Christmas- Part 1

We just celebrated Christmas! Doesn't everybody celebrate Christmas twice? We do. We had the McDermott Christmas first, and are flying to Portland to have my family's Christmas on the actual Christmas. Sophie is going to grow up thinking that everybody gets to have 2 Christmas celebrations. McDermott Christmas is truly like Christmas day. We wake up and do stockings, open presents, eat entirely too much, and watch the kids go crazy on sugar highs and new-toy excitement. Sophie spent most of Christmas running around and watching what the other kids were doing. She could not be stopped to worry about what she was getting, she had to see what the big kids got! We are very lucky that Mac and Emily's children truly care for Sophie and don't mind her following them around everywhere. Even, to our dismay into the bathroom. We had a wonderful Christmas, and are now resting up to prepare for Christmas (again).

Sophie stops to focus on her new toy. Mainly I just like the picture because I think her pigtails are so darn cute. The stick straight out of her head like Pippi Longstocking.

The big kids could hardly stand that the littlest one had the biggest present under the tree. They kindly offered to open it for her. As you can see, Uncle Ry lends a helping hand to keep Sophie in one spot. It was not long before she took off again!

Finally, after all the gifts are opened, Sophie pauses to look at her new toys. Now we just have to find room for everything.

Children's Museum

While we were in Portland, we visited the Children's Museum. It was wonderful, and we could have spent all day there. I took a couple of pictures of Sophie's favorite rooms- we will definitely have to go back!

The grocery store- Sophie shopped and shopped! They had everything that a real store has, including scales to weigh fruit, and a checkout that beeped when you slid your food across the scanner. I loved that everything was reachable for little hands!

The water room- it was lucky they had waterproof aprons for the kids to wear, because Sophie had a great time splashing! She loved watching the water shoot out of pipes, and collecting all the rubber ducks. It is unfortunate that they did not supply aprons for the parents to wear.

The dig room- Sophie spent a lot of time here- and was one of a few girls to do so! She loved playing in all the rocks, filling her bucket and watching the little boys. I am sure that we will visit this museum again, maybe even at Christmas!

19 Months

We just got back from Portland, where we spent the last two and a half weeks. It was great to spend a longer amount of time, and I am pleased to say that we got everything ready for Christmas! Sophie had a wonderful time, of course, and enjoyed spending lots of time with family. She is now getting to a fun age where she is starting to pretend- we had many tea parties! It was easier to leave knowing that we will be back soon.

Sophie was very fortunate to be able to see her cousin Claire almost everyday! They spent a lot of time playing together while the mommies got to sit and chat. It was fun to catch up!

This trip, I was able to meet up with my high school friend Heather and her son Marek. We enjoyed a nice lunch while our kids stared at each other, and of course, wanted what the other was eating.

Rosie and Sophie are still best friends and played a lot together. Seriously. Their favorite game was chasing each other around the house. This was great as it wore Sophie out. Sophie loved to give Rosie pats-very firm pats. It's a good thing Rosie is a kind-tempered dog.

Nana brought out some classy jewelry from the '80's which Sophie loved. She spent many days walking around looking like Mr. T. Her favorite necklace- a thick gold chain. It completed many outfits.

Oh Cristmas Tree!

It is very Christmassy at our house. I realize that it is a little early to decorate for Christmas, but since we are going to be in Portland for a couple of weeks, now seemed a good time to decorate. We only put out about a third of all of our Christmas things- no glass- and have yet to put up our Christmas Village. Village= lots of glass, small items, things lost forever. We did however put up our Christmas Tree. The tree is strategically decorated. All glass and fragile items are on the top, all ornaments that can be handled with grimy little hands are on the bottom. Or at least they were. Sophie loves to take down all the ornaments that she can reach. She has surprisingly long arms. Throughout the day she takes the ornaments down, and now will put them in a box under the tree. This took a bit of training. At the end of the day, I decorate the bottom half of the tree, again, and the fun begins another day!

Sophie's box filled with ornaments.

Looking at the lights on the tree. Notice how the tree does not have any ornaments left.

