Breckenridge 2011

Every year we are so fortunate to have a family gathering up in Breckenridge with the Skalsky's. Its a wonderful time to just relax, play with all of the kiddos and be out in nature. This year was no exception, we had a great time chatting, playing some Yatzee, a viscious game of Monopoly (you really have to watch out for Debbie, she really has that sweet & innocent thing down, then she'll sneak up from behind and get cha!) and got out a little bit to see the sights.

It was a really snowy weekend, there was something like 36 inches of powder over the course of 4 days. It was nuts! But so pretty to see from the comforts of our condo. Sophia had a blast, between playing constantly with her three beautiful and energetic cousins (thank you Ali, Brooklyn and Cate for sharing all of your really cool toys!) swimming in the pool, running around the halls of the condo and getting outside and playing in the snow - she had some really fun-filled days and passed out every night!

This blog is totally for Sophia, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Jason and I did sneek away for a snowshoeing adventure! We have never been before, and what better day to go then after 24" of powder?!?! Before you know it, we are hiking up a 3:1 side slope and breaking new ground in an effort to get back on the trail. There is a much longer and hillarious story, but here is Jason braving the new trail while I am paralyzed with laughter as he's chest-deep (With snowshoes ON!) and determined to not quit and get a ride back. Gotta love the adventures!

Sophia was a NATURAL at swimming! At first she was a little nervous and really clung onto Mommy, but after a little while she relaxed (we were in a 1.5' pool) and realized that she could walk around and really enjoyed it! So much so, that after about 10 minutes she really didn't want anyone touching her and she was totally fine "swimming" around by herself! We took her into a deeper pool and she let us swim her around a little and try a quick backfloat. She is a cute little fish and we can't wait to get her into swim lessons this summer!

Thank you Don & Debbie for such a wonderful weekend and beautiful family moments. We love you!

Animal Sounds, Potty and Caregiving

Sophia Jayne has really started to exhibit her caring and compassionate side. Yesterday, she not only fed her stuffed animals her dinner but then proceeded to wipe off Wrigley's mouth with a washcloth because he was done eating too. She is such a caregiver, she offered a bite of chicken to the stuffed bunny, saying umm, umm... then gobbling it up herself and then having the bunny "drink" the milk, complete with sipping sounds and "aaaahhhh" after he was through :) It was precious. Here she is trying on our shoes, she is really starting to love dress up!

This morning several animals were on TV and she was doing a great job of matching up the animal to the sound it makes. Cows, ducks, chickens and sheep she knows and can repeat the sound they make or call them by name. She's such a little smarty pants! Animals aren't the only thing she's been really focused on lately... the potty is now something she finds fascinating.

One day Sophia was running around and playing when suddenly she grabbed her diaper and said "pee!" So we all ran into the bathroom (we were visiting Mia) and Mia had a kid's seat that you put on the real toilet seat, Mia proudly directed "you are going to need this!" So we put the seat on, put Sophia up there and we all exclaimed " ok, now you can pee!" Sophia had the biggest grin on her face and clasped her hands together as if she was giving herself a hug for a job well done. Nothing really happened on the potty just yet, but as with everything Sophia does - she leads the way and we just happily follow in her footsteps. On the same token, one last piece of good news, Sophia has officially slept two weeks without the pacifier! Congratulations, my baby girl!

Nineteen Months

Sophia Jayne is nineteen months already, I keep saying it but time is really moving fast now. Sophia has been talking up a storm. She can pretty much say the word that matches most of her food, she knows the colors blue and purple for sure, she can count to 2 and recognizes some letters of the alphabet. Amazing, every day there is a new word, new idea and its amazing to watch.

Sophia now speaks in some sentences, like "Mommy sit" or "Daddy eat". Sophia refers to herself by name now, she calls herself "e-a" short of fia, or Sophia ;) She gets really excited about knowing this and shouts out her name whenever she sees her picture! She's really into rolling around, tickling, dancing and imaginary play. She mimics a lot of what we do, from wiping up the table at the end of the meal or even cleaning up the play area - yea!

This weekend we had so much fun cuddling and hanging out together, I had an unexpected three day weekend and it was great. All three of us were home and its so great to spend this time together. We went walking around the outdoor shopping mall nearby and they have outdoor speakers. Sophia was being a total ham and at every speaker she'd stop and start dancing. When Paula Abdul came on, she really let loose and even danced walking backwards. That's my girl!

Magnuson Christmas

We had a great time last weekend celebrating our Magnuson Christmas. Yes, it is January, but I am up for celebrating Christmas any time of year. What better excuse to spend some quality time with family.

