Puzzle Queen

Sophie is the puzzle queen!  She has always been good a puzzles, but lately has taken it to a new level-
she does multiple puzzles at the same time.  It is pretty impressive to watch. She dumps all the puzzle pieces in a pile and then will work on 2-3 puzzles simultaneously. I am not sure how she does it, because my brain does not work this way- but apparently Carl used to do the exact same thing when he was young.   It's strange that there is a multiple-puzzle gene.  Who knew?

6 Months!

 Cade is 6 months old! We can't believe it- time has literally flown by!  He is getting to be quite the big boy- he now weighs 14.5 pounds and is 24 inches tall.  As you can see from the picture above, he's got some chunky cheeks and a little belly on him!  He is now transitioning to be on a schedule, which I love, and life is starting to settle down. Right now we are working on getting him to take better naps, he is currently the half-hour nap king.  You can literally set your watch to 30 min and he will be up.  Grr this means that I do not get much done throughout the day, but at least he continues to be a good nighttime sleeper.

Right now Cade is obsessed with sitting or standing- it is all that he wants to do.  My arms get sore and tired at the end of the day from holding him in a standing position.  His eye sight has developed enough that he can see the TV and is fascinated by it! Carl was very proud that he sat and watched football.

Sophie is very entertaining to Cade, he loves to watch her.

 He is starting to try and sit by himself.  He can't hold this position for long, but he is very proud when he is able to.

 Cade is a very smiley boy!  It is really hard to get a picture of him smiling because every time I bring out the camera, he becomes very still and stares at it.  But when the camera is not around, he smiles and coos happily.

Preschool!

 I cannot believe that Sophie is old enough for preschool.  I have both look forward and dreaded her first day of school.  But for the record- she loves it!  It is her first experience away from me, and she is doing great!  We have seen lots of changes from Sophie in the last 6 months. Here are the big ones-

• She has transitioned from a crib to a big girl bed
• Potty trained- hooray!
• No longer uses her passie during the day
• Trying new foods- she ate a bite of pizza the other day, since she only eats cheese and fruit this is HUGE!
• Talking, talking, talking- she is becoming quite the chatter box
• Starting to enjoy being a big sister

This is the back of Sophie's backpack.  It's a zebra and she wore it around the house for a week before getting to wear it to school.  She loves this backpack and even wears it now to help me collect the mail.

Quick trip to Portland

 We did a quick trip out to Portland to attend my Grandma's funeral.  Grammie passed away on July 30, and we held a memorial service for her a few weeks later.  Grammie had been sick and in pain for a long time, so we are thankful that she is in heaven and pain-free- but we miss her deeply and on a daily basis.

 On the morning of the memorial we headed out to Eagle Fern Park, which was one of GG's favorite places. We had divided her ashes beforehand, and everyone got a sackful to take and spread where they wished. This was a nice way for each person to have a private moment with Grammie, say good bye, and spread her ashes in a spot that held personal  meaning.  I spread my Grammie ashes at the playground.  Growing up we spent a lot of time with Grammie, and I always remember her walking us up to the playground. I know she will enjoy watching kids play from above.

While we were in Portland we got to visit my cousin Alison and her children. Claire and Sophie quickly became fast friends and played very well together.  They seemed to go everywhere holding hands.  It was too cute.

Claire and Sophie getting to eat cupcakes together. Tasty!