofia actually preferred Missy that day. Sof had so much fun and even jumped in the pool with Isabella! I'm happy we can spend our summer in the pool because this heat is out of control. Not to mention, swimming = nap, guaranteed.

Isi Pisi posing

Mama Missy and Sofia

Thursday we headed to playgroup with the lovely Hall ladies. We met Missy, Isa and Aeva there and the girls played together on the jungle gym. There was also a neat spray park nearby, but the girls chose to watch rather than get in the water. Sofia was fascinated by the fountains that sprayed water and then disappeared. We will definitely be returning to the barn park throughout the summer, everyone enjoyed it. Next time we will bring out bathing suits!

We also got to spend more time with the precious Tichenors. Sofia absolutely loves Carson. She loves all babies but he's got the coolest toys and the sweetest disposition which makes him among her top ranked babies. The two munchkins played while I had a meeting with Mama and Daddy and afterwards we took Mer and Carson to one of the best restaurants in Houston, wink wink. Sofia and Carson did so well in their high chairs, thankfully we didn't have repeat of Monday's performance so we were all able to eat in peace.

This weekend we will be heading to San Antonio for some r&r and celebrating the wonderful men in our lives we call "papa, dad, abuelo, opa, viejo, papi, dada".

I hope each of you have a blessed weekend and Happy Father's Day!

hello, sunshine

2008-06-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we were on the go as usual. Friday night, Syd and I had a date night with my parents, inadvertently. We had a great time with them and although the original plan was to go to a birthday party at Ra Sushi, we realized once we got there, we were "too old" for that scene. Funny thing was, the birthday boy was turning the big 4-0. My parents were at the birthday party too and we all lasted about 5 minutes before we hit the road for a low-key dinner. Sofia stayed with Missy and Waldo. She had a blast with them at Carrabba's. Sofia, Isa and Aeva entertained the whole table. Missy and Waldo had a great time with our little girl, we are lucky to have wonderful family members like them!

Little Miss Sunshine

Saturday, we took Sofia to the pool again and found out that she really does NOT like swimming. We had to coax her to get into the water and she was fine for a few minutes until she saw my mom walking by and immediately screamed for her to "save" her. She got out, ate with my parents, and then my dad tried bringing her back in the pool and she started crying again. I'm not sure if it was overwhelming for her because of all the people, if the water was too cold or if she just doesn't like to swim. Tomorrow I am going to take her to a smaller pool with less people and hopefully she will get the hang of it, otherwise we will have to find another way to cool her off in the sweltering heat.

She likes fountains...just not pools

I have to say that I am so proud of Syd. This weekend, he cut and edged the lawn on his own. He has a new found respect for lawn care technicians. Evidently, edging isn't as easy as it seems but being a home owner now, he has to go through this rite of passage. He battled the heat Saturday afternoon to get our lawn whipped into shape and I must say, he did an excellent job. Way to go, love! I'm glad we no longer have a rainforest growing in our front yard.

Although he was exhausted from cutting the grass, Papa took his girls out Saturday night

Today, Sofia and I met up with the Hall girls and welcomed Meredith and Carson home. I'm so happy to have other mommies around- I love those girls! Ava, Sofia and Carson were precious together...except Miss Sofia was in desperate need of a nap so she was behaving uncharacteristically. We had lunch together at Japaneiros and the food was excellent, our waiter was not. Clearly, mommies with babies need a little extra love from their waiters but this guy didn't understand that. We were trying to keep our sweet angels entertained with everything you can think of until their food got there but times got tough. Sofia didn't want to sit in her chair, she admired Carson and Ava, wandered around the restaurant, and even tried to walk out the front door. Sweet Stacy and Meredith were such a big help, they distracted Sofia so she would sit still and she managed to make it through lunch without a major melt down.

That's my angel baby. After lunch, we headed back home and Sofia immediately crashed in the car and slept for an hour and a half!

I'm thrilled Sofia has so many little friends to keep her company this summer. And the great women they call mommy are amazing! I just wish Mandy, Jaheym and Maiysha were here to play too!! Come visit please?

*The pictures are from our Saturday evening adventure to La Centerra. I wish I had taken some today but things were too hectic.

Have a joyful joyful week everyone!

down for the count.

2008-06-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

what a glorious day we had today.Sofia set a new record at naptime. she slept for 2 hours! yup, she went from taking 0 naps to taking several 1 naps throughout the week, to now taking a 2 hour nap. i couldn't be any happier because i know my growing girl needs her rest!

Sofia and Abuelo riding the pig.

after the last nap fiasco i wrote about, i changed my technique. every day , i rock her around the same time with her lullabies playing and some days, she would fall asleep, others she didn't. either way, we had some down time in between play sessions and eventually, she realized napping was fun.

active girl

this morning, we had a play date with Stacy and Ava. we had so much fun playing, the Hall girls are absolute dolls. we met Missy, Aevary and Isabella at the park for a playgroup and immediately, the girls were off playing. they played at the playground for an hour, then fed the ducks. Isa, Ava and Sofia were precious together. Sofia had a blast but was very tired after a long morning so after everyone left our house, I rocked her. she slept from 1:15-3:15pm. i dozed off for a little bit while rocking her too. our new glider is so comfy.

darling daughters take #1

take #2

Mama and baby

random side note: the new glider is so comfy, my mom was sitting in it while watching sofia play and she fell asleep. when she woke up, sofia had emptied all the drawers of her dresser and turned her room into a giant mountain of clothes. lovely.

i know we will be playing alot this summer so hopefully, a 2 hour nap will become a regular at the harris house. she's going to need all the sleep she can get!

Happy Birthday Uncle Alex

kusjes, besos, kisses to you all. have a splendid weekend!

school's out for summer

2008-06-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend was perfect. Syd and Sofia enjoyed spending time together, playing, dancing, shopping. Syd kept Sofia so busy with activities, she didn't even know that I was gone. Syd should be receiving his nomination for Father of the Year very shortly.

By the way, anyone have any good ideas for Father's Day gifts?

While I was gone, Syd's homework was to take 10 pictures. This is one of them.

California was amazing. The weather was gorgeous: it was exactly like Texas only 30 degrees cooler. We spent our whole trip outdoors. I had a wonderful time with my mom, Dani and Georgean, aka Jorge, but I called Syd every few hours to check in and make sure they were doing ok. In my mind, I was thinking that the world would end when I left but it turns out, they did just fine on their own, I was the one missing them like crazy!

Saturday, in Santa Monica, we woke up early to shop! We went to the 3rd street Promenade for some shopping, food and fun. Afterwards, we headed to Venice Beach for some people watching. We ate at the Sidewalk Cafe and had front row seats to the "freak show". There were so many shameless people parading the streets, we ate in silence taking it all in. The highlight of the meal was a man in a speedo walking by, strutting his stuff. He looked ridiculous yet no one seemed to care but us.

Danielle took this picture. She loves dogs.the ladiesSaturday night, we went to the Artists for the Arts Benefit concert- the reason for our trip. My mom is absolutely obsessed with the headliner, Jackson Brown. She and Georgean had a blast at the concert, while Danielle and I entertained ourselves cracking jokes about the performers. We didn't particularly care for any of the artists; our reason for taking the trip wasn't for the concert, it was for some qt with our moms. Our mission was accomplished. I had quite the adventure with the lovely ladies, in fact, we are planning another trip for August- this time for the whole family.

oh how i love this girl.

Monday morning I finally got to see my baby. We were both overjoyed to see one another. Sofia was even happier once she saw what mama brought her from California- a pair of crocs!
Sofia wanted to ride Aevary like a horse. She like it.

This week is the start of our "summer vaca". With Missy out of school for the summer, Isabella, Aeva and Sofia can play all day every day. We are also looking forward to playing with Carson, Ava, Melinda and Lilly. Sofia has a busy summer ahead of her, and she doesn't even know it!

My hula girl

Anyone up for some summertime fun? Call me, we will be out and about, ready to par-t-a-y.

Top 10

2008-05-28T18:48:00.001-07:00

Here are some highlights from our week thus far:

Alex's top 10 favorite moments

1. The past 2 days, before her bedtime, Sofia has crawled into my lap and fallen asleep. She hasn't fallen asleep in my arms. I love it!
Tonight, she took a nap from 8:00-9:30pm and I put her to bed since Syd had a basketball game. I rocked her and put her in her crib. Although she wasn't asleep, she just sat there so sweetly, I said goodnight, left and she fell to sleep all by herself.

2. Sofia has started patting her face with a napkin to get food off- like a 45 year old woman at English tea.
3. She has started greeting her favorite people at the door with a huge smile on her face and screams of excitement.
4. Sofia now says 'please' and 'thank you'. A lady at the library opened the door for her and she politely said 'thank you.' The lady thought it was darling, I did too!

5. Sofia slept for 14 hours last night.

6. She loves talking on the phone so much, today she picked up the tv remote control and started a conversation. It lasted a good 5 minutes. She has also been known to talk to bananas as well.
7. Our sweet girl sat through me getting a pedicure without making a peep. When it was her turn to have her nails painted, she said "No!" She did, however, enjoy the massage chair and didn't want to leave.
8. Sofia is great with utensils, the problem is she might be a bit too rough. This week, I noticed fork marks in the table where she had 'stabbed' her pasta.

