Oh, the Joy of a Spoon!

Sophie has just started to become interested in eating with a spoon. As you will see from the pictures, she pays no attention to which side she is using. This is (of course) due to the fact that she is a genius, and is inventing new ways to eat. It's messy, but really fun to watch!

Here she is placing Spaghetti O's individually on the spoon in the bowl.

Using the opposite side of the spoon- this provided a fun fling action when she took it out of the bowl- which resulted in the wall behind her being scrubbed clean during nap time.

And finally, forgetting the spoon and just using her hands.

15 months

Sophie recently had her 15 month check-up, and we have some new stats to report:

Height- 32 1/2 inches- 90%

Weight- 25 lbs-90% (yes, she is officially a quarter pounder)

Teeth- Still those same blasted 8 that she has had since she was 8 months old.

Favorite foods- Any kind of fruit, any kind of dairy but particularly cheese, goldfish, and juice

Disliked foods- the only foods that we have found her to dislike are broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus. These foods are fine with us, as we do not eat them either. I am desperately hoping that she will hate pickles as well, as I can not stand the sight of them. I have yet to let her try any for fear that she will love them and I will be forced to touch them (shudder).

Words- She currently says parts of words for words- ba (ball) bah (bath) buh (bear) nah nah (no no) mah (more)

Naps- She is still taking 2 naps, which I love as it gives me a couple of breaks in the day, but I fear they are coming quickly to an end. Sigh...

Favorite Activities- Swimming in the pool, and anything outside. Sophie can spend literally hours walking around outside, picking up rocks and collecting them in buckets, and just exploring. She will be very upset when it is winter and we are inside.

Here is Sophie at her water table, as you can see, she is trying to get in it.

Here is Sophie on the tramp at the cabin. Carl and I like it because she is in an enclosed space, and we can actually sit down and rest.

Cabin Activites

Summer has been flying by and I cannot believe that it is already the middle of July. We have had a relaxing summer so far, doing our normal routine during the week and going out to the cabin on the weekends. It has finally gotten nice here, so we have been able to spend a lot of our time outdoors. This is mainly Sophie's influence, she loves being outside and will often go to the door and sign more. At the cabin, one of her favorite outside activities is walking around on the driveway and picking up rocks. She will easily do this for 45 minutes or more. We have quickly learned that she is a tough little lady as she falls over repeatedly and does not cry when landing in the gravel. She is however starting to look like a tomboy with skinned up knees.

In this pic, Sophie is running away from me as she fears that I will try to pick her up and take her inside. Now that she is walking, being picked up and carried is something that she hates. I am certain that her first words will be "by myself." She is a very independent little lady.

Another of Sophie's favorite cabin activities is following the big kids around. She wants to be wherever they are, and doing whatever they are doing. Although you cannot tell from the picture, Sophie had followed a group of boys over to launch rockets, and of course wanted to do it too. Luckily, her daddy was there to lend a hand.

Of course, one of the highlights of the cabin is the lake, and Sophie has proven to be tougher than her Mama by going underwater already. In my defense, the lake is cold. Really cold. Sophie has gotten in several times with her daddy and then loves to play in the sandbox- and proceed to get covered in sand. By the way, sand that is stuck onto sun screened legs is really hard to get off.

When we are inside, Sophie loves to play with the Leggos. We are not sure why she loves to get inside the Leggo box, but this is another favorite activity. All of these fun cabin activities means that she will be very sad when fall and winter come.

Vacations!

We just got back from our vacations to Oregon and California, where we had a wonderful but exhausting time! Sophie and I went to visit Nana for a week, flew home and then left the next day for a wedding in California. Sadly, I did not take any pictures when we saw Nana- not sure why, and kicking myself now- but took plenty in California. One of the highlights from our CA trip was going to the Pepperdine campus. Full of nostalgia, we toured the campus and decided that we should try to go back to college. It was unbelievably beautiful, and we could not believe that it's been 10 years since we graduated. Carl and Sophie walking in Alumni Park.

While we were at the hotel, we had some time to kill so Carl took Sophie for a swim in the pool. She was a little shocked by the cold temperature of the water, but happily played until her lips turned blue. Below is a video of her fantastic diving skills. We are certain that she will win a college scholarship for her belly flop skills. Prepare to be impressed.

This last picture comes from the mall. Sophie was thrilled to find a playground in the mall, where she could play with other kids. She was very cute to watch as she wandered around to all the different kids and watched them play. She then became fascinated by this blue car- of course blue- and thought that she was such a big girl driving it. We had a blast!

I Love the Sandbox!

We spent our first weekend of the year at the cabin. This was an especially exciting weekend, because Sophie got to have birthday cake! Oh boy, does she ever love cake and ice cream. It is lucky that she does not get it very often, because she did not take a nap due to all of the sugary goodness. Instead of a nap, we decided to take her down to the lake and let her experience the sandbox. This may have been just as exciting as the cake. After she had been in the sandbox for a few minutes it became apparent that she needed to be stripped down. She had sand everywhere! Even, we discovered during bath time, inside her belly button. She played for a straight hour, and cried when we took her out. We foolishly thought that she would try to take a nap again. Silly, silly, parents. With birthday cake and the sandbox, who has time for naps?

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated Father's Day a week early because Sophie and I will be gone the following weekend. Carl got to plan the entire day- he slept in (till 7:30 wow!) then we went on a hike to Avalanche Lake, and went out to the cabin for a steak dinner. It was a gorgeous day- finally no rain, and we got to experience a Montana rarity- short sleeves! Sophie Loved the hike, she babbled to each person we saw, pointed and babbled at different things , and kept patting Carl on the back of the head and saying "Da Da." She absolutely loved the backpack. We were hoping that she would fall asleep on the hike, but no such luck. It was way too much fun. Here are some of our favorite pictures from our hike:

Nightly Activities

This is Sophie's new favorite nightly activity- walking back and forth between objects. She will start this right after dinner and do it until it's time for bath. I'm sure you're thinking that this must wear her out and she goes right to sleep, but no. She is so impressed with her walking ability that she can take up to an hour- or more- of playing in her crib before she finally goes down. Walking is just way to exciting. Also- notice the Pebbles hair-do, it's a BIG hit with all the old people at church and at the grocery store. She's kind of a big deal around here.