Twenty-four months

Sophia,
You are TWO YEARS OLD today (February 28, 2014),

We have your two year old check-up on Monday to find out your stats.

You have red hair and brown eyes. You hate getting your hair brushed, but will occasionally wear a bow or pigtails.

You wear size four diapers. You like to tell me when you need your diaper changed, but you have very little interest in the potty. We plan on encouraging you, but letting you take the lead on when you want to be potty trained.

You are wearing clothes from 18 months through 2T. Some of the pants you wear are 3T. You love wearing footed pajamas with a zipper and most mornings it is a battle to get you dressed and out of your pjs.

You eat great most days. You have started eating a few bites of vegetables. Your favorite breakfast food is Chex cereal. I truly think you would eat it for every meal if I let you.

You are a great sleeper. Most nights you sleep between eleven and twelve hours and get a two hour nap during the day. You enjoy a little quiet time in your crib before you fall asleep. You insist on having baby dolls, stuffed animals, lovie, and a stack of books in your bed.

You are getting much more chatty and still use a little sign language. Your vocabulary has grown tremendously, but there are still words (like 'sorry' and 'thank you') that you won't even try to say. You are extremely shy and it takes you a long time to warm up to new people. Sometimes you will crack a smile when new people talk to you, but more often you turn your head away from them.

You are very independent and want to attempt most things by yourself. "No, mine!" is the phrase we hear most often when we try to offer unwanted help.

You love reading, but will close a book if it doesn't interest you. Your favorite books are the ones you can touch, lift a flap, or make noises and music with.

You are a huge fan of the shows on Disney Junior and love to watch The Jungle Book. I try to limit your television watching, but I am very much looking forward to warmer weather so we can get out of the house more.

Your favorite toys night now are wooden puzzles, trains, beads, your purse, and of course, baby dolls. Your favorite game is chase. You are obsessed with tumbling and jumping. You love 'singing' and chants and often request to dance to music.

Your Daddy and I have loved spending the last two years with you. Thank you for keeping us on our toes and making every day entertaining! We love you to the moon and back!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday! I'm linking up with April and the Ladies for another Five on Friday.

One

I made Sausage, Kale, and White Bean Soup this week - it is a new favorite. I mostly followed this recipe, but added extra beans, stock, and seasonings. I served it topped with oven roasted tomatoes and asiago cheese.

Two

My Dad gave us a copy of the Jungle Book and Sophia has a new obsession. Her favorite character is Baloo and she frequently requests to watch "Bear". She has watched the movie several times and already has most of it memorized. (Don't worry she only gets to view a little bit at a time.)

via

Three

I am finding living with a toddler to be an adventure every day. My favorite tantrum this week came from the fact that the animal book we borrowed from the library was not a "lift the flap" book. I am hoping that we are just in the "terrible lead-up to two" rather than kicking off a full year of the "terrible twos".

I am still in shock that we have a two year old.

Happy Birthday Little Bean!

Four

Speaking of birthdays, I am in shock as to how expensive birthday cakes are. I don't usually purchase bakery cakes since I have a gluten allergy. I wanted what I thought was a simple cake with rosettes for Sophia. After being quoted NINETY DOLLARS (the most inexpensive one I found was $46 for a 7-inch), we decided to go with a homemade cake.

Five

We are finally entering the world of the iPad. Any favorite apps?

T W O

Two years ago we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
Sophia, you have turned our world upside down and we love every minute of it!

Happy second birthday, little love!

February 28, 2012

February 28, 2013

Time with my loves

I know a lot of people take for granted the time they have with their immediate family. Time is often overlooked, but it is more than just a little thing for us. Being married to a chef, I try to make the most of the time we get together as a family. Dave usually works at least fourteen hour days, sometimes six days a week. One of the downfalls of being married to a chef is the hours - Dave is rarely home for dinner or our bedtime routine. Most nights I am lucky to see him before I fall asleep.

Dave had a rare day off and we enjoyed every minute from breakfast to bedtime. 

We took advantage of warmer weather and made a trip to the zoo. We watched the penguin parade, polar bear wrestling, and visited with the other animals.

This plump little squirrel tried to march with the penguins.

A few of the many faces of Sophia.
She is totally aware of the camera when I am trying to take her picture.

The best part of the day was the time that we got to spend together.

8/52

"A picture of my little lady, once a week, every week, in 2014."

It is getting more challenging to take pictures of Sophia. She either refuses to smile or yells while I am pointing the camera at her. We took advantage of warmer temperatures and made a trip to the zoo. We had a blast watching the polar bears wrestle with each other. I was thrilled to capture this picture of my two loves.

Read more about our trip to the zoo here.

Thrilled to be linking up with Jodi for The 52 Project.

Life, lately

The past two weeks have been an exhausting whirlwind. Sophia and I traveled to Pennsylvania in between snow storms to visit with family. I wish it was a pleasure visit, but most of my time was spent visiting my mom in the hospital. She's still recovering so all prayers, happy thoughts, good vibes, and well wishes are greatly appreciated (and thanks in advance).

Sophia spent the first part of our trip getting spoiled by Dave's parents - Nanny and Pap Pap. They took her all over and let her stay up well past her bedtime. I wish I had spent more time with them too, but I was in a rush to get back to the hospital so my visits with them were brief.

The second part of our trip was spent getting spoiled by my parents - Nana and Grandpop. It was hard on Sophia when I was around. She is starting to show her 'terrible twos' a bit more, so I timed my hospital visits with her awake times. Thanks to ten inches of snow, we did get to spend a snow day together.

Sophia didn't get to see her Grandmom while we were in Pennsylvania, so we are hoping to visit again next month.

After a lovely ten hour drive we got back to Cincinnati yesterday. Dave had most of the day off and we were thrilled to spend a little time with him.

Recapping my trip would involve telling you about the hospital, since that is where I spent most of my time so instead I just wanted to share a few things that made me smile while I was in Pennsylvania.

Fan of: amazing nurses, songs matching my mood perfectly, restaurants with gluten-free menus, toddler dancing, driving through snow, text messaging, social media distractions, Katy Perry, seeing my best friend, sodoku, laughter, sweet tea, getting to see my dad on his birthday, and my little road trip buddy.

I was not a fan of the car-swallowing sized potholes that I tried to avoid on a daily basis. Luckily we escaped unharmed.

7/52

"A portrait of my little lade, once a week, every week, in 2014."

I didn't have my camera out much at all this week. This quick snapshot of Sophia with her milk mustache is my favorite.

Thrilled to be linking up with Jodi for The 52 Project.

A little more love...

Here are a few more pictures of my little love bug that made me smile.

Sophia insisted that I take pictures of Baby too...

 Taking a little dance break...

Not paying any attention to the camera...

 Trying to sneak in a few pictures with Mommy...

Taking pictures of a toddler is always an adventure.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I find the holidays to be much more special with a little one. Sophia finds so much joy in almost everything we do, it makes me appreciate the little things so much more. 

Dave has to work every year on February 14th to help make delicious meals for all of the lovebirds that dine out. It doesn't bother me - I don't need a special day to know that he loves me.

This year I wanted to do a little photo card for our families with Sophia as the star. Although I wish there wasn't that lovely glare on the banner, I love how cute the pictures turned out.