Aaron's Birthday Celebration

Okay so he turned four over a month and a half ago.  Aunt Stephanie is a little behind...but Uncle Bob takes the pictures and we have so many cameras :)  Anyhow I found them so here they are.

Here's the Birthday Boy with his Cars cake

He got some video games for his Leapster

And a soccer ball blanket that Aunt Stephanie made him

He got some help from his big brother and his cousin

"Thanks Sophie I love it"

27 Months

At 27 months you are talking in full sentences and using more facial and verbal expressions as well.

You are starting to put on your own pants and socks and have no trouble taking them off.  You put your dirty clothes in laundry basket and take off your own coat and shoes to be put away when we get home.

You sing your ABC's and Count to 10.  You know colors..yellow, black, white, green.  You are able to put together puzzles without much trouble.  Over the past week you have gone pee pee and poopy on the potty without any accidents when you are sleeping.  M&M's are your incentive.  You tell us when you need to go and are attempting to pull your pants up and down on your own, your behind just gets in the way. You are completely done wearing diapers and are only wearing pull ups.  Big girl panties are in your near future.

You do great drawing circles and love to color.  Currently you are really into princesses and pretty dresses.  You dislike your hair being washed, combed and dried.  You do not like being told no but usually listen after a quick timeout.  You love to brush your teeth and wash your hands standing on your own little step stool.  You also do an awesome job at blowing your nose for a two year old.

Your three favorite meals are fish sticks, peanut butter sandwiches, and grilled cheese.  You love eating bananas like Curious George so we don't cut them up anymore.

As far as singing goes you continue to amaze us with how quickly you pick up the words to new songs. Your most recent favorite seems to be Baa Baa Black Sheep.

Your favorite movies are Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel.

You love going to the library and to the YMCA to go swimming where you are learning to kick your legs while Mommy or Daddy hold you up.

You really love playing in the snow even though we haven't had much this year.

Your best friends are Julie and Charlize.

Reading to Jingle

Sophie loves to be read to...so for Christmas Santa brought her Jingle and some interactive books that go with Jingle.  We usually read them and she holds Jingle, but recently she tries to read to him and the parts that make him bark she's figured out.

I gotta go Potty.

This past week Sophie has started telling us she's gotta go potty both #1 and #2.  So we rush her to the bathroom and she goes almost every time.  Of course there is always a little incentive for her knowing she's going to get mini M&M's when she goes.   Now that she's gone almost five days without any accidents underwear are in her near future as well as a trip to build a bear.

Reading Little Quack...

Deep in concentration

Fish Fish and More Fish..

This past Saturday we headed down to the Newport Aquarium.  We thought it was a good weekend to make the drive since it was not snowing and it was warmer outside.


We had a bite to eat at the German Restaurant and then we headed over to the Aquarium where we stood in line for thirty minutes to get in.  Little did we know it was kids get in free weekend.  We decided it would have been better to have just paid the $15 than fight the crowd.  None the less it was still a great afternoon.  Sophie had a wonderful time checking out all the different fish and so did we.  Next time we will take a day off in the middle of the week during the summer so that we can take our time and be able to see more.

Oh my Molars....

Good Grief is all I have to say.

As far as sleep is concerned this past week there hasn't been much of it going on.  Five nights this past week have been filled with every two hours of our poor little Sophie crying out for mommy because she's in pain.  A lot of pain because those darn two year old molars are popping through her gums.

So the first night we had no idea what was causing her to keep waking up.  The next morning I got the flashlight and inspected her throat and her gums.  Sure enough I found three spaces that were red along the gum line and one white splotch poking through her gums.  Ah ha...molars.   So I called the pediatrician and they told me Tylenol, orajel, and Motrin, popsicles/frozen wash clothes.

   So we started the tylenol and the popsicles to help numb the area and that helped for up to about four hours a night.  The next night I inserted some orajel and we started switching off tylenol and motrin every three hours per the doctors orders.  This seemed to help take more of the edge off.  Finally last Saturday she slept through the whole night and so did we.  Then Sunday morning she woke up with a stuffy nose and a little cough.  So we stayed home all day Sunday and just played and watched movies.

Monday she woke up and seemed really groggy and whiney so I stayed home from work.  Today Daddy stayed home so I could go to work and catch up since we did not want her to take her cold to the sitters to spread to the other kids.  Now he's in the basement trying to work. Tomorrow she should be able to go back to Suzanne's and hopefully life will calm down around here and we can all get the rest we need.

Pizza Party

This past Friday night I decided after the long week we had that it would be fun to make pizzas just the three of us.  So we went to the grocery store and picked up the crusts, olive oil, sauce, pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, cheese, green peppers, and onions.  When we got home I dumped all the toppings into tiny bowls so Sophie could help.

We waited until Daddy got home and by then she was chopping at the bit to climb up on her chair and make these pizzas.  She even said "hurry Daddy".

She had an absolute blast...and along the way ate about five pepperoni's, a hand full of cheese, a few pieces of pineapple, a bite of onion and green pepper.

Tea Time...

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa watched Sophie while Mommy and Daddy went out to Buca De Bepo for Valentine's day.  She had a blast.  

Sunday after her nap we did a real tea party with her new tea set that we got her for valentine's day with real hershey kiss peanut butter cookies that Grandma made.  

She loved eating the kiss part first.

Pour me some tea please..

Your turn Mommy..

Decorating the Tub..

Rub a dub dub..Sophie is coloring our tub.  She has so much fun doing this and it's so easy to clean up.

Hi Ho It's off to the Park We Go...

So After we returned from Grammy and Poppy's it was sunny and in the 50

s in February.  So Daddy took Sophie to the park for a little bit and she had a blast.

He showed her that shadows are nothing to be afraid of that they are fun...

and a few trips down the slide...hopefully we will just skip winter and start having more days like these.

Winter Roadtrip

Two weekends ago we headed North and all of a sudden so did the winter weather in less than two hours there was over 4 inches of snow on the ground however we did not pack boots or snow clothes because the snow was completely unexpected.   That however did not stop our little snow bunny.  She went right outside with Daddy and started putting the fresh snow in her mouth and saying "mmm snow is yummy".

After eating snow we thought we had better give her some real food so we headed out to Dutch Valley for a grilled cheese sandwich and some soup.   She ate almost every bite, then they gave her a token to go and get a free cookie.

So while Grammy shopped Sophie ate her cookie

After eating her cookie we headed out to Amish Country to look at big girl beds but before we even left the restaurant she slipped and fell square on her nose and bit her lip.  First bloody nose...since Daddy swooped her up he joined Grammy and Mommy in the woman's bathroom for a brief second and then left it to us to get the bleeding stop.  After the event she was fine.  Now she holds on tighter to our hands.  Another lessoned learned.  The rest of the weekend was great!