Professional 18 Month Pictures

We recently had Sophie's 18 month pictures taken. Sophie loves the bright flash of the camera and thoroughly enjoyed every minute! Due to all of her excitement, she was dancing around on the table and happened to fall off. This brought lots of tears, not because of the fall, but because she was upset that her picture session was over. So, we put her back on the table where she promptly got back into position and smiled at the camera. I'm sure she was thinking, "Ready for my closeup!"

We brought her trick-or-treat bucket and placed an enticing mint inside. She could not wait to reach in a grab it!

Clapping, because taking pictures is such fun!

Sitting on blocks and smiling after her big fall.

Halloween Weekend!

We had a wonderful Halloween Weekend! It started Friday night, where we braved the cold and went to Whitefish to trick or treat on Main Street. This was really fun, although we had no idea that it would be so crowded, it was literally shoulder to shoulder walking. Sophie loved her first trick or treat experience. She held onto her bucket and proudly walked the streets with the big kids. When she got candy in her bucket she would grin. She enjoyed it for a total of 10 minutes, and then decided to sit down in the middle of the crowded street and look at everything in her bucket. We carved pumpkins on Saturday, which Sophie thought was very fun and interesting for about 10 seconds. Then she was off, with better things to do. Finally on Sunday, we enjoyed Halloween for the entire day. We decided that since Sophie is a celebrity at church, and celebrities can get away with anything, she would come in her costume. She was, of course, a big hit. Later in the day, we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and then Sophie helped pass out candy. She was one busy butterfly!

Sophie and Carl trick or treating in Whitefish. You can tell it's cold because Carl is wearing a sweatshirt.

"Stirring" the pumpkin seeds.

Enjoying the pumpkin for the final 2 seconds. By the way, Carl dressed her in this lovely outfit. If you squeeze your eyes tight, it almost matches.

Getting ready to trick or treat. Note the matching passie. A girl must plan her accessories accordingly.

The back of Sophie's costume with her wings.

Sophie and I trick or treating.

Looking at all the candy.

Sophie's favorite part of the night was taking her candy out of the bucket and putting it back in. And out again, and in again.

My Favorite Ball

Sophie has a new favorite ball. We have actually had it for a while, but she just discovered how marvelous it is. It's small, blue, and covered in suction cups. The fact that it sticks onto multiple surfaces is hilarious! I caught her playing with it today, so I quickly grabbed my camera!

What I also think is cute about the video, aside from her laughing, is her clapping. Sophie loves to clap. Whenever she is enjoying something, she claps. The other night I was woken up from a sound coming over her monitor-this was around 4:30 am. Confused as to what the noise was, I was surprised to see her clapping away. I am still not sure why she was clapping- but am guessing that she had a good dream!

18 Months

Sophie is officially a year and a half. Boy does time fly! We have seen lots of changes in her in these last couple of months. She seems to have lost all of her baby features and is now a toddler! Here is an updated list of facts about our Sophie:

Height: 34.5 inches- officially off the growth chart
Weight: 26.5 pounds- she has dropped down to the 80th %

Likes: Still likes to be outside, watch Barney (unfortunately), read books, play independently,swimming, and helping clean up.

Dislikes: Having her diaper changed. Changing her diaper is the most trying part of our day as she screams, kicks, rolls and spins in avoidance. I am trying different things to help encourage her towards potty training, but so far zero interest.

Sleep: She is officially down to one nap a day, which I have to admit, I dislike.

Eating: She is still very, very picky. We are down to: Cheese, peas, fruit, cottage cheese and yogurt. That's it. I am longing for the days of only fixing mac-and-cheese. Or at least something that she can order off of a menu.

Words: Sophie still babbles quite a bit, but her new word is berries- it sounds like ber-ees.

By the way, in the picture at the top, we were trying to capture her Justin Bieber hair-do. I feel as though I must state clearly, that I do not like Justin Bieber and could not even tell you what songs he sings, but I know who he is since I am a fan of People Magazine. Soph's has got the Bieber fever.

Sophie is definitely a Daddy's girl right now. When he comes in the door, she runs to him and does not look my way until it is time for bed. Her favorite thing to do is to climb on top of him and have him read to her- she is currently obsessed with word books.

