Grapevine's Botanical Gardens

Today Sofia and I met with one of the mom's groups at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens, which is only a few miles away and absolutely beautiful. It was great to visit because we're planning on having our family pictures taken there in a few weeks so it was nice to see how pretty it is. The gardens have a nice koi pond and food to feed them, which Sofia loved (I fed them since she would undoubtedly eat the fish pellets). Then we walked over to the kid's play area to meet the mom's group and Sofia loved playing - especially taking the slide! She even went down head first and loved it. Oh, and notice the sweater and long pants - it was in the mid-40s this morning, but by the time we left the play group we had both discarded our outer layer (it got up to 75).

Feeding the koi - not quite the same as being at California Grandma's, but these fish are just as hungry!


Looking at the pond


The fountain


The slide! (forgive the photography - these were action shots!)


Wee!


Playing

Baking Cookies.....

On Wednesday I made Halloween cookies for CK's office and Sofia was more than helpful! She loves to sit on our island and watch me make our meals and I try to explain to her what I'm doing so maybe she'll become a little cook someday! Heck, if she could make dinner now I would put her to work if I could! Anyway, here are some pictures of my little helper.

Already a pro at cleaning off the mixer


Yum, pumpkin sugar cookies!


Sticky




Look at those lips! I gave Sofia a black licorice treat that I used to decorate the cookies and her entire mouth, tongue and lips turned jet black!


Eating cookies while waiting for the cookies to finish in the oven


I asked Sofia where the cookies where and this is the result. So cute!

Sofia at 15 months...

Sofia is 15 months old today! She is growing up so fast - honestly it seems we can notice a difference on a daily basis now. She tries to copy noises and gestures and just started blowing kisses (very cute). She has been teething for awhile, but finally three molars are breaking through the gums! Its been weeks of her chewing on her index finger and being a bit sensitive to harder foods, but otherwise she's an outstanding teether. Here are the pictures, which had to be taken quickly since she is now quick to get down from chairs when she isn't in the mood to just hang out!

Our 15 month old!







Playing with the monkeys


Photo session is over! Ready to get down!


The final picture...

A few of her favorite things....

Sofia is really growing up quickly and she seems to change daily. She knows all of her animals - she can't say all of them yet, but points to each animal in her book when asked. She loves touching the 'sticky' tongue of the dog in her Dogs book and also says 'sticky' very well. I try to remember all of the words she says, but I probably should write them down. She can say hi, bye-bye, papa, mama, baby, puppy, car, sticky, no (I only hear that 100 times a day), yeah (her version of yes), duck, milk, water (not that it sounds exactly like the word), truck, pool, bear, good girl, bubbles, flowers, penguin, airplane (this sounds more like a-pane).

The following pictures were taken over the past few weeks as I've tried to capture a few of the things she loves....

Her beloved puppy, who she is kissing. She sleeps with him and another puppy every night and usually carries him around the house


Books! She is absolutely her father's daughter! Sofia can look at her books for nearly an hour in her room alone. She usually looks at them upside down though! The Dogs book is in the foreground and is easily her favorite. Her other favorite is Good Night Cowgirl, which is a cute Texas-style good night book that CK reads to her.


Sleeping! She LOVES to sleep and falls asleep on her tummy sucking her left thumb and rubbing her belly button with her right hand. I took this picture when I needed to wake her up to go somewhere and thought it was very cute.


She loves carrying a 'purse' around to put things into and take things out of. She usually uses a little shopping bag that I got several weeks ago, but we're practicing with the pumpkin for Halloween


Her 'chair'! This is actually the top of her stroller, which she spent countless hours in when she was younger on the Hill, but we haven't used it here in awhile. Instead, she loves to climb into it and hang out.


Her penguin - she had a love-hate relationship with her penguin for awhile, but know she loves to play with him and carry him around by his top knot.


Bath time! Sofia LOVES taking baths and playing in the water. She turns into a prune before she is ever ready to get out!

Sofia and Sophia...

Here is Sofia and Sophia again. Sophia is so good with our little girl and holds her hand while they walk around (and she directs her around much better than I do).

Sofia and Sophia in Georgetown. They were having fun hanging out on the bench together


Sofia and Sophia sharing our jogging stroller in the mall


They had a good time squashed together!


Sofia at a nearby duck pond. We fed the ducks, but she was much more interested in eating the bread herself and lounging on the park bench


Sitting in a chair like a big girl - reading a toy magazine. She can sit there forever and look at each page. So cute!

Sofia on the go....

I don't really have a theme to these pictures, but realized I haven't blogged in awhile and wanted to add these pictures. Enjoy!

Sofia enjoys her very first kid's hot cocoa at Starbucks and an addict is born! By the end she had dots of chocolate all over her


Sofia enjoys her 'cookies' (little does she know that it's actually a fig newton) Of course, animal crackers are also a huge hit


On our afternoon walk - it was finally cool enough to dress her in a Fall outfit


On our way to Georgetown, TX - her new headphones. As you can likely tell from this picture they weren't on for very long


Oh, buttons!! Sofia LOVES pushing any type of buttons, turning lights on/off, opening the garage door, etc


Finally playing with those buttons

Rain!!

Today it rained (and hard)! Although common in DC, we haven't had much rain here and Sofia loved it! After a visit to the gym and grocery store, she went out front and played in the rain, however, she changed her mind each time she left the safety of our awning! So, I had to take pictures! Here she is:

Out in the rain (it's still nearly 80 degrees, thus the lack of pants)


Where is all that water coming from??


Trying to escape the rain


Afterward, playing with her towel and walking around in her diaper (one of her favorite things to do)


At the grocery store. One of the great things about living in the suburbs are all these crazy things they have - like grocery carts with kid cars on the front! This was the first time Sofia rode in the car and I think it may become a new ritual!

Sofia's pumpkin outfit

I took some pictures of Sofia wearing the outfit that I wanted her to have on for the pumpkin patch - she wore it Monday since it was a bit cooler. CK, Sofia and I spent the day fixing up CK's hanger, eating lunch at Houston's Restaurant and then taking a long walk once home. I didn't take any pictures of the Baron because it was getting worked on and wasn't in it's hanger when we arrived. It was a fun day and was great to have CK home for Columbus Day!

Sofia's pumpkin shirt (this was an iron-on that I added to one of her shirts, we'll see if it survives the wash!)


Strutting her stuff in our backyard!


Playing peek-a-boo in the car at the hanger

At the pumpkin patch

This afternoon, after Sofia finally awoke from a 3-plus hour nap, we went to the local pumpkin patch. The pumpkin patch was great with hay rides, a corn maze, little tractor rides, a hay house, old tractors, fresh-popped popcorn, and a gymnasium for older kids. Next year will be a whole different story for our little mouse, since most of these things were too old for her, but we still had a lot of fun walking around patting pumpkins! I had a great Halloween outfit picked out for her, but it was nearly 85 degrees, so figured she should stay in her dress. "Fall" is a bit different in Texas compared to D.C. Before we left, CK and I looked at pictures from last year and remembered how small and different Sofia looked! Just for fun, I've included a picture from a year ago at the end......

Sofia and me looking at all the pumpkins - She was far more interested in the wagon when we first arrived


Two little pumpkins!


Posing


Such a cutie


Papa and Sofia sitting on the tractor


I love this picture! Sofia, our little cowgirl!


Sofia helping Papa with the wagon - she does the same with shopping carts, which can be dangerous if you let go


Sofia-sized tractor (Papa had to push since her legs aren't quite long enough)


All our pumpkins ready to go home!


And, ONE year ago.....