SOPHIA

my second goddaughter

zoey did pretty well, not tackling sophia

instead, she hid in her hamper

Sophia & Zoey
in their first adventure...
The Matching Pants

zoey says "cheese"


sophia says, "that thing looks energetic, i'm a little worried, but i hope it comes closer"


"nevermind! nevermind!"


sophia says, "well, this isn't so bad, this zoey creature is pretty gentle"


zoey says, "sophia, i want to lick your face."
sophia says, "look-what-i-can-do!"

zoey says, "now, now, don't get TOO close to my balloon and i'll show you the ropes"
sophia says, "i think i'm touching my ear."

FIN

sledding!

with matilda, lulu, and tigger

zoey is huge!

heehee

we got to visit sophia on new years day, which is the same day of the year we first met our friend romeo as well. sophia was three months old, but being an early birdie, is like a newborn. she's growing so well, and is completely sweet and adorable and a good little girl.

zoey wasn't as interested in her as i thought, and went about her business trying to hug paco the cat who is blind and seriously disgruntled by young people. we brought the supergate, and ended up making a sort of kitty zoo by sectioning off the living room, leaving the television, christmas tree, and stove behind it. i love the supergate.

zoey does love hugs. she kept saying "hug, hug, hug" whenever i held sophia, so i let her hug sophia's feet. she was very sweet and gentle, although left to her own devices, surely would have lovingly mauled the poor baby in the name of scientific exploration.

popndeb

"i want to eat the fake berries"

ye olde teddy

hi

on new years day we headed up to nh to have a nice long visit with kristin, scott, and new baby sophia, and to have a christmas celebration with grandpop and grandma deb. zoey really enjoyed all the christmas characters that surrounded and inhabited deb and pop's christmas tree. she was, however, leery of bill the cat.

i had been worried about all the things around their apartment, and zoey's relation to them, but it went really well. i guess 4 adults are enough to keep watch over a toddler. and she of course just wanted to leave the apartment to walk up and down the many stairs.

happy newyear

december 31st brought a big snowstorm. we have had a lot of snow this year, and i love it actually. i don't have to shovel...or leave the house if i don't want to. during the last day of 2008 eric's dad completely disassembled my laptop to my horror and gratitude, and replaced a component needed for it to run. we didn't have plans for a celebration on new years eve, because screwing with zoey's sleep schedule isn't worth it. we were tired and went to bed at 10pm. when we get older, we will once again party like it's 1999.

she LOVES brooms

the inside of my computer and a squirrel

i didn't know she was making this face

where's the water?

eeeeeee!

long car ride

yes, zoey thinks every animal in the song "old macdonald had a farm" says moo moo. yet, when we ask her what various animals say separately from the song, she knows them all...

merry christmas

i like it

new story

awesome

another new story

super suave kitty

tweet

thank you ghee-ma!

i stroll fast!

hey! i'm going to sit on this rocking horse

the money shot

sweet cousin kohle

christmas, this year, was really nice. it wasn't stressful at all because zoey was able to enjoy herself, sleep her somewhat normal hours, and family was in good spirits. we spent the morning at home...waking up normal time as zoey is not old enough to be so excited that she wakes up at the crack of dawn to see what seeta (santa) brought. she did recognize santa this year and pointed him out EVERYWHERE she saw him, even on wrapping paper with santa the size of a flea's ear. well, almost that small.

christmas eve 2008

mommy's eyeball slippers

WHAT is THAT!?

handsome

adorable

we followed tradition and went to avo benevides' house for christmas eve dinner and present opening. it was a really nice night and perhaps the first time kohle was very good at waiting to open presents and didn't get yelled at once. it's a hard to wait! luckily zoey hadn't a clue what was going to happen after dinner...and she mostly wanted to play with avo's little breakable christmas decorations that filled the living room.

we tried to get her to say, "thank you" after she opened a present, but she just stood and ignored us so we didn't force the issue. she was happy though, especially with the big interactive piggy bank from dj and uncle lou.

our lady of la salete shrine

http://www.lasalette-shrine.org/
check it out

we thought swans flew south in the winter

nativity exhibit

awesome

us

i've shown everyone i see this picture

elf

every year this place is lit up with many lights. we went the year i was pregnant and feeling absolutely horrible, so it was great to go back this time, with zoey and feeling good. it was really really cold though, and i remember thinking, who would bring a poor baby out in this weather at night?!!??! me! because she loved christmas lights this year.

many rides home from shopping or wherever, after dark this year, involved me constantly saying, "oh, but look at those lights zoey!" in hopes that she would be distracted with wonder and not ask for mama milk, which is one of her latest passions.

speaking of mama milk. her pediatrician was very obviously thinking ill of the fact that i still nurse zoey to sleep and, so it seemed, that she is still nursing at all. well, in my opinion, until a kid is at least 2 years old, they are still in a baby stage and should definitley have the love and connection of mama milk. when i asked the doctor, "is that bad? i mean, is it not good for her to still be nursing?" (because i wanted to call her on her disdainful look) she said quickly, "well breast is best" which seemed to come from a tape recorder...and then, which i thought was funny and weird, "SOME children even nurse until they are three!" as if that was amazing and weird. she said there are behavioral issues...and when i asked what ones, she said, "well, the sleeping for instance" but couldn't come up with anything else. i had told her that zoey still wakes up a couple times a night and that i don't enjoy that, but it's not that i'm not surviving it (which is how i sort of felt when she was waking up every hour or even every two hours a night). i just think zoey's doctor and i have very opposing views about most things and i'd like to change, but have been too lazy to do so.

now, i'm not about to lecture anyone on nursing their baby and when they should stop or begin, because what the hell do i care? and i don't know when the right time to stop is, but i want it to be something zoey is okay with.

which leads me to recent thoughts on how to help her grow up without hindering her independance, while still providing a good strong base of love and comfort for a very little person in a big and sometimes evil and scary world. i AM one to spew my thoughts on the way it seems most americans want their child to grow up the second they can say mama and dada. i really disagree with that.

another thing i'm thinking about lately is how i feel my brain has been toddlerized. i'm dealing with it better than i thought i would. i'm so upset by loss of control in many areas, but for some reason i don't mind not being able to do math or write a 5 page paper on one of picasso's paintings. and right now, i'm so tired i cannot write anymore.

prechristmastime 2008

one day zoey was so tired, she fell asleep nursing upstairs before dinner. i put her in the playroom with the lights on, and the door open, hoping she'd wake up in a few minutes so she'd actually go to sleep that night. so i took lots of pictures of course.

long angel hair mohawk

what's this?

at henry's birthday party

christmas in nh 1

the morning of regina's christmas party was COLD! i drove to visit kristin, scott and sophia and there was still ice on the trees from a big storm. i love this drive when it's sunny, summer or winter.

sophia strapped in (in case she wiggles out of the swing that used to be zoey's)

we stayed with the demians. zoey LOVES kirpal, luca and sohani and still says "pokey" a lot because they taught her to do the hokey pokey.

check out my sweet suitcase from my Godparents

he believes in santa claus (and equal distributions of sweets in his hands)

in early december we finally made it to nh again for a visit and regina's annual christmas party, which miraculously fell on a non-snowing day. it's the first time that's happened in years. there were lots of kids running around and yummy food and an m&m guessing game, which luca and kirpal (twin brothers) each won. (there were two jars to guess the quantity of m&ms in). it was great to see everyone and zoey was a good girl, and shared, although often unintentionally ;)