Thank you to our beautiful family for being always so supportive and wonderful we cherish every moment we have together. And to our darling Mia, thank you for loving on Sophia so much. Undoubtedly, you two have a very special relationship. This moment is priceless.

18 Months!

Sophia turned 18 months right after Christmas, we had her check-up with the Doctor last week. Sophia is doing great, she was the 50% percentile in height, weight and head circumference. She was happy the whole time we were in the office and she took her shots like a champ. We are all glad that she won't need another immunization for a couple of years. She weighed in at 23lbs 12 OUNCES and was 34 inches tall, and as always as adorable as can be. She is also doing great with all of her problem solving, motor and communication skills.

Sophia is becoming quite a helper, she eagerly helps clean up her activities, sorts her toys and her cheerios. We really don't mind when she dumps her toys or peas on the table, she usually picks them up, its part of her problem solving :)

Drum roll please.... Sophia can READ! We have been doing "Your Baby Can Read" series with her, which is basically a video that highlights various words, flashcards and picture books that also have the words. I heard her read "eyes" without me doing anything! Then Jason a few days later heard her read "Nose" and "Clap" - all from the book, no audio giving her the answers! Sophia can read, wow and to think that only 18 months ago, she was just learning how to open her eyes, amazing.

Christmas!

We had such a great Christmas, Sophia had so much fun playing with her family and friends. Our Christmas celebrations started a week ago. We went over to Grammy and Grandpa Skalsky's for our Skalsky Christmas, it was a wonderful whirlwind of presents and fun. Sophia had a great time playing with her very energetic three cousins and even had enough time left over for some good cuddles with her Uncle Jeremy. We had a blast opening presents, napping and having lots of wonderful food to eat. Sophia feels so at home over at her Grammy and Grandpa's, she loves them so much!

That weekend we also went to visit our Pelner family (my side) to celebrate the holiday. Sophia reveled in being the only little person there that got to soak up all the attention, just for herself :) She was so comfortable there that she rolled in all of the wrapping paper and bows, took a self-guided tour of my Aunt & Uncles house and played with a bag full of purses. Sophia was so excited to see my Aunt Ann's shoes in their walk in closet, that she went to find me, held my hand and guided me to go see the shoe collection - our little lady LOVES shoes!

Christmas Eve was simply beautiful. We had a great family day together, relaxed and played. Then we got all dressed up for Christmas Eve mass with Grammy, Grandpa & Nana Skalsky. The service was lovely, although Sophia found the water fountains in the foyer much more fascinating, so Daddy, Grandpa and Sophia spent most of the service exploring the church. She wasn't alone though, she made lots of little friends out in the hall and was the most social of the bunch! Right before mass started she saw the priest, who happened to have a white beard, and excitedly exclaimed "Santa" and pointed right at him. We all giggled and Sophia had a wonderful, precious smile.

Sophia must have been a very good girl this year because Santa came and left her lots of wonderful presents. She had a great time going through her stocking and ripping corners off of her presents. The overwhelming amount of gifts took all day to open. Carefully opening up each gift and playing with it for a time, until Mommy and Daddy reminded Sophia that there were even more gifts to open. A lot of the time the packaging won her attention. The big winners were of course Santa gifts, her play kitchen and her keyboard with microphone. She'll bounce between the two, frying up a hamburger patty at the kitchen, then taking a break to put her mouth all over the microphone and grunt or say a word or two, to her brilliant amusement. She loves to hear her voice loud and clear! It makes Jason and I laugh every time, then she beams a huge toothy grin, it's priceless.

Today we had our wonderful Christmas get-together with my folks, Grammy & Pa Magnuson. Sophia charged in with excitement as she analyzed each Christmas decoration, careful to find the Mickey Mouse ornaments, move and chew on most of the nativity figurines and describe many ornaments to the closest person. She was a delight and had so much fun playing with Grammy and Pa. She was pretty eager to go to both this time around, she just loves her grandparents. We opened presents, Sophia was very amused with her Mickey Mouse ears with Santa hat attached and spent most of the time looking at that in the mirror. When we could tear her away from all of the other exciting toys, we would open present one by one. She has had a blast with all of her presents, but I know that she enjoyed the quality time the most.

Merry Christmas everyone, may you have a wonderful new year. 2011, here we come!

17 Months!

Here are some great photos of Sophia, enjoy!