9. Right after I went to the restroom, Sofia threw her shoe into the toilet. It was before I had flushed.
10. Sofia doesn't like to see other babies cry. When we were eating lunch today, there was a little boy crying in his high chair. She got of her booster seat, walked over to him and said 'uh oh'. I think that was her way of appeasing him.

To all the mamas out there, does anyone have any thoughts on vaccinations and autism? There is an article about it in the current TIME magazine. My neighbor has advised me strongly to wait on the MMR vaccination. I have tried researching the issue myself but there is so much conflicting data out there, I'm not sure how to feel about it. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Friday, I leave for California. Sofia and Syd will be spending the weekend enjoying each others company. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my mama, Danielle and Georgean. The one thing I'm not looking forward to is the Jackson Brown concert- the reason for our trip. Don't ask.

I'll let you know how the Harris family fares as we go our separate ways this weekend.

Have a glorious week and an even better weekend. Hasta luego muchachitos! Besos!

if you're happy and you know it

2008-05-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Sofia had her 18 month well check. I am happy to report that she is catching up in both weight and size for her age. She is still in the 25th percentile for her weight, just 23lbs, but she is in the 50th percentile for her height. She grew 2 inches in 2 months! She behaved very well at the appointment and was so very brave when she got her shots. She didn't even cry!

When we got home from the doctor's, Sofia wanted to play dress up and since she had been such a big girl for me, I allowed her to play with my shoes. For weeks, she has been sneaking my stilettos from the closet eventhought she knows she isn't supposed to but Friday was special so she had a free-for-all. Amazingly enough, Sofia walked without any trouble in my size 10, 5 inch heels that she managed to put them on herself. She walked all around the living room without falling once. Ladies and gentlemen, this little girl is destined for the catwalk, she's a natural.

strutting her stuff big girl what a pro
After the fashion show, Sofia and Isabella played 'princess' at the park. They both loved the swings and Sofia giggled the whole time I was pushing her. She especially loved when the wind blew as she in the air. It was entirely too hot outsides so after the park, we went home and the 2 princesses played in the bathtub.

Princess Sofi

bff
Saturday, I was out all day looking at condos with my brother so Sofia and Syd had a father/daughter day. Syd is a precious daddy. He went out of his way to ensure that Sofia had fun. They danced all morning long to MJ, went to the indoor park, walked around the neighborhood and had a grand ol' time. Next weekend, Syd and Sof will be spending alot of alone time together while I am in California and I have no doubt that they will be just fine without me.
That night, we went to Joaquin's 2nd birthday party. Sofia had the time of her life at the party, mainly because everything was just her size. She found a tiny lawn chair that she could pick up and carry. She made it her duty to move it every 5 minutes and she did that for a good hour. Afterwards, she went to the loft to play with all the tricycles and toys. She loved that. She also jumped on the mini trampoline, played in Joaquin's 'house', and towards the end of the night, she found Ginger, the family dog. Sofia fell in love with their dog and proceeded to strangle the poor thing all night long. The dog was very well with kids so all she would do was wiggle around, trying to escape the death grip. Sofia loved the dog and surprisingly, so did Syd. He has always vowed to never have dogs since he has a fear of them, but I don't think he would mind this one.

sweet ride Her obsession. We must get one now.

playing house Happy 2nd birthday, big boy! poor, poor Ginger
Sofia's newest best friend, I'm not sure if the feelings were mutual
After church today, we went home to rest up. Then, Sofia went to my cousin's house for a few hours so Syd and I could go on a date. It was wonderful as always, to spend some time with my love, and Sofia enjoyed herself with the primos.

We have been quite busy this Memorial Day weekend, and we've got more planned for tomorrow. Time to get some rest, hope you all have a great day tomorrow, remembering the men and women who have fallen for our freedom!

Uno.5 and loving it

2008-05-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today marks Sofia's 18 month birthday, happy birthday sweet girl!

To celebrate Sofia's special half birthday, we went to the pool for the first time this summer. Yes, with the 94 degree heat Houston has experienced for the last 2 days, we needed to cool off so we headed to Lifetime. Sofia wasn't really into the swimming itself- she did enjoy the life jacket, playing in the sand and baking in the sun.

look Mom, just my size

After our day at the pool, we treated Sofia to an Astros game. I know, it's the perfect gift for an 18 month old! She enjoyed running around, eating ball park food, dancing during the 7th inning stretch and joining in the thunderous applauses that occurred sporadically through the game (she thought they were clapping for her). We even let her stay up till 9:30 which is a good 30 minutes past her bedtime so I must say that Sofia had a fun-filled half birthday.

Sofia was more interested in the miniature water bottle she found than in the picture

This week, Sofia has decided that her dolls need a bath. What does "bathe" mean to her? Throwing her dolls in the toilet and washing them off. I know, all kids do it. When I catch her in the act, I always laugh, then realize that she has ruined one of her precious baby dolls. There is no way to salvage anything that has fallen in the toilet so I do what any normal parent does: First I take a picture, then I get a trash bag, cover my hands, remove it and throw it away. We are down to 3 baby dolls. My only method of prevention is to keep the bathroom door shut so let's hope she doesn't find a way to open that door otherwise, she can kiss those dolls bye bye.

good intentions

bad outcome

Sofia has also been talking like crazy. We have very interesting conversations, today was no exception. I asked her how old she was and she said, "two." I don't know who taught her that but my little precious is a bit ahead of herself. I said, "No, Sofia, you're one." I said, "one, one, one" but she wouldn't repeat it. She repeats everything we say, whether we like it or not, but the one thing I want her to say- she won't. I changed my tactics and told her to repeat "uno" and she did. So today, on her 1.5 birthday, Sofia has learned that she is in fact, uno, not dos.

playtime

plant time

In just a year and a half, we have created precious, unforgettable memories that we will cherish forever. Being such an easy-going, joyful little girl, Sofia has made our job incredibly easy.

Our continual prayer, Proverbs 22:6

birthday bash.

2008-05-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

This week, it seems like Sofia's talking has improved dramatically. She is now forming sentences and although 80% of what she says is incomprehensible, we get the gist of what she is saying. She has quite the little personality, sometimes she will say something and then chuckle to herself, it's darling! She has also perfected the art of mimicking so we have to watch what we say. I just love her sweet little voice!

Here's a video I made at my parents', can you understand our little chatterbox?

This week we have also experienced a change in Sofia's sleeping pattern. She had been waking up between 8:30 and 9am for the last few months but this week, she made a change for the better. Sofia prefers a 10:00am wake up time these days. The past few months, when Sofia would wake up, she would cry for me to come get her out of her crib but this week she did something different. Monday morning, I went into Sofia's room at 10:15 to see what she was up to and I found her awake, giggling and talking to herself. She awoke happily and waited patiently for us to come get her to start her day. We are so proud that she has learned to self soothe.

Happy girl!

Thursday, Friday AND Saturday were spent celebrating birthdays with 3 very special people in our life. Thursday, we celebrated Sofia's Godmother, Laura's birthday, Friday, we went out to dinner with Adam, Liz's boyfriend AND Sofia's Godfather, for a belated birthday fiesta and Saturday we went to our cousin, Waldo's birthday party.

Friday at P.F. Changs, Sofia sat in a booster seat and did great! She has grown accustom to her Stokke high chair at home, which is essentially a normal chair, it's juts got a chest harness to keep her from tumbling out. She protests when we put her in the standard ones all restaurants have plus, she has turned into quite the escape artist these days so she ends up standing in them, begging to be taken out. We tried the booster and she was an angel all night. People don't understand how hard it is to keep a toddler entertained and happy through an hour and a half dinner, it's work! Luckily, chop sticks make for a great toy and Sofia played contently while we waited for the food. We had a great night with the fam!

Big girl chair, big girl pose?

Saturday, Sofia played all day at Waldo's house with Isabella. With Missy being a kindergarten teach and having 2 kids of her own, their house has more toys than FAO Schwartz. In particular, Sofia enjoyed playing in the sand and playing with Aevary. After she started eating the sand, we took her inside and she found Aevary (her 8 month old cousin who is now bigger than her). Sofia gave her a bottle, shared toys with her and loved on her. While Sofia and Aeva were playing, the
2 yr. olds were having a birthday party in Isa's room. Turns out, it wasn't just Waldo's birthday, it was everyone's birthday so they took turns singing to one another and had a tea party. They invited Sofia and she enjoyed them for some cucumber cake and chocolate milk. How precious is that?

Sofia has her 18 month well check this week. I can't believe she is almost 1.5 yrs. old! We'll keep you update so until then, we send each of you love. kisses. hugs.

If you look closely, you can see Sofia's rockin' some pearls and a bracelet

Mamma Mia

2008-05-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day weekend, my sweet family and I shared lots of quality time and I loved every minute of it! I am thankful for my perfect baby girl and amazing husband!

