Week 138 and Week 51.5 - Sophia is walking!

Ok, perhaps a bit of an overstatement.  Sophia took two steps on Monday (Dec 3), maybe a dozen steps yesterday, some more today.... Last week she was holding onto a finger and walking, so really walking but with a bit of a crutch.  She will be walking by her first birthday!  Yay (and we consider walking unassisted steps).  I tried to take a video and was not so successful...

I am working on my holiday cards at the moment - trying to figure out Photoshop is fun!  I am totally a closeted graphic designer (except for the drawing bit which I don't know how to do).  I totally riff my designs from Etsy.  I see what I like and try to duplicate it myself.  Though given how cheap things are on Etsy I could certainly have saved a lot of time but would have had a lot less satisfaction.

Things are a bit less crazy - it is still raining a lot and we are fending ourselves against the mosquitoes daily (or maybe hourly).  Our park days are so limited - so I really have no good park photos of Sophia this week!

Sophia is getting more playful.  She will face plant into the bed and then laugh.  She is loving Bucky these days - she is often petting him... how lucky we are he is such a gentle soul.

We had a parent teacher conference with Charlotte's teachers... she is very good (and exceptionally mature apparently).  She is a teacher's pet, very conscientious (even getting the water bottle for the teacher and talking to the kid relegated to 'Mr. Naughty Chair' in the corner, telling him/her what he/she did was wrong).  The teacher noted that Char is not so good about communicating when bad things happen to her (e.g. telling V to stop biting her, etc.) and she needs help tricycling, which just made me laugh!  I asked Matt if that was a 2 year old prerequisite and apparently it is (I never rode a bike by myself without training wheels).  I lay claim to this deficiency.  Needless to say Matt is in charge of the motor skills of our kids.

Thanks Ron for the pictures from our party!

Sophia can't wait to choose her destiny!

Sophia will be the next Michelle Wie!

Cristobal does not want to choose his destiny:

Ella wants to be a photographer - so fitting as she is so photogenic!

Odilon wants to be a musician:

Four way happy birthday!

Sophia's first cupcake - definitely not her last!

Ella enjoys hers:

And other activities:

Char gets her advent calendar chocolate of the day:

Silly Char:

Kristin and Miles:

Lovely Anastasia:

Lucas pays a visit!

Silly Char:

Cutie Marie:

Sophia is on a mission to walk:

Eye of the tiger:

And videos:

Sophia pets Bucky:

The girls play together:

Sophia takes a step (while Char melts in the background):

Our crazy kid party - so many kids!  Also the ddol (destiny choice) here:

Week 137 and week 50.5 - Crazy week!

My apologies for a late post this week.  I spent the better part of midweek trying to take advantage of the Cyber Monday sale at Shutterfly as I make a kid calendar for family every year.  Culling through photos, uploading, arranging is a lot of work, and you know there is never enough time in the day when you are a working mom of 2 young rugrats kidlets.  So here I am, on a Friday night, blogging while Matt is watching Boardwalk Empire on the screen above me.

Charlotte is doing this cute thing where we ask her how much she loves someone and she tells us.  She loves Daddy and Uncle Matt $214, Tita Monica and me $200, and Sophia $60.  I don't know where she came up with this.

Char is kinda going through a sleep regression phase.  She wants Daddy or I to sleep with her and we do (sometimes).  Sometimes we actually fall asleep but sometimes we just pretend and then Char calls us out on it.  It can drag out a 9PM bedtime a good half hour or more (punishing if we have not eaten dinner yet).

Since Matt has been in town we have eaten as a family many times.  There are often food struggles on the overtired/school days.  We have finally relented (after her first 'go to sleep with no dinner' evening last week) and let her watch a video while she eats (as this seems to distract her enough to eat).  But the video she can watch is how to speak KOREAN.  Because I am sort of a tiger mom.  Ok, maybe a baby tiger mom.  Because I tend to permit many things that I perceive to be creative pursuits (so I have been told anyway).

Sophia is repeating when you open your mouth (a la say "AH" at the dentist).  She is so near walking... she will now walk with you holding one hand.  She is drinking a lot of formula - say 15 oz a day because I am recently paranoid that my breast milk is going to make her short (as if my own vertical challenges won't make her short).  I weighed her the other day and she is 10.5 kg - just a couple of kg under Charlotte!  She is also getting up at night - not sure why as she has been sleeping so well until just a couple of days ago.

Sophia is still a jealous monkey!  Monica said hi to her in the park (while holding Astrid) and apparently Sophia barked at her and kept crawling in the other direction.

We had Thanksgiving at the Margolins/Beckwiths and the Stampers - all this past Saturday.  It was great to eat all this American food (turkey, et al) - though I think I went the whole day without consuming a marshmallow.  I made the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding and key lime pie for the day.  Yum - American desserts!  Char also was a trooper and stayed out till after 10PM.

We also visited Olivia and Clarice last week.  It was fun to see Charlotte and Olivia play together in Olivia's swish kid's kitchen (all dark woods and silver accents - a modern masterpiece!)

We also ended up hosting a kid's party for Sophia/Ella/Cristobal/Odilon's first birthdays (all born within 2+ weeks of each other) on Tuesday as the park was rained out.  Thirty kids at our house!  The baby jail and our eardrums were at capacity that afternoon.  We did do the fun Ddol/choose your destiny thing.  Sophia chose a golf ball - so she will be an athlete!

Oh, and Matt and I had our wedding anniversary this week.  Wow - we have been busy!

Olivia and Char:

I am trying to get Astrid to open her eyes.  I settle for her mouth:

Here we go.  She is TT's little sister for sure:

Cheeky at a week old:

Uncle Matt.  Master carver:

Matt and Charlotte try out for synchronized swimming:

Astrid:

Remarkably sleepy - even on the dinner table!

I came upstairs and found Sophia and TT playing together.  CUTE:

Sweet baby and daddy:

Char's swim lesson in between turkey meals:

Charlotte and Cameron had fun for Saturday Thanksgiving dinner:

Poor Jackson was not well:

Sophia stands!

Dogged determination:

Family walks:

Sadly these baby Birkenstocks are still too big:

Sophia recently likes standing next to the toilet:

Our crazy kid party (more pics to come from Ron soon) - too bad I don't have a panoramic view:

Kid cupcakes:

Sophia is a serious chocolate eater.  Notice the matching pins!

But wow - she does not like this Barney hat!

And the videos:

Sophia gives Monica the cold shoulder:

Friday night fun as Char takes pictures and Sophia opens her mouth 'AH':

Sophia with her Elmo walker at home (another rainy day!):

Sophia rides her Elmo walker(!) and waves Bye Bye!