Christmas Lights

It's CHRISTMAS TIME!!! I LOVE Christmas time sooo much, and I think its rubbing off on our little angel. We went and picked out a Christmas Tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. She wasn't too into the shopping part, but now that its up in our house and decorated... her eyes light up, she is so giddy and excited and LOVES the Christmas decor. She'll giggle and run over the tree, check on her three favorite ornaments (her snowman that lights up with her name on it, the gingerbread man and the jingle bell fireman) and then will run (with a pitter patter) and turn on the dancing Santa, then pick up a little man from the nativity scene and run back to the tree. Its hilarious. Then she'll say "oooohhhh" every time she sees a lighted Christmas tree or when we drive down the street and she sees the houses all lit up. I think she's caught her mama's love for Christmas, I just can't wait to see what Christmas morning brings! This year, Christmas is so magical.

This picture shows the first time Sophia saw Christmas lights, look at that expression! Grammy took Sophia out and walked down the street to see them up close!

Bapples!

Sophia is doing so much, talking so much and running all the time. That little tornado is keeping us on our toes. Bapples (apples) are her favorite thing, for this week. It seems she'll go in cycles of her favorite foods. It was berries, then bananas and now bapples.

The other day I was leaving for work in the morning, and Sophia never really likes it when Jason or I leave, but she was especially upset this particular morning. So I went back over to her, picked her up, and she gave me the biggest, sweetest hug! It melted my heart. After hugging for about 10 seconds, she motioned to be put down and went back to playing. What a little darling. She is such a sweet, sensitive and caring little girl.

We had our first parent-teacher conference this month. It was so funny to think that we would need one at this age, but it was great to see her school already testing her skills and keeping good track of her learning. She is doing great - playing well with others, learning well, sleeping and eating well, and her favorite activity is craft time! I did feel like a rockstar parent however, when we were talking to the teacher, Sophia pulled out a pen from my purse and then proceeded to accidentally write on her face! I couldn't belive it, and just after we had talked about what battles to pick and discipline. Oh well, it washed off - and I learned to keep my purse zipped and away at all times :)

Sophia and Daddy had their first Disney movie date. Daddy and Sophia go on lots of dates, mostly to the park or Starbucks for chocolate milk and a snack, but this time they watched Beauty and the Beast. Sophia loved it and payed attention through most of it! I love that they share those special moments together.

This month we had taken a road trip to Albuquerque to visit some of our family. Sophia did great on the road-trip. We did leave at 4:30 in the morning to monopolize on her sleep time. She made it all the way to New Mexico before waking up! We stopped at a diner and had breakfast and they had a bunch of stuffed animals that Sophia LOVED. Thank goodness for portable DVD players, we read through all of her books and played with all of her toys by Santa Fe, so a couple of kiddo movies did the trick to make it all the way to Albuquerque. We had a great time visiting family and it was so much fun to see Addison (who is 2-1/2) and Sophia play together. Thank you Addison for sharing your toys and teaching Sophia so many things. The only problem is that we forgot to bring our camera :( We'll just save the mental pictures this time.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. We had celebrated here in Colorado Springs and up in Greeley. We had a blast and are continually so thankful for all the wonderful people in our lives. Thank you to Jeremy, Nicole, Addison, Brooklyn and Cate for the great food and sharing all of your wonderful toys. Sophia just loves getting together with her cousins and chases them around! Sophia and headed up to Greeley and Sophia got to play with her Mia. Mia is 3-1/2 now, so she is definitely taking on a care-giver role with Sophia and teaching her volumes. We love our beautiful families.

Halloween 2010

This Halloween was really fun and exciting. We had my folks down to come and play with our little puppy... I mean our little Sophia :)
We spent the day visiting Grammy & Grandpa Skalsky, Nana Skalsky, Auntie Nicole, Ali, Brooklyn and Cate were all there too! It was a wild bunch and we had a great time. We stopped by the fire station to see Uncle Jeremy because he was working and needed a cute puppy visitor on Halloween. Then it was off to home for a quick lunch and a long nap...
When she woke up, our great friends Uncle Todd & Aunt Kara stopped by to see Sophia in her little costume. And that evening we had Sophia's Great-Uncle John over to celebrate in the festivities. Sophia had a LOT of fun coming to the door to hand out candy. She also did great going trick-or-treating for the first time! She had her super warm and comfy costume, the night was brisk but clear, starry skies and her Daddy and I took her to our favorite neighbor's houses. She enjoyed it and had her little Elmo candy basket to tote back all of her loot (that Daddy and I enjoyed). Sophia did have TWO suckers through out the day, she really liked that!

What an amazing day with family and friends. We are so blessed.
(Oh, and we decided on the puppy costume because Sophia absolutely LOVES Wrigley. She will cuddle him, saddle him, try to roll with him, try to ride him and is learning to gently pet him)