Friday, Sofia got ready for summer- we went to the mall and she picked out 3 new pairs of sandals, sunglasses and some cute summer outfits. She marveled at her new shoes for hours; if you haven't yet picked up on it, my 17.5 month old daughter has a shoe addiction. Can you blame her?

Later that day, we left for San Marcos for Tosha's graduation party. We were planning on going to Austin but found out late that day that 35 was closed. Boo. On the way to our hotel, Sofia fell asleep. She woke up when we got to the room but we figured that she would go back to sleep since it was already 9:30- turns out, she had plans of her own.

For an hour and a half, Sofia "taunted" us. She would lay down for a few minutes then pop back up and start singing, playing and laughing. Syd and I both knew that she was past the point of exhaustion and the reason she was toying with us was because her routine had been broken and she was mad. We did everything that we could to get her to sleep- we even turned out all the lights and sat in darkness but nothing worked. Finally, at 11:00, we decided to drive so drive we did! After 10 minutes, Sofia was asleep but in order to ensure she stay asleep, we drove all the way to New Braunfels and back. The drive was well worth it- Sofia slept until 9:00am.
Saturday, Sofia rode back home with my parents while we stayed in San Marcos to shop. Sofia missed Nana alot while she was gone so they spent the day together playing. When we got back home, we ate and immediately afterwards, Sofia passed out on the couch. My poor baby had a rough night and needed to catch up on her sleep! Syd surprised me with my Mother's Day gift at midnight, I got a precious card, a new handbag (which can fit all of Sofia's stuff & more) a 'shopping spree'.

I guess Sofia picked out my gift, she sure loved it!!

Today after church, Syd, Sofia and I went shopping. We took Sofia to the playground beforehand so she wouldn't get restless and spent most of the day at the mall. We had a great time, Sofia behaved like an angel and I was given carte blanche to shop, courtesy of Mr. Harris.

After Sofia napped, we went to dinner with my family. My mom had been working at the restaurant all day so we showered her with gifts at dinner. The whole family was there (minus Liz who will be rejoining us tomorrow) and we talked, laughed, ate and Sofia played with pizza dough for the first time. Good food mixed with great company makes for a good night.

This weekend was absolutely perfect, I loved all my presents but my greatest Mother's Day gift is and always will be that precious little girl that God blessed us with.

Thank you.

2008-05-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

No Love like a Mother's Love

There is no love, like a mother's love,
no stronger bond on earth
like the precious bond that comes from God,
to a mother, when she gives birth.

A mother's love is forever strong,
never changing for all time
and when her children need her most,
a mother's love will shine.

God bless these special mothers,
God bless them every one
for all the tears and heartache,
and for the special work they've done.

When her days on earth are over,
a mother's love lives on
through many generations,
with God's blessings on each one.

Be thankful for our mothers,
for they love with a higher love
from the power God has given,
and the strength from up above.
To all the beautiful mothers, may you know that you are the greatest and the precious gift we receive from God! Have a wonderful day being pampered and treated like the queen you are!

Words will never be enough to describe the gratitude I have for my own Mom.

Happy Mother's Day, I love you all!

2008-05-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

This week, Sofia and I have both been trying to catch up on our sleep. As it turns out, she was having so much fun with her babysitters, she may have missed out on some sleep. Both yesterday and today, she woke up early, turned on her music and went back to sleep. I love it when that happens because that means that I get to sleep in as well!

I don't know how she does it but Sofia can walk in a size 9 shoe!
As I said, we've both been dragging this week. I think the weather also has something to do with it; yesterday it poured all day and today it was overcast. Since we couldn't go to the park, we explored the house, played dress up and took short walks around the neighborhood in between thunder storms.

My little derby girl.

While we were on a walk today, Sofia fell down while running and got her first real "boo boo." She didn't cry when she fell but she definitely knew she had hurt herself. When Syd got home from, she showed him her knee and wanted him to kiss it. I don't think it's painful but when she looks down at her knees and sees the cut, she remembers and says "boo boo" over and over. I'm so proud of my resilient little girl for handling her first cut so well.

Checking out Sof's minor injury.

At dinner this evening, Sofia ate corn on the cob by herself for the very first time! Instead of eating the kernels that I had removed for her, she grabbed the cob from me and used her tiny little front teeth to eat it. I never thought she would be able to eat corn on her own but she managed quite well. The cutest part was watching her try to get the kernels off the cob one at a time. Since we have been back, Sofia has been "fake laughing" alot. I think my cousins taught her this weekend and she has been doing it non-stop. No matter what we are doing, whether she thinks it is funny or not, if someone is laughing, she will join it. We all have "courtesy laughs", I just can't believe my toddler has one!

Hope you are all doing wonderful and enjoying the week!

Derby

2008-05-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a long weekend! I know we were only gone for 3 days but if feels like I've been gone for 3 months! We had such a great time at the Kentucky Derby, I could write a 20 page paper about it but first, I have to brag on how wonderful my baby behaved while we were gone.

The whole time we were away, Syd and I were keeping tabs on Sofia. Friday, I talked to Alexandra twice, I spoke to Liz once while she was with Sof and then I talked to Ivy after she had put her to bed for the night. Each of them said the same thing, she was perfect. She ate well, behaved and entertained them all. We talked to her twice on Friday and she had alot to say to us, from the sound of it she was having the time fo her life. We missed her so much after just 24 hours, but we knew she was in good hands.

Saturday, Liz went to Ivy's and picked her up and she spent the whole day with my family. Cheo even took her swimming! My dad kept telling me how beautiful she was, he was so proud because he taught her how to say "I love you." When I called him, she took the phone and said "I love you." It was so sweet! Sofia and Abuelo had a busy day together and they both loved every minute of it.

Today, Sofia played all day at the primos house. They told us she was an absolute doll, they even suggested we take another vacation, this time for a whole week! I don't know if I would last that long without my girl. When we picked her up today, she immediately started crying (tears of joy) and was ecstatic to see us-the feelings were mutual. We were glad to be home again. We are so proud of our big girl, she was an angel. The whole car ride home, she was giggling and talking to us. It was precious. As for the Derby, it amazing.We left early Friday morning, no one knew what to expect but when we arrived to Louisville, understood the immensity of the event. Every single hotel in the city was booked, you needed reservations months prior for any of the upscale restaurants and everyone was talking about Big Brown. Little did we know, once we hit Churchill Downs, we would all get sucked into the excitement and hype of the Kentucky Derby. By the end of the race, we knew the names of the horses, knew the difference between place, show, win and what a trivecta was. I know, we caught derby fever.As soon as we got to the hotel, we changed and went straight to the race track for the Kentucky Oaks, the race prior to the Derby. The weather was terrible but luckily, our seats were on the covered balcony and we enjoyed real southern food at a luncheon before the races. At the luncheon, we were seated with a group of first Derby-goers who convinced us we HAD to place bets on the races as it was part of the tradition so, we did. With money involved, the races got to be alot more interesting, Syd and I even picked a winning horse! The Oaks was fun, but we knew the Derby would be 100 times more exciting so after we left the race track, we headed to a querky little cafe, Lynn's Paradise, and had a relaxing evening back at the hotel.
Saturday we woke up bright and early to blue skies and 70 degree weather. We arrived at Churchill Downs at 11:30am and had a long day ahead of us. The actual Kentucky Derby wasn't till 6:05 so we had alot of time to kill. We had a great time hanging out at the track, people watching, 'researching' our bets-by researching I mean picking random horses, watching the horses warm up in the Paddock and enjoying the atmosphere. There were 157,000 people at the race, all the the women were in dresses and fab. hats, the men in suits and bow ties and everyone was sipping on Mint Julips. Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, Molly Simms, Hugh Hefner and 'The Girls Next Door', were among some of the stars who were in attendance. It was absurd how big of a deal this race was! We spent the majority of the day placing bets and watching the horses. We even waited on the Paddock for an hour just to see the Derby horses come out before the race. It was incredible how huge the horses were, especially Big Brown. Compared the rest of the horses, he was a beast. We watched the Derby from our seats and needless to say none of us bet on the favorite. Syd picked a 50-1 horse thinking he could win big but we didn't. Big Brown won by a huge margin and people went bananas afterwards, turn out people bet ALOT of money on these horses.

After the Derby was over, we all noticed that Eight Bells (the 2nd place horse) had fallen after she crossed the finish line. Apparently, she broke both of her ankles and had to be euthanised on the track. It was devastating; she was the only filly in the race and had almost beat Big Brown but just seconds after that, she was gone. The vet spoke afterwards and said she was in excruciating pain and this was the best thing for her, as her injuries were detrimental. It was a bittersweet ending to our day but all in all, we had a fabulous day at the Kentucky Derby.
Everyone at the Harris household is officially exhausted after a long weekend. We all enjoyed the adventure, we will definitely remember this trip for a very long time but we are glad to have our baby back in our arms and sleep in our own bed.

Bye bye.