This video was taken last month. I wish that I could say that she is a much neater, and cleaner eater now- but no. She is messsy!

Pumpkin Patch!

We found a WONDERFUL pumpkin patch by our house. We got there a half-hour after it opened and were shocked to see how packed it was. Apparently other people think it's pretty great too. In addition to a pumpkin patch, they had a petting zoo, a corn maze, go-carts, tractor rides, a giant bounce mat, swings, and hippity-hops. After the admission fee, everything was free-which was great as toddlers want to do everything. Sophie had a great time running all over, and her parents struggled to keep up. Going here will definitely become an October tradition!

Trying to pick out just the right pumpkin.

Hmm... Searching, searching, for one that's just right.

Going through the corn maze with daddy.

Looking at the goats. Sophie would have preferred to get inside the cage with the goats.

The tractor pulled lots of carts for people to ride in and gave everyone a tour of the pumpkin patch. We sat right behind the tractor, which was fascinating!

The bounce mat was by far the favorite attraction for Sophie. It was gigantic, and could easily hold 30 people jumping at one time. We have to get one of these!

Due to all the jumping going on, Sophie was knocked down and ended up hopping along on her knees. This was fun too!

We found the perfect pumpkin after all!

Playground Fun!

We have been blessed with beautiful weather these last two weeks. It feels great to have such nice weather since we hardly had a summer, and most of September was cold and rainy. We have been trying to get outside as much as we can before the rain comes back- or worse, the snow starts to fall. One of our favorite outside activities has been going to the playground. Sophie is now old enough to enjoy most of the playground toys.

Swinging is still an all time favorite.

Sophie now is big enough to walk up the slide steps all by herself! She is extremely proud that she can do it alone.

Getting into sliding position, with a little guidance from Daddy.

Sliding down, all by herself. Last time we went to the park she played on the slide for 20 minutes and was very sad when it was time to go.

Since there are no rocks to be found, Sophie makes do with bark dust and always has a piece fisted in her little hand.

And of course, one of the great things about the playground is all the room to run! I have a feeling we will be going to the playground in snowsuits this winter.

Bye Bye Bottles

Sophie has finally given up bottles! In truth, she has been ready to give them up for a couple of months now, but we just got around to it. How did she finally give them up, you ask? Well, it was actually an idea that was genius at first, and is now our undoing. You might recall that the first time I presented her with a sippy cup filled with milk, she screamed, cried, and flat out refused to drink out of it. All she needed was a little distraction we thought, so Barney came to the rescue. Now she will scream, cry, and flat out refuse to drink from her sippy cup unless we are watching Barney. We watch Barney 3 times a day, and Carl and I could easily win a Barney Karaoke contest, if one should ever come to town.

In the picture above, Sophie could not decide if she wanted to drink juice or water, so she was taking sips from each. It was pretty cute.

Blankie Lovin'

We have known for a while that Sophie has formed an attachment to a particular blanket. It's soft pink with a satin trim, and overall very girly. Her blanket attachment has gone to a blanket obsession. She takes it everywhere with her-drags it around the house, and never lets go of it. I so far have successfully been able to keep blankie in the house, but I am sure that one day, this too will come to a battle. And really, who am I kidding, she will probably win. For now, I have been trying to keep the floors really clean and sneak the blanket into the wash often. That is until this morning, when she caught me sneaking it into the dryer and then proceeded to pound on the dryer while sobbing. I had to remove her from the laundry room kicking and screaming. I'm not kidding. Now I am on the hunt to find an identical blanket for backup purposes. Again, not kidding. I took some pictures of Sophie last night with her blankie-

Wrestling with Pooh Bear, and of course blankie. Yes, Pooh Bear wrestling is still a nightly activity. She now goes into her room and drags poor Pooh to the living room by his t-shirt. He is looking slightly worse-for-wear.

Here is Soph's being a rascal and trying to touch the cable box buttons. She knows that this is a no-no, perhaps it was blankie that made her do it?

Stopping mid wrestling match to give blankie some lovin.

It's always nice to have a blanket at hand- er, foot- while reading some of your favorite books.