Gone on a road trip

Yesterday my mom invited Sophia to join her on a visit to my sister's in Eugene, Oregon to see my new nephew. Seth and I were surprised when Sophia didn't hesitate for a second and yelled "yes." She then listed off all the things she would need to pack (books, FaFa, clothes) and then very seriously paused and said "but I must say goodbye to Eli first." Too sweet.

So, Sophia left this morning and will be gone until Monday. Silly I know, but we already miss her.

Purple or Red

Years ago when my nephew was born my mom made Sophia a purple stuffed animal. Sophia promptly named it "FaFa" and it has become a necessity for sleeping. Poor FaFa is now a light purple color and very flimsy.

Well, this week my sister is giving birth to her 2nd son, and to mark the occasion, my mom has made Chloe a red stuffed animal. Until Chloe gives her animal a name, it's being lovingly referred to as "red FaFa." Both animals are alike, except the red one has a tail.

Let's just see if red FaFa is as "loved" as it's older sibling purple FaFa.

I will do it myself

The time has come that Chloe doesn't want us to spoon feed her anymore. She has become very insistent on using her own spoon for yogurt and oatmeal (she's still working on the fork). Surprisingly, she's a very neat eater. Not too much food in the lap and only a little bit on the face.

Here she is eating her morning oatmeal.

Not a Tiny Tot Anymore

Sophia graduated from preschool on Friday!

At graduation the class sang songs, demonstrated their American Sign Language and Spanish vocabulary and played musical instruments. A few of the kids were asked to do "solos." Sophia's solo was counting to 10 in Spanish and paying the harmonica. She did, of course, awesome. Graduation ended with each child making a speech about what s/he liked best about school. Sophia eloquently spoke about liking everything because it is all fun.

She started at the neighborhood preschool, Tiny Tots, at 3 years old. When she started she was shy and nervous around unfamiliar people. She's so much more confident and talkative now! We have made many friends there. I will miss our morning walk/bike ride to school and the socializing on the playground after class.

Time for Kindergarden.

Flower Girl

On Saturday Sophia was the flower girl in my cousin Amber's wedding. Sophia took it as an important job. She fussed over her outfit, smiled perfectly for the cameras, deliberately tossed flower pedals down the aisle, and stood still with a sweet smile on her face during the vows. All this as it was raining on her. She did a WONDERFUL job...and she was so BEAUTIFUL.

P.S. The other flower girl was a bit sad and needed coaxing to get down the aisle.

The Thursday Group

Here is the latest group picture of our motley playgroup. The kids have grown up so much...it's awesome that we have all been friends for these past few years.

Bang!

Last week I took Sophia to get her hair trimmed for the upcoming wedding she was in (pictures will be posted soon). After she was finished, I asked if Chloe could get a quick trim to give her bangs. It was hard to keep her still, but well worth it. Now she can see!