2008-05-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, Syd, Sofia and I will pass a new milestone in our lives. It will be the very first time that we leave Sofia for the weekend. Da, da, da (that was supposed to be mysterious music alluding at the fact that this could turn out to be a complete disaster).

So, today at around 2:00pm, Laura calls me and asked if Syd and I would like to go with her and Will to the KENTUCKY DERBY. HELLO?! The chance of a lifetime is calling me and YES! We would love to go! Her mom and dad planned the trip and were supposed to go until, poor Aunt Debbie (Laura's mom) pulled a muscle in her back. She doesn't want to risk reinjuring her back so she told Laura to find someone to fill their spots. Syd and I both agreed, we were going to be spontaneous and go for it.

The trouble lie in the fact that our #1 babysitter, my mom, left for Chicago today so I was scrambling all afternoon to find people I know, trust and love to take care of my sweet baby. My dad would be the second most likely babysitter but he just got back from Venezuela today, he has alot of work to do AND he's terrified when Sofia cries so I know he wouldn't last a weekend with her, alone.

Tomorrow, Sofia is going to be with my cousin for the day, then she is going to play with Aunt Liz for a while and she will stay the night with Titi Ivy. I have no doubt that Ivy and her mama will love on the baby every single minute she is there. She is a dear friend and I know Sofia will enjoy herself. Saturday, Sofia will go back to my parents' house with Liz, play with Abuelo and Liz for a while and stay the night with my cousins. Yes, things become complicated when you find out last minute about things but I believe this is one opportunity we can't miss out on.

I am 110% Sofia will be WELL taken care of but please pray for her as she experiences her first weekend away from Mama and Papa. We'll say bye bye tomorrow morning and we'll be back Sunday afternoon. I'll keep you posted on how it all goes and take lots of pictures of the weekends activities.

Have a blessed weekend!

Monday miracles, Ruby Tuesday

2008-04-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

Really quickly, I want to share a few of the new, amazing things Sofia has done this week.

Yesterday morning at 8:00am, I hear music coming from Sofia's baby monitor. I waited a few minutes for cries to follow but what I heard was music to my ears (literally and figuratively). Sofia had turned on the music because she wanted to go BACK to sleep.

In the evening, when Syd begins her bedtime routine, he turns on the music and rocks her. Well, Sofia decided that she could 'rock' herself to sleep too. After turning on the Fisher Price soother, she slept for another 2 hours. It was beautiful! I was able to catch up on my sleep and Sofia did the same.

Today, Sofia got into the bath tub on her own. Somehow, she managed to put one leg over the other as she lifted, more like heaved, herself onto the tub ledge and then she turned herself around into the tub. It was quite the feat considering the lengths she had to go through to get her legs onto the ledge. Not only did she get herself into the tub, she then proceeded to play with her bathtime toys, eventhough there was no water. She entertained herself for a while and then got out of the tub on her own too.

Tonight, I went out to eat with my mom and brother and while I was out, Sofia looked for me in the garage. Apparently, when I say 'bye bye' and exit through the garage, she thinks I am hiding in there so after I left, she pointed at the door, looked at Syd and said "Mama." He opened the door for her and she looked all around, high and low. After an unsuccessful search, she threw her hands up and said, "I don't know" (sounds more like I no know) but it was precious nonetheless.

Sweet Sofia picking up each blade of grass she could get her hands on. As you can see, she has mastered her hand eye coordination.

We are so proud of our little girl. She is more precious than words and I can't believe how quickly she is growing up, it is truly incredible to witness. I am so thankful to my wonderful husband for allowing me to stay at home with our angel. I love you, babies!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13

On the go!

2008-04-27T12:49:00.001-07:00

"The Balloon Lady" came to our play group on Friday at the New Territory Water Park. She made Sofia her very first balloon animal, it was a butterfly. Here here she is showing off her masterpiece. She was a little hesitant about going in the water so we enjoyed it from afar. Sofia wanted to sit in baby Maggie's stroller while her Mom was feeding her. It was the first time she actually WANTED to sit in a stroller. Look at that sweet face!

Someone was not happy about going on the merry-go-round. She loved watching the other children ride it, who would have thought she would be so upset about riding it herself?

Nana to the rescue! Sosa and Nana rode the whole time without tears.

Saturday morning at the gym, Sofia and Syd played basketball together for the first time. Funny thing is, we didn't have to teach her. She already understood the concept, the ball was just too big for her to 'shoot' but she definitely wants to play ball.

Delaney and Sofia played together Saturday at Catherine's birthday bash!

Sosa found the sandbox!

Sweet family lovin'

At the Barn Park on Sunday, Sofia found someone's tricycle. We didn't think she was ready for a bike of any kind but apparently, we were wrong. She's a pro already, she's can even ride backwards. Happiness.

With a 17 month old toddler, we tend to be 'busy' alot. It seems like we are always on the go. This weekend was no exception so here's a quick rundown of some exciting things we did.

Friday, we ate at this great Latin restaurant which has live music. Sofia LOVED it. She was not in a particularly great mood since she had a very short nap late in the afternoon but when the band got started to play, she popped up and began to shake her groove thang. She was the star of the show! The restaurant isn't very large to begin with but she captivated the crowd and was dancing to the beat. She was so entertaining, they might even hire her as a back up dancer?

Saturday, we went to a birthday party for Syd's co-worker and played by the pool the whole afternoon. Sofia, Fabianna and I played soccer and took a walk while the men grilled. When we got back, the food was ready and Sofia ate a ton! For having a mom who is a vegetarian, this baby can't get enough meat. I'm happy to know that my daughter is getting enough protein .

After lunch, we headed to another birthday party in Sugar Land. Sofia had so much fun playing with Delaney, Isabella and Aevary at Catherine's birthday bash. They have an amazing backyard so the girls ran around, colored with chalk and played in the sand. All the excitement wore Sofia out and we called it a night fairly early as we had been running around all day.

Sunday, we had a day of rest. We were all exhausted from the week's activities so we kept things low key: we went to the park, watched the NBA playoffs and took a nap. Primo, Danielle, Vanessa, Nana, Uncle Alex, and the Gortons' stopped by for dinner. It was a great end to a great weekend.

Pee Pee in the Potty or something like that?

2008-04-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

This morning, precious Sofia did something she has never done before. No, she didn't use the potty, but she didn't use her diaper either. Did she use the floor as her own private bathroom? YES!

The past few days, I noticed Sofia playing with the tabs that hold her pamper together but I never thought she would be able to undo them completely and take off her diaper. Today, she proved me wrong. This morning, Sofia was still in her nightgown when she walked up to me and handed me a diaper. I thought she had gone to her diaper bag and pulled it out so I said, "Ok, baby, go put it back." She just stood there looking at me with a funny grin on her face so out of curiosity, I lifted up her nighty to see what was up with her diaper. Oh, wait, what diaper? What is going on here?
As I thought back to the 30 minutes prior, I realized she must have taken it off then, while I was making breakfast. She had been parading around the house by herself and avoiding me completely. Something wasn't right here... I started looking around the living room, kitchen, her room and what do I find? A little puddle of pee pee right next to the rug. Thankfully, she hadn't gone anywhere else nor had she wet the carpet. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

After cleaning up the mess, I called Syd to tell him the story and we both agreed she will not be wearing dresses without little 'panties' underneath. Nightgowns are out of the question. We've got to get some pants on that girl!

You won't be seeing Sofia without one of these. I think she kinda likes, check her out!

We have had a wonderful day. Sofia and I spent 2 hours playing at the park and after lunch with Nana, we went on a walk and low-and-behold she is asleep! I think I might join her.
Love to you all!

Sweet girl fascinated by the flowers

Tiny nature girl

Gotta love those flowers!

Who would have thought

2008-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

That a Sprite commercial would cause such a commotion.

Sofia and Adam must have watched this commercial at least 10 times before I started videoing.

17 months!

2008-04-20T20:37:00.001-07:00

Happy 17 month birthday beautiful girl! Sofia has been a Texan for 1 whole year! Last April, we said goodbye to all our dear family and friends in the Netherlands, hopped on a plane for 12hrs and started our new life in Texas. My how Sofia has grown and changed in just those 12 months. The next time Sofia sees Opa Rudolph and Nanny Ilse, they will be amazed at how much she has grown up! I can't even imagine what the flight would be like now, with a VERY active 17 month old who loves to run, explore, be outdoors, and play.

One thing Sofia has learned in the past months is how to go down the stairs...backwards!

Like I've said before, she has been talking up a storm and there's no sign of her stopping. I have read that it takes children in a multi-lingual household a bit longer to 'make sense' of the different languages but she's definitely talking. She is so precious speaking her own language. I have deciphered a few phrases which Sofia uses often: "Let's go," "Let's do it!" "Sit" "I don't know."

Daddy's girl

Sofia is also learning to do things on her own. She 'brushes' her own teeth, she sits down to put her shoes on and she 'puts on' make-up. In the mornings as I am getting dressed, she sits next to me begging for me to give her my blush brush. She also wants to put on lotion and deodorant. Afterwards, she smells herself and smiles. It's too cute!

