Nana's House

We just got back from Nana's house, and had a wonderful time! Aside from the flights, Sophie enjoyed each minute. In Sophie's defense, she probably would enjoy flying more if I would let her run down the aisles, kick the chair in front of us, and eat continuously for 3 hours. But again, once we got there, Sophie had a blast. Nana's house has a lot of great things- Nana, of course, and pets! Sophie loves animals, and since we do not have any, they are a BIG treat. Unfortunately, this trip I did not get any pictures of Sophie with Rosie- the dog. I am not exactly sure why, because they literally followed each other around the house all day. Rosie especially loved having Sophie during meal times, because she has the unfortunate habit of dropping food onto the floor when she no longer wants it. Rosie never missed a meal.

Feeding the animals was very exciting. Here, Sophie is feeding Twinkie, the neighbor cat, who adopted my mom for a new owner.

Sophie is trying to scale my mom's gigantic bed in order to give Suta a pet. If you look closely you will notice that their feelings towards one another are not mutual, as Suta's ears are going flat and to the side. This is cat speak for "get away little human."

Those of us who know Sophie well know that she loves an open fridge. She loves my mom's fridge the best as it has a little spot for her to sit inside. Whenever we opened the fridge, she came a runnin'. We had a great trip!

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Orange?

Picky eating has gone to an entirely new level. Sophie now refuses to eat anything orange. This includes her previous favorite foods- carrots, sweet potatoes, cheese, and goldfish. All of these items are now cast aside. Carl thought that I was kidding about her new anti-orange rule, so we did an experiment. We took rainbow colored goldfish- which come in purple, green, red and orange- and placed them on the table. She ate each one, except the orange. Repeatedly.

To banish all orange objects from her tray, Sophie has a special system. All forbidden orange food is segregated into the cup holder portion of the tray. If we take an object out, and place it back in the middle of the tray- this item is picked up and tossed to the floor. Since we do not have a dog, this is not acceptable behavior, and so we put up with her segregation system.

What does she eat now, you might ask? It is tricky. She still eats oatmeal for breakfast, with a banana. She will still eat yogurt and cheerios for a snack. But lunch and dinner times are proving difficult. She is down to white cheese, mixed veggies- corn, peas, beans- and fruit. That's it. I may possibly have gray hair by the time she is 2.

Picky, picky, picky!

The unthinkable has finally happened. Sophie is a very picky eater. It's very sad. It seems as only last month Carl and I were patting ourselves on the back, thinking that we were such great parents, our Sophs would eat anything! Then, seemingly overnight, Wham! Pickiness arrived. She is now strictly on a veggie, fruit, dairy diet. That's it. No bread, pasta, meat of any kind, nothing with a sauce- or wet texture. No eggs, beans, or anything combined. Everything must be in isolation. It is very stressful finding foods with protein that she will eat. Now she is very much like Sam-I-am, she will not eat meat on a plane, in the rain, on a train- it's driving me insane! Every book that I read tells me that this is only a phase, she is just showing her independence. I am hoping that this phase is over very quickly. Very, very quickly.

Sprinklers are fun

Sophie just recently discovered the fun of sprinklers. One was set up at the cabin, and Sophie's cousins were running through it. Of course, as soon as our backs were turned, Sophie ran through it in all her clothes. Not wanting to spoil her new fun, we stripped her down to her diaper and let her loose! She had a great time and continues to have no fear of anything water related.

It's important to get a good running start before you go through.

Sharing a quick laugh with Daddy.

Looking at her cousins, as if to say, "Hey guys, come on in- the water's fine!"

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.