Sofia's Teddy Bear Parade

Yesterday was Sofia's Teddy Bear Parade at school. Every year the kindergardeners decorate a "float" with their teddy bear or favorite stuffed animal and then hold a parade through the school that the whole school and parents get to watch and cheer. A few days before the parade, Sofia and I brainstormed some ideas on how we could decorate a Carter's box we had that was the perfect size. We finally decided to go with a Christmas theme and started decorating. I really wanted Sofia to do all the work on it and I'd help her when she needed my input, but I didn't want it to become my project.

I cut the box into a sleigh shape and got it ready to paint. After school on Wednesday we sat outside and painted the box red which took awhile since Sofia was having fun making up a story while she painted. Once the paint was dry, we attached the cotton balls along the top of the box, which I helped her with. I would add a drop of glue to the ball and she would put it in place. Then, we added a pillow wrapped in some fabric I had and that was the bottom of the sleigh.

Olivia had a red onesie and pants, and Sofia dressed Green Beup Beup in them so he could be Santa. We then went into Sofia's room and found a lot of little toys that we put into a bag which became Green Beup Beup's Santa bag full of toys. I cut two holes in the front and added ribbon which Sofia would use to pull the box around the school hall. We added a few other things like bells and it was all ready. Of course Sofia had to test it out around the house all evening and really wanted to put Olivia in it, but I was afraid the ribbon would break and Olivia might fall out, although I know she'd have fun!

On Thursday morning, Sofia woke up complaining of a bad sore throat, but said she "felt fine" I'm sure because she didn't want to miss the parade. I dropped Sofia and her sleigh off at school and CK, Olivia and I returned to the school at 8:30 to watch the parade. There were a lot of parents so Sofia never saw us until the parade was over. She was upset that "we didn't watch the parade" but soon knew we were there but just never saw us. We were able to visit with her and take a few final pictures before we said goodbye. Unfortunately, around 11:30am the school nurse called to say that Sofia had a fever, terrible sore throat and likely had strep throat. Poor thing! I felt terrible that she was that sick. I picked her up and she was miserable and we learned today it was strep. She was so happy she was able to enjoy the Teddy Bear Parade even though she's sick!

Painting the "sleigh"

Painting and talking....

The parade begins!

Sofia also wore her reindeer antlers since she would be pulling the sleigh

The gingerbread house was cute

Someone went all out on an Angry Birds float - it barely fit through the door!

Mrs. Patterson leads the parade back to class

Dylan and Sofia saying high to the other kids

Sofia and her sleigh

The rest of the kindergardeners

Alexa and her airplane float

Sofia and her float

A close up - we also made a beard for Green Beup Beup

Our little reindeer and Green Beup Beup Santa

Green Beup Beup Santa

Papa pulls the sleigh with Olivia

She was focused on playing with the little bells....

Olivia at 15 Months

Olivia is 15 months today and is 30 1/2 inches tall (48%) and 24 lbs 11 oz (89%) and seems to be growing up so much every day. She's getting her bottom eye teeth right now and the lower right one just started popping through. She's starting to use words that we can actually recognize too! She's been saying "Mama" or "Mommy" very clearly for a few months, but uses it more regularly now. Her other favorite thing to say is "You see?" and says this all the time when we are outside and an airplane is flying overhead. She can hear them so early and starts looking for the plane immediately. Once she sees it, she'll point and say "you see?" It's very cute. She also says "Sissy" for Sofia, "Papa" for her Papa, and occasionally "Uh-huh" while shaking her head yes. She's good at shaking her head to answer questions and seems to have her "yes" and "no" down pretty well. She loves waving goodbye to people and will often wave to anyone getting into their car while we are out and about. She knows how to blow kisses goodbye too, which our sitter Ms. Megan taught her. She doesn't do it regularly but it's sure cute when she does it. She gives hugs and kisses and usually says "ahhhhh" when she's hugging.

Olivia not only loves looking for airplanes, but her favorite books include "Planes," "I Want to Be a Pilot," and "Big Red Barn." She loves animals and loves attention from dogs of all sizes and petting horses, and any animal she's seen. She's still working on knowing her animal sounds, but she knows cows say "moo," dogs say "ruff ruff" and monkeys say "oooh oooh ahhh." Her favorite thing to do is to walk back and forth over a door threshold or a low curb. She's very steady on her feet and can walk very quickly and even run, but she's still getting comfortable negotiating height changes. When we walk to the mailbox to get our mail, she'll walk off the low point of the curb and climb back up and want to do it over and over.

She also has a mind of her own and knows exactly what she wants to do and lets us know! The days of us just grabbing her and going while she's in the middle of something and her having no opinion are gone. Now she'll fuss, especially when it's time to go back inside after going off the curb for the 50th time. She's good at holding her own with Sofia and as much as she loves playing with her and being entertained by her big sister, if she's not in the mood, she'll let Sofia know.

Olivia still loves her food and generally eats more food than Sofia! She's very adventurous and enjoys just about anything we put in front of her. Ironically she's very recently went from absolutely loving cheese to tossing it from her high chair when it's in front of her. I'm sure she'll get her taste for cheese back at some point.

One of the cutest things she does is at bath time. When the bath water is running, she'll come into the bathroom, put her hands onto the tub and 'help' get her clothes off. She raises her hands so you can pull her shirt off, then raises one foot at a time so her socks and pants can be pulled off. Once her diaper is off, she tries to climb into the bath by herself since she's so excited to get in the water and enjoy her bath. She bathes with Sofia every night and they are silly together. Olivia also plays "peek a boo" at random times and still plays with her feet. She's such a fun girl and I love watching her and Sofia together.

She loves riding her horse

Serious girl

So sweet

Look who is 15 months old!

So many teeth!

Growing up so fast

Looking out the window

Yes, she still loves her thumb...and plays with her tummy while she sucks on it.

Farewell Santa Fe.....

On Sunday morning we packed up and stuffed everything into our rental car somehow! We said our goodbyes to Aunt Shirl who was on the mend (Uncle Steve flew out early that morning and CK took him to the airport). Then we headed to Cafe Pasqual's for breakfast. As usual, it was delicious