Mommy and Me

This weekend, we were super busy. It's my dad's 51st birthday tomorrow so we celebrated all weekend. Friday night, we went to Churrascos. We had good food and great company. Sofia behaved wonderfully and ate lots of tostones, steak, shrimp and yuca. It was delicious!

Saturday night, we had a surprise party for JNA. The party was a huge success and Sofia had tons of fun. As part of the surprise, my cousins played music and Sofia LOVED it. It was around 10:00 when they started the music and despite being exhausted from the day's activities, she started clapping and dancing. She was mesmerized by the music and had a wonderful night playing with Isabella and Fabianna.

JNA + SHH = love

The 3 musketeers!

Uncle Daniel came home for the party!Beautiful girls.

Today we went to church and immediately after, went to the Nass' for a barbecue. Sofia played with her cousins all afternoon and she had her first encounter with a sandbox! Sofia loved playing in the sand with all Isa's toys. She especially liked the shovel and the bucket. She was very busy in the sand box but then, she wanted to eat the sand so we had to get out. Before we went home, Isa and Sof took a bath because they were both covered in sand from head to toe.

Busy bees!

Sofia found a chair just her size!

We had a fabulous weekend of celebrations. Sofia took a very long nap this afternoon and is now sound asleep which means I should be off to bed too. We've got a long day of playing ahead of us.

Have a blessed week.
"where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:21

Playtime

2008-04-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

As Sofia has gotten older, I have realized it is harder to keep her entertained so this week we tried something new. Everyday, we have gone to different parks in our area to run around and get some of her energy out. She loves to climb, explore and play with the other kids.

Monday, we went to Katy Mills to play in the kids area. I was surprised how baby friendly it is, the floor is even baby proof! Sofia loves to crawl through the tunnels, run around 'town' and drive the cars. She can climb up the stairs and slide down the tree house all on her own! The one problem I have found is that there is no gate so she is constantly running into the hallway and I have to chase after her. It is a work out for the both of us, that's for sure.

Tuesday, we went to the Houstonian and while Mama got a haircut, Laura and Sofia played on the play ground. She was fascinated by the different rocks and was content to sit and play with them. Her fine motor skills are developing so she is now able to stoop down to pick up tiny tiny things. Her favorite thing to pick up? Lint. She definitely takes after me with that one!! It's amazing that she could barely walk a few months ago and look at her now.

Yesterday, we played in Grand Lakes. They have some awesome parks and we found an open field to run in. Now that she can run, Sofia loves to play 'tag'. And as she runs, she giggles. Sometimes, she falls from the laughter but she always gets back up with a huge smile on her face. Her laugh is precious. We play tag in the evening with Papa, too.

Today, Sofia and I were back at the mall looking for birthday gifts for Abuelo so you know where we started. Sofia played for an hour, but today we didn't have as much fun because there was an older kid who wasn't being very nice. Sofia sat in the car with little boy (probably 4 or so) and he didn't want to share so he kinda pushed her. Then, being the innocent baby that she is, Sofia tried to hug him and he started to scream. The worst part was that his mom was standing right there and didn't do anything! I'm not one to give out parenting advice but COME ON! I picked Sofia up out of the car and took her somewhere else to play. I'm just glad daddy wasn't with us, otherwise that things would have taken a turn for the worst. Anywho, despite the little boy being ugly, Sofia had a great time. She played with another little girl her own age who gladly accepted the love Sofia wanted to give.

Playtime at the parks has become part of our daily routine and both Sofia and I look forward to it! Each day is a new adventure that I treasure.

Look Who's Talking!

2008-04-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's just a few days from Sofia's 17th month birthday and she has had a huge spurt in her speaking abilities. This weekend, Sofia started talking and talking and talking and she hasn't stopped since. I have read that it is common for babies her age to use 10-15 words meaningfully, well I think she's got about at least 30 words down. She is also very good at mimicking sounds and inflection.

The one word I wish she couldn't say was 'no'. Everything these days is no. Sofia, do you want to take a nap? No! Sofia, do you want some milk? No! Sofia, give Mama a kiss. No! Sofia, let's take a bath. No! No! No! No! The way she says it is so cute, we can't get mad at her for telling us no. Even when she's being naughty, you gotta love her!

Here's a quick video I made yesterday, she has reached a point where she is starting to make sentences and is understandable...at least to Syd and me.

Don't you like how she has her own way of pronouncing things? No one's name comes out as it should and she calls herself, 'Sosa'. I love it!

That's it for now. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Go Stros!!

2008-04-13T19:20:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Sofia went to her very first Astros game. She absolutely LOVED it and sat intensely watching the baseball game or 'ba ba' as she likes to call it. I must say, the game would not have been as exciting had we not been with such an interesting crowd. Laura, Will, and Adam definitely made the game for Sofia. They entertained her all night long!

Sofia loved dancing with Aunt 'Ra Ra', goofing around with Adam, and watching the game and bonding with Uncle 'Wii". She also enjoyed the yummy food. There was a table just her size filled with all sorts of goodies and she would sneak cheese, strawberries, crackers, water bottles, you name it! I think she ate more than I did while we were at Minute Maid.

Sofia's 1st Astros game

Sneaking off with some goodies
Adam and his little Astro. He's excited!
Papa and Sofia enjoying the game.Wow, can I really sit in a big chair?
Get it, Laura!

Godparents in green!

Exploring the halls during the 7th inning stretch
Sundaes!!

Sweet Aunt Laura and Sof

Sofia and Uncle Will. They had a breakthrough that night.

Don't mind me, I'm just watching the game in my pajamas, guys.

We love our friends!! Thanks for such wonderful memories and for loving our child as much as we do.

Snip Its!

2008-04-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

Pretty pretty princess

Today after our play group at church, Sofia got her very first REAL haircut! My dad's birthday is coming up and he asked that we get her a haircut as his gift. I have to agree with him, Sofia's hair was a little too long and after several of Syd's haircuts, it might also have been lopsided. The front was much longer than the back, does that make that my baby had a mullet?

In any case, Sofia's hair has been professionally styled by the amazing people at Snip Its! It's definitely the cutest kids hair dresser I've ever seen and the people are great with the kiddos. I was hesitant to get her hair cut because I knew she wouldn't sit still AND she probably wouldn't want a stranger touching her but the people were pros.

Not only did Sofia sit through the entire cut without trying to jump out of the chair, she didn't want to leave! That's probably because the place is set up like a giant toy store. The whole experience was wonderful, not to mention, Sofia looks absolutely adorable with her new haircut!

Before: Beautiful Sofia and Mama (notice how her hair was in eyes)

After: Even more beautiful Sofia, much better!

Getting ready for her 1st haircut

My patient little girl

snip, snip, snip

Time for a blow dry

All done!!

The magic machine that turns hair into toys!

2008-04-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Our weekend consisted of:

Alexander Elementary's Carnival. Sofia and Isabella went 'fishing' and both won prizes all by themselves!

Juicy Juice. Sofia's newest obsession. I am proud of her for leaving her bottle behind and graduating to a straw.

Antonio's Flying Pizza. Sofia liked playing with her food and Abuelo did too. Thanks, grandparents.

NCAA Tournament Time! Sofia loves basketball, especially if she gets to watch with Papa! Everytime someone dunks, she claps.

Sofia strutting her stuff. She was so excited to wear her new dress and new shoes, can't you tell? What a doll face!

RPC

Spending quality time with Nana and Abuelo.

Gloves to protect Sofia's tiny hands while gardening.

My little helper was helping me all day, Sunday. She likes to 'dig, dig, dig'. For the record, it's much cuter when she says it.

My angel baby.

I also want to mention that we are officially done buying furniture for our new house! Saturday, we had some good family qt. We went furniture shopping all day and found a beautiful dining room table and a couch/futon for the office so as of tomorrow, our house will be DONE!

If you haven't come by to see it, now would be a perfect time and if you already have seen it, come again because we now have a finished product.

Have a fabulous week.

Remember:
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

-Romans 12:12

After last week's fiasco, I am going to live by this verse!

And the winner is...

2008-04-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sofia 1 -
Naps 0

Last week was definitely a learning experience for both me and Sofia. I meant to post each day about our naptime woes but we were without internet for a few days so here's a recap of the short lived battle:

After the catastrophic start of our new napping schedule, I had little hope for getting my girl to nap in the day. She is clearly a healthy, happy, vivacious little girl who is growing each and every day so who is Dr. What's his name to tell me when my child needs to sleep?

Sure I know it's best for her to nap in the day but I can't force her and she sent that message loud and clear the first day I tried 'ferberizing' her. After talking it through with Syd, we've decided to take the approach of ' if she's tired, she'll sleep'. As I continued reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, I began to see that my child was quite different than those the dr. spoke of in his book. She isn't 'sleep deprived', she's got a ferocious appetite, she's energetic, pleasant to be around and like I said, when she's tired, she sleeps. What more could I ask for?

