Some Videos

I am always thinking, "I need to get a video of Sophie doing ________" and sometimes (not often enough though) I actually do film something. Tonight I went back through everything I've saved up over the last couple months and picked out some of my favorites to share. Enjoy!

Saving her favorite blanket from the shopping cart

Sophie loves her dinner and wants to get every last bite

Peek-a-boo is one of her favorite games right now

It's Always Fun When Grandpa Comes

My dad flew in Thursday night and we were excited to have him come visit! It was a short trip (he left this morning), but we had a lot of fun while he was here. On Saturday we went up to Snowbird to ski. Since we didn't have a babysitter for Sophie, I stayed home with her in the morning while Dave was on the mountain with my dad, Natalie, Brodie, and Derek. Then Sophie and I drove up to the resort at lunch time and I traded places with Dave. After skiing, he treated us all to dinner at Texas Roadhouse - mmm. Love you dad/grandpa!

My dad stayed at our house while he was visiting so he was able to spend some time with Sophie - last time he saw her was at Thanksgiving and she has changed a lot in the last 5 months!

Sisters!

At the top of the tram with my dad - what a beautiful day!!

Family Date Night

For Christmas I gave Dave tickets to the Jazz game when Dallas came to town, which was this week. Ideally we would have made it a date with just the two of us, but since we didn't have a babysitter, Sophie came along and got to experience her first basketball game. We were a bit worried about how she would do because it was a late game and she was struggling at dinner before we even left for the game. Once we got there, though, everything was great. She was in awe of everything going on around her, and we had a fun time watching Dallas win!

Happy on dad's lap with a tummy full of rice and chicken from Rumbi

Group shot - love this little family of mine!

And other things from this week:

Enjoying the alphabet magnets Grandmari sent in the mail

Post-bath crazy hair (she's about to switch off the light - one of her favorite games)

At the park - she loved the slides!

Forgotten Photo

I found this picture on the iPad the other day. It's from our trip to Idaho for Thanksgiving. I remember it was time for Sophie's nap, and she was sooo tired, but for some reason I didn't feel like taking her to her crib. After snuggling for a bit she ended up falling asleep in my arms, which was rare. She would sleep in Dave's arms all the time, he is warm and soft, but I am bony and uncomfortable and she would always squirm. I am glad I have this picture. It reminds me that I need to try and take more pictures with her.

Afternoon Nap

Lately she has reminded me of those sour patch kids commercials - first sour, then sweet! Today she ripped the lid of her snack container with her teeth and scattered cheerios all over the house (including inside my shoes), but then she came over and laid her head on my leg and looked up my face with the sweetest smile. Oh baby girl. Her birthday is in less than two weeks, and I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It was probably the hardest, and happiest year of my life. I am so grateful to be her mom.

Picking grass in the backyard - being outside is her new favorite thing

Enjoying her dinner (when she wasn't throwing it on the floor)

My Little Helper

Sophie contributed two items to the dishwasher while we were cleaning up dinner tonight. Can you spot them? 

And this is why we take her shirt off for dinner - she's a good eater, just not a dainty one

Saturday at Snowbird

On Saturday I got to go skiing for the first time in two years! I missed all of last season because I was pregnant, so it was so fun to get back to the mountain. Derek and Brodie also joined us. It wasn't a perfect sunny day, but the snow was good and it wasn't freezing cold.

I was a little worried about how I would do because I am so out of shape, but I actually skied pretty good. I was able to keep up with the boys and only had one double eject, falling face plant. We did 13 runs, and Dave and I didn't call it quits until 20 minutes before closing time. So fun!!

At the top of the Gadzoom chair

And while we were skiing, Sophie was having a great time with Grandmari, who was visiting for the week

Sophie at 11 Months

Sophie turned 11 months this week! Her big accomplishment this month was learning how to walk. She is cruising everywhere now and has really enjoyed the new height perspective and the ability to carry stuff around from place to place. I have recently found Wii remotes in a kitchen drawer, lids to some of my Tupperware in the garbage can, and our TV remote in the laundry. Sometimes I feel like she is systematically finding all the weaknesses in our baby proofing :)

Photo attempt 1 - it only took her a few seconds to rip the sticker off her shirt, and after I took the sticker away she took the bow out of her hair

Photo attempt 2 - this time I had Dave to help distract her, and I was able to get a decent picture before she wandered off. I am not much of a photographer and have always been happy with my little camera, but Sophie is starting to convince me that an upgrade may be necessary in the near future....

Sophie at 11 Months

• 28.5 inches and 20.5 pounds
• Her first two molars are coming in on the top and we have added "brushing teeth" to the bedtime routine.
• She will eat almost everything we put in front of her, but her current favorites are cheese, kiwi, and mashed potatoes. She also loves to drink water from her sippy cup and I'm pretty sure she would drink until she popped if we let her.
• Has recently become attached to one of her baby blankets. I am not sure when or why it became "special", but she loves it. I just went out and bought a second similar blanket so we have a backup.
• Loves to look at books, especially if they are the lift-the-flap kind. She is so happy to read with us, or by herself. Unfortunately she still tries to eat board books every now and then so I have to keep my eye on her.
• Overall has a very happy disposition, but she has developed a dramatic side and can really bring on the tears if her feelings are hurt. She gets very sad if you take something she was looking at, walk past without acknowledging her, or if she is not adequately fed. 

And some other pictures from the past couple weeks:

Checking her bib pocket to make sure she gets every last bite

Walking to the mailbox with daddy

Taking advantage of a few minutes of sun to get a picture of her before church

And my little monkey emptying the dishwasher

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Cute picture of my cute girl, who by the way, is walking for real now. 

Afternoon at Scheels

After I got home from work on Friday, we wanted to get out of the house so we took a trip to Scheels. I had been there a year ago with my mom and sister, but Dave had never been. I was once again amazed by how big that place is! We had plenty to do even though we couldn't ride the ferris wheel (Sophie is not tall enough). 

We started our trip by looking at the fish - Sophie was mesmerized

We let her get out of the cart for a closer look

Then we went upstairs and Sophie watched us play some mini bowling

She also watched us take aim at the shooting range - she was a good third wheel on this date

And I will brag a bit and say that I won both the bowling and shooting - go me!!

Such a cute third wheel :)

And checking out the big bear before heading home

There was also lots of food that we didn't try because dinner was already cooking at home. The prices were pretty reasonable so next time we visit I think we'll make it dinner and a date. I'm sure we'll be going back soon since it's so close to our house!

Steps

I feel like Sophie is going to take off running any day now. She stands all the time and is now able to take 10-15 steps before falling down. It's been so strange to suddenly have her appear in the kitchen next to me and and see her just standing there. Ahh! I'm not sure I'm ready for this next phase, but ready or not, here she comes!

She's been taking steps for almost two weeks now, and I keep meaning to take a video but she sits down and starts crawling every time she sees me. Today I finally managed to get a short clip of her, but unfortunately she's not very happy because I was holding her blanket hostage. What a mean mommy.

And all this walking has been wearing her out. Tonight she was soooo tired, and after fussing for awhile, she finally crashed on our bed. She was just like a rag doll - you could roll her, pick her up, turn the lights on and off - she was dead to the world. Love this sweet little girl.