I DID get Sofia to nap 3 times last week, all of which were in the car. I don't mind driving around the neighborhood 10-15 minutes if it gets her to sleep, and when I see that she is tired, I get in the car and go. And, I would much rather do that than sit in my bedroom, listening to my baby's heart wrenching cry and not do anything about it.

Sorry, Dr. Ferber, Dr. Weissbluth, I do not concur with your findings.

Sweet sweet Sofia

Where's Sofia?

Big girl, big fork!

The battle has begun...

2008-04-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Today, at 11:56 am, Sofia declared war on all naps. She has been very inconsistent with her nap time for the last month and as I began to read Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, I realized that I have an exhausted child on my hands. She is constantly being stimulated and for her age, she isn't getting enough sleep. I figured that if she was sleeping 12 hours at night, that was plenty but I was waaayyy off. According to this pediatrician, babies her age need 1-2 naps per day. Well, I haven't read through the whole book so I can't say whether or not he is a quack or not but since the book was recommended to me by an experienced mother of 2, I would say it's legit.

When Sofia woke up this morning, she was clearly still tired. She was pulling at her ear (her notorious sign for sleepiness) and yawning the whole morning so after we went to the grocery store, I drove around to try to get her to sleep because I knew this would be a struggle but to no avail, she was awake when we got home. I took her to her room and rocked her while we listened to her lullabies and she was out. And by out, I mean, snoring, drooling, etc. The second I stood up to put her in her crib, she started to cry and hasn't stopped since. It is now 12:34pm and she is going strong with the crying so I will let her cry it out for another 22 minutes and if she doesn't fall asleep by then, we will just try again tomorrow.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Ferber method. It's so hard sitting here, trying to ignore the screaming baby I have in the other room but there's no other way for me to get her to sleep otherwise. My motherly instinct is telling me to run in there and rescue her but I know by doing that, I will be sending mixed signals because we haven't achieved the goal I set out for her: a NAP!

If anyone has any advice or suggestions on how to get my tired baby to sleep, let me know. Until then, I will keep posting about my Sofia's naptime battle.

On another note, I have to share this:

Sunday, Syd was at the gym and I had to take a shower which meant that Sofia would be bored, sitting outside my shower door, wondering what I was doing in there and why I wasn't outside, playing with her. I decided to give Sofia a snack and set her rocking chair in front of the tv to watch Sesame Street. I always assumed she was too young for television plus, I didn't want to get into the habit of just shoving a tv in front of her face to keep her entertained. So, I go to take my shower and Sofia just stayed in the living room, enjoying her snack and learning about the number 9. My little girl is growing up!

Hey mama, don't worry about me, I'm a big girl now!

March Madness

2008-03-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we were out and about, enjoying the beautiful weather, visiting with friends, celebrating the arrival of new babies sand watching basketball.

Friday night, we headed to the all too classy, Hooters, to meet up with the Tichenor family. We had a wonderful time, the men were focused on basketball while Meredith and I talked...we just talked and talked and talked some more. The main focus of our conversation was on what we love most, our babies! Her son, Carson is 11 months younger than Sofia but somehow, they are the same size. He's such an adorable baby and we look forward to spending more time with their sweet family. We just love them!

Saturday morning, Sofia and Syd made Dutch pancakes and played outside. They picked flowers and collected leaves, fun times! Sofia and I were at a baby shower all afternoon. We were supposed to go to a 2 year old's birthday party after the baby shower but Sofia was so tired after shower, she dozed off in the car and we decided it was better to let her sleep so we nixed the birthday party. After Sofia woke up, we went to visit Aunt Nessa at her parents' house. We had fun visiting with her, it's always nice to see my little sunshine. We ate dinner at my mom's restaurant and Sofia enjoyed a huge dinner. Her menu included fried tortellini, gnocchi marinara, fettucini alfredo and swiss chard. She is such a good eater! After Thanksgiving dinner, we headed back home and Sofia fell asleep in the car.

Today, Sofia, Isabella, Missy, Aevary and I went to baby Noah's baby shower. We had fun playing at Trey and Cat's playhouse. Delaney kindly shared her toys with the girls and Sofia fell in love with the baby doll stroller and carrier. She happily pushed it around the house while we opened gifts and talked. The girls played while the mommies shared advice. As we talked, the subject of sleeping came up and Cat recommended a book which she says helped her tremendously when Delaney was a baby. The book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, outlines how many hours of sleep babies need each night at each stage of development. According to Dr. Weissbluth, I need to be putting Sofia down for a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoons so this week, we will be facing yet another hurdle with the little princess: the daytime nap. I will update you all this week to let you know how she handles this adjustment. Mer, I'll be passing the book along to you after I'm done with it if you're interested.

After the shower, Sofia, Syd and I had dinner with my parents. She was happy to see Nana and Abuelo, who had just returned from Venezuela.

Our weekend was almost perfect, the only thing that would have made it better would have been if the Horns had beaten Memphis! Oh well, there's always next year.

One last thing before I forget: April 11th, I will be hosting Bunco at my house so if anyone is interested in coming, and I mean anyone, please let me know. You don't need to know how to play, this will only be my 3rd time so come one, come all!

Peace, love and longhorns.

Girly girl

2008-03-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sofia is developing into quite the little princess. She is all about her accessories! Sofia has been very picky about what shoes she wants to wear and won't leave the house without her purse. It's quite a sight to see because she's only 16 months!

Monday, Sofia and I went to the doctor for her 16 month check up. I am glad to say that she is just perfect; 23 lbs, 30 inches and doing great as far as her development is concerned. Sofia is ahead of the game with her speaking abilities and the doctor said that she is showing no signs of being a premature baby. She has caught up on her height and weight and she is right on schedule with her motor skills. The reason I mention the doctor's appointment is because Sofia HAD to carry her huge pink purse that she found at my mom's house with her into the appointment. She was walking through the doctor's office with a purse the same size as she is and wobbling because she could barely keep her balance. While the doctor evaluated her, she clung to her purse and wouldn't let it out of her sight.

She has even realized that purses are meant to be used to carry things. Today, she hid my cell phone in the purse and carried it around, all the while I was searching for my phone, not knowing that she had hidden it! Oh, what a sweet baby I have.

Sofia also has a favorite pair of shoes, she is bringing back patent leather! The past few mornings, Sofia has brought me her dressy black shoes and insisted that I put them on her before we leave the house. Although she lacks the vocabulary to give me instructions, she is good at communicating what she wants with her oohohhs and ahhahhs.

I look forward to the day when Sofia and I can go shopping together since share the same passion for fashion but I know one person who is dreading the day and it's probably because he'll be footing the bill...ha! Sydmil, get ready!!

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating Easter! Sofia, Syd and I all slept very well last night, here's what was on the agenda for the weekend:

Saturday morning, we went to Hosanna Church for a 12,000 Easter egg hunt. That's right, I said 12,000. Little Sofia enjoyed herself and grabbed 10 eggs on her own! She participated in the birth -2 yr. old category which was interesting because all the 2 year olds were hustling and bustling to get the most eggs possible while the littler kids were just walking aimlessly, shaking the eggs that they saw and if they were lucky, one or two would end up in their basket. Sofia did a great job! Syd and I kept her focused on picking up eggs but she liked to admire the eggs she picked up before dropping them in the basket. After the egg hunt, Sofia played in a moonwalk for the very first time. She had a wonderful time jumping around and loved being able to fall down without hurting herself.

After the Easter egg hunt, we met up with my parents for the Easter service at River Pointe. Can I just take a moment and shout out to the worship band because they were AMAZING!!
I loved the service, the pastor did a great job, reminding us all the real meaning of Easter. The final song, 'Redeemer,' was so appropriate for Easter, I have to share some of the lyrics: Now I know my Redeemer lives, I know my Redeemer lives, let all creation testify, let this life within we cry, I know my Redeemer He lives To take away my shame And He lives forever, I'll proclaim that the payment for my sin was the precious life He gave but now He's alive and there's an empty grave.

Beautiful Sofia enjoying the beautiful day God made.

Sofia enjoyed herself at the nursery. Her Sunday school teachers even left a report in her diaper bag saying she was in a pleasant mood and behaved well. Yeah baby! She was pooped after all the day's activities and fell asleep early on the way home.

Sunday we spent all day with my family, enjoying delicious food from the Italian Maid Cafe and relaxing. After brunch at my mom's restaurant, my dad decided that we needed to head to PG Country Club for a photo opp. so we dragged all 15 family members with us to take advantage of the beautiful day. Sofia and her cousins took some darling photos.

a

Our Easter Sunday ended on a sweet note. As I have been saying, Sofia has been doing great with her bedtime routine. Last night, Syd lay Sofia down just as her music was turning off so what does she do? She sat up, gave her daddy a good night kiss, turned her music back on and laid back down to get some much needed rest. How precious is that baby?

Dance dance revolution

2008-03-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Anneke, Lizzie and my mom came over to help me babysit my cousins and Isabella requested that we play Sofia's favorite jams, the Fisher Price tunes, of course. As the music began to play, the babies began to jump around and let loose, meanwhile the adults were doing the very same thing. It was hilarious to watch both the babies and the adults cause they were all dancing as if they didn't have a care in the world, the funny thing is that I caught this all on video so here it is for all to see:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2974828070696354913

It's for the kids!! Promise, yeah right, Anneke.

Busy bees

2008-03-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

This week, Sofia and I have been very busy. It was spring break for all the elementary schools so that meant that Missy, Isa and Aevary were around to play all day! We hung out with the Nass girls practically everyday and we also got to hang out with Fabianna who didn't have school either, so needless to say, Sofia had a blast with her friends.

Yesterday, we all went to childrens' time at the library and the girls had a blast. We sang songs, danced, and then checked out some books for storytime of our own at home. After the library, we came back to our house and painted.

Today, Sofia, Fabianna and I went to the Aquarium. I had never been so getting there proved to be a challenge...it wasn't so much getting to the Aquarium as it was getting onto the HOV lane to avoid all the morning traffic. Can I just say right now that I hate I-10 and think that it is way too confusing to drive on. Well, back to the Aquarium, after a much too long car ride, we arrived and headed inside. Sofia was fascinated by the fish and bright colors that she saw. We even got to see white tigers, which by the way, Sofia loved.

Sofia has been repeating things more and more. For those of you who don't know, Fabianna is from Venezuela so we were speaking Spanish and Sofia would repeat everything we said: she can say 'agua, abuelo (which sounds more like bullo), mas, hola' and the rest of her Spanish sounds like tickatickaticka blah blah blah.

Just to update everyone: Sofia is feeling so much better and the doctor called yesterday to tell me that her urinary tract infection test was negative so she most likely had a little virus which has been going around. She is back to her joyful self and enjoyed an eventful week with her mama and friends. Thanks for all your prayers!

I want to say again how proud I am of my little girl. She has been doing great with her new nighttime routine and the past 3 days, when Syd put her in her crib, she stayed asleep and continued to sleep until 9:00am. We couldn't ask for anything more!

We look forward to this beautiful Easter weekend and wish you all a blessed Easter!

Break through!!!

2008-03-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Sofia has had a major break through in her daily routine. As I have mentioned before, every night before Sofia goes to sleep, Syd rocks her for 30 minutes and then places her in her crib and no matter how deep of a sleep she is in, she always wakes up at this point and cries for him to pick her up. Sometimes she would cry for 10 minutes, other times, 40 minutes. No matter what, it was always a hard time for both baby and parent.
Well ladies and gentlemen, Saturday night after rocking Sofia, Syd placed her in her crib expecting her to start the tearful good bye but instead of crying, Sofia sat up, waved to her Papa and then laid back down and went to sleep. Yes, she was actually saying to him, "Ok Papa, see you tomorrow. I've got this covered, you can go now." If Sofia hadn't been sleeping, I'm sure Syd would have started jumping up and down, screaming 'hallelujah!',
After Saturday night's bedtime events, we thought that Sofia's behavior might have been a fluke and we prepared ourselves for the worst on Sunday night. Wrong! Again, Sofia fell asleep on Syd's shoulder and when he put her in the crib, she got up and waved bye bye. Monday, she had a repeat performance so I am willing to bet that Sofia has overcome her hatred for her crib and being left along. We are so very proud of our little girl and can only pray that she continues to sleep so well.

In other news, Sofia has been running a fever the past 2 days. I took her to the doctor yesterday and she thinks Sofia has a urinary tract infection but the results won't be in 2 days. Please keep our girl in your prayers, that she may fight off the infection and return to good health for Easter weekend.

Love you all!

Pre- Easter weekend!

2008-03-18T13:38:00.001-07:00

My girls. Love you Aunt Liz and Lala.
The beautiful Nass family.

Sweet Isi-pisi.

Check out Sofia in action.

As we are preparing for our big Easter weekend, Sofia needed to brush up on her egg hunting skills so Saturday, we participated in an Easter egg hunt at my cousin's neighborhood. Sofia had a blast running around with her cousins and Syd and I had a great time catching up with our wonderful friends and family. Being such a beautiful day, Saturday we had an impromptu photo shoot at the Easter egg hunt so here are the latest and greatest photos of the Harris family and our entourage.

Easter Egg Hunt take 2. Sofia had a whole basket of eggs she picked up on her own.

Best friends forever.

The loves of my life.

Sofia baby.

The Easter bunny!!

My family.

Picture time!

2008-03-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sofia and Mama playing the "piano." I think this child is destined to do something musical in her future.Look closely and you'll see Sofia took it upon herself to do bicep reps with the 1lb weights in the gym. She is so strong, she picks up everything as you can see.

Truly the fashionista, Sofia put on my sunglasses and posed for this shot.

Somebody loves chocolate!

Check out Sofia's bite sized fork, spoon, plate, bowl and cup. She loves it!

Last but not least, here's a video of this Italian princess enjoying some fettucini alfredo:
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3277988542615442152

March of Dimes

2008-03-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

Monday I had the opportunity to attend the March of Dimes Neiman Marcus Fashion Show. It was an amazing event which benefited a great cause and Monday's luncheon raised an incredible amount of money all going towards research and education of mothers to ensure that all babies are healthy babies.

While I was pregnant with Sofia, I was told by the doctors that Sofia might have complications at birth because she was so small in weight. There were days on end when I would research possible side effects of having a low birth weight child, what was causing her to have such a low weight, the list went on and on. My original doctor here in Texas told me that if I went to Holland to have Sofia, I would be doing what I wanted, not what was best for the baby and I was selfish for ever thinking otherwise. He told me I had a placental malfunction. I went for ultrasounds every 2 weeks, was on bed rest for the last 2 months and went to every other day to monitor Sofia's heart for the last month of my pregnany. Turns out, my original doctor miscalculated my due date by 2 weeks and that is why she was premature.

During those days, one of my favorite websites was marchofdimes.com. I found it to be a great help when I was looking for answers and I am glad that there is an organization like March of Dimes for pregnant women and new mothers. AND, being the mother of a premature child, I am even more appreciative of the work March of Dimes does. I can remember those long 2 weeks Sofia sat in the NICU, it was very difficult for both Syd and I and we were there 7 times a day, exhausting ourselves. I am grateful to have a beautiful, happy, healthy 16 month old and am happy I got to participate in an event with such a worthy cause.

15.5 month update

2008-03-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Our almost 16 month baby is growing up so quickly! She is already starting to look like a little girl and it's unbelievable how fast time has flown by. I feel like just yesterday we were celebrating her first birthday and watching her take her first steps.

I am proud to say that Sofia has cut her 9th tooth. She has her front 2 teeth which are quite clear from all the pictures I have been posting, her bottom two front teeth, her back 4 molars and she just got another top tooth. Teething is such a painful time, both for babies and parents. I didn't know much it affected babies sleeping patters until I did some research after Sofia's change in sleeping patters. It seems like when babies are teething, they are exhausted by the pain they are experiencing but won't go to sleep because want to be comforted by their parents. This poor baby would not go to sleep without some baby Orajel and a 30 minute rocking session from either mama or papa.

Not only was Sofia teething but she was also adjusting to a new routine. After hearing the Super Nanny speak, I realized that Sofia had running the show around here when it came to bedtime and we couldn't have that anymore. Since we had moved back from Holland, Sofia was on no real schedule. The time change was hard enough to overcome so we thought it best to let her fall asleep in our bed and then put her in her crib after she fell asleep. Hmm....convenient, yest but not practical. The Super Nanny influenced our decision and also, talking to a friend whose 7 year old daughter STILL sleeps with them.

For the past 2 weeks, Sofia has been getting to bed at 9:00 and waking up at 9:30am. We are blessed to have a child who sleeps so well at night, her nap schedule on the other hand is very erratic and some days, she skips naps completely. Since she has learned to walk, she prefers to stay awake exploring the world.

Sofia is also making strides with her talking. She says 'more' when she wants more food, 'no no', 'ruff ruff', 'moo', 'agua.' She can definitely understand alot more than she actually says but she is repeating everything she hears. We have to be careful with what we say nowadays. Just last week I was on the phone with Syd and I said 'No, no I don' think I'm going to the gym" and all of a sudden I hear, "no, no no". Ahh, so cute!

She is eating everything and anything she can get her hands on but rather than sit down and eat one big meal, Sofia prefers to snack through out the day. She is also a big fan of what I like to call 'smoothies' which is just Yo Baby! and whole milk. I add the yogurt for some flavor.

We are also trying to introduce a plate, bowl, fork, spoon and glass to Sofia. Up until now, we were afraid to use real plates for fear of Sofia breaking them but she has her own plate that she can use now as well as bite sized utensils. She is catching the drift and enjoys the challenge of actually getting the food onto the fork.

And, as I'm sure you all have heard, Sofia is now dancing. She is a dance fanatic and I'm pretty sure she and her 2 year old cousin, Isabella, would win America's Next Dance crew, hands down. So to celebrate my sweet baby's 15.5 month old birthday, here's a video I made of her doing what she does best...among other things.

www.video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7735092515587106206

Sunny Days

2008-03-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the warm weather and our wonderful neighborhood parks!

No matter what, there's always time for a phone call.

This past week, Sofia, Carsley (Syd's brother), Celia (Carsley's girlfriend) and I enjoyed the beautiful weather. We explored our new neighborhood and found some really great parks that Sofia loves. She loves to swing in the baby swing and go down the slides. I try to take my little lovebug to the park once a day or at least let her play outside on our swing set so she get some stimulation.

So, Wednesday me and 'the gang' went on an afternoon stroll, unbeknown to us that our lovely walk would end in potential disaster. We left our house at around 12pm and headed to Starbucks for coffee and then decided to go to the park near our house. We stayed there for about an hour, Sofia enjoyed the jungle gym and the swings. She was having a great time but I could tell she was getting tired so we called it a day after about an hour. I gave Sofia her bottle and some snacks hoping she would fall asleep on the walk home but nope, nothing. When we arrived home, she was hot, sweaty and sleepy. Not a good combination.

This was us at the park, giggles and grins all around.

As we get to our house, I open the garage door and tried to open the house door which I thought we left UNLOCKED but came to realize that no! Celia had locked the door, thinking I had the key, and now we were locked out. Not only did I have a tired baby on my hands but I didn't have a clue how to get into the house. Syd had BOTH sets of keys to the house and he was at work...in the Galleria area. We could have gotten in the car and driven to the office to pick the house keys up from him but oops, just our luck, that morning, my sweet husband had left me the car but no car keys. Great, we were stuck outside on one of the hottest days of 2008.

I called Syd to fill him in on our predicament; I thought I would just vent to him about our day but he started to tell me about his day and lucky for us, he was having an equally bad day. Apparently, the power at the office kept going on and off. Their laptops batteries were very low and no one was able to work SO he told me they were going to wait 30 more minutes to see if the power would come back on but more than likely, he would be home within the hour.

I was ecstatic to hear the bad news Syd shared with me because this meant that we wouldn't have to pay the $200 for a new window that my helpful brother-in-law had offered to break, nor would we have to pay the $60 a locksmith would charge to break into my own home. Yes! Our day had taken a turn for the better and thankfully, we were only locked out of our house for a mere hour.

In the time it took for Syd to get home from work and let us back in the house, Sofia and I took a walk and she fell asleep which is a miracle in and of itself. What started off as a disastrous day had a beautiful ending, we got back in the house just in time for Jeopardy! and I had a sleeping baby. Life is just plain wonderful.

San Marcus, some say San Marvelous

2008-03-02T20:01:00.000-08:00

This weekend, we took a quick trip to San Marcus to visit my brother. He and his girlfriend were the best hosts, Sofia enjoyed herself immensely. She loved their dogs and constantly wanted to watch them and every time she walked off, she would say 'dog' and laugh to herself. It was so cute!

While we were out to dinner, Sofia did the most amazing thing. I ordered her finger foods but she decided that today, she was going to use a fork so she grabbed mine and very intently tried to feed herself french fries and chicken strips with a fork. She worked really hard to get them onto the fork and once she did, she would use the wonderful hand eye coordination that God gave us to get it into her mouth. That seemed to be the hardest part for her but she got it a few times and now she prefers using forks over fingers.

The part that is hardest to believe is that no one taught her how to use a fork, it's amazing how babies learn by observation! It is truly a beautiful thing to watch your child grow up and Syd and I are absolutely in awe of our sweet girl.

Check out Sofia go!

Victory!

SuperNanny to the rescue!

2008-02-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

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.?!

2008-02-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-02-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-02-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

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!

ThanKsgivng

2007-11-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Giving thanks...

My beautiful daughter is the biggest blessing in my life, she gets cuter and cuter each day. This weekend, we went to Austin for the UT Basketball game and she didn't cry once! Not even when we were at the game and she was utterly exhausted, she just put her head down and fell asleep in my arms. From the day she was born, Sofia has melted our hearts. Tomorrow will be her first 'real' Thanksgiving and I know she will enjoy being with her family, who showers her with love and attention. I am thankful for my healthy, happy 1yr. old!

I am thankful for my husband who loves me, who sacrificed his basketball career for my happiness, who works hard and plays harder, who is the best papa, who is proud of his two girls, who is patient and kind and who inspires me.

I am thankful for my amazing parents who continue to teach me and lead me to be a better person. Growing up, they gave me more than I ever could have asked for and loved me (even when I was a teenager, from the stories I've heard, I was pretty terrible). They mean the world to me and I hope that someday, Sofia will see in me what I see in them.

I am thankful for my silly sister, Liz. She has grown into an amazing woman and my best friend. I wouldn't be able to get through the day without her; her laughter is my medicine.

I am thankful for my protectors, my brothers. Cheo and Daniel have done more for me than I could ever say and as we get older, they are always there for me. They pick me up when I fall and always have my best interest at heart. Despite how I may act at times, I cherish them.

I am thankful for friends. Although it has been hard staying in touch, I hope they each know how much they mean to me. Thank you for loving me and more importantly loving my family; for flying 14 hours to play with Sofia; for catching me when I fall and for reminding me not to take myself too seriously. I love each of you and am thankful for memories that we share.

I am more than thankful for the beautiful family I have been blessed with and the great friends I have. I love you all more than words can say and hope that you have a Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-09T22:13:00.001-08:00

After waiting patiently for the last 6 months, I am proud to say that Sydmil has finally been approved for his permanent residency and will begin working as a technical engineer for Merrick Systems beginning October 19th! When Syd made the decision to retire from basketball and start a new career here, we were under the impression that he would begin working in June.. yeah right. Our adviser told us that Syd's paperwork would be processed in 6 weeks and he would be authorized to work immediately thereafter; clearly we were misinformed. Let me start off by saying, I am glad I am an American because reading immigration forms are like reading Chinese! After 3 hours of filling our forms, searching for birth certificates, documenting our relationship and last but not least, waking up at 5:45am and driving to the Homeland Security Office for a 10 minute interview, Syd now is the proud holder of a green card!

I am so lucky to have such a kind and patient husband who never complained once through the whole process. Being on vacation is fun for a month, maybe two but not being able to work for the past 6 months has been hard for Syd. Quitting pro. basketball was bitter sweet, I think that he misses the competition and living in Europe but we know that it's best for Sofia to be in a permanent location. Syd is really excited about his new job and the opportunity he has been given. I know that not being able to work was hard for him but it's has also been a blessing in disguise.

Being in Texas for the past 6 months has been great and having my amazing husband around all the time has been wonderful! I think Sofia has benefited most from the situation because she has her daddy around. Sofia and Syd are best friends and she is the epitome of a Daddy's girl. Every day, they play together, dance to MJ and explore; he is a precious father. When Syd started training from 9-5 a month ago, Sofia was heartbroken.The first day he left, she sat and cried as he walked out the door. It broke his heart and I know it was tough for her but she has adjusted to his new schedule. We are lucky enough to have had this vacation time together and are proud that Syd can enter the corporate world.

Living in Europe was incredible but there's no place like home.

11 months old?!

2007-10-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's true, little Miss Sofia Helena will be 1 year old in less than one month. It is incredible how quickly time flies! Sofia was born on November 20, 2006 in Bergen op Zoom, NL and will be celebrating her 1st birthday here in Texas. It is amazing how much has changed in just 1 year. Sofia has gone from being a 6lb. preemie to a 21lb. active baby. Each and every day, Sofia amazes us.
Here are just a few new skills Sofia has recently acquired:

She has mastered the 'pinch' shall we say, and can feed herself finger foods, her favorite being cheese. She also enjoys Vanilla Wafers a great deal but despises Ritz Crackers.
Speaking of food, she has also developed a serious appetite for EVERYTHING...from chicken and stars to beef and barley, this girl loves food. Syd is proud to say that she doesn't share the same aversion to meat as her mommy :)

Sofia is on the verge of walking too. Two months ago, we bought her a walker and from day 1, she has loved it. She can walk around the house, exploring and laughing, without any help from Mommy or Papa. I am positive she will take her first steps before her 1st birthday. Click on the link to see her in action:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8617018693044311572

She can also speak two languages! Well, I wouldn't exactly call it 'speaking' but Sofia understands commands in English and Dutch. We are working on Spanish but I don't want to overwhelm the poor thing. She definitely has invented her own language and it t sounds a little something like this: "Da na bam bum ma da goo," it's the sweetest thing you will ever hear.

She can turn out the light when you ask her to, close the door, open it, raise her hands up high, clap, wave...the list goes on and on. It is amazing how much she can absorb and I know this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We have been blessed with a beautiful baby and we are thankful to be her parents or as she would say, her "Ma ma ma" and "Pa pa pa."

Milestones

2007-10-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Harris family blog! As you all know, Syd and I are absolutely terrible about emailing and keeping you all up to date about what is going on in our lives so I have created this website to do just that. We hope that you all enjoy the stories we post no matter how serious or silly they may be; 'Sitting with Syd' was just the beginning!
You all mean so much to us so please, stay in touch and check back with us to see what new and exciting things are happening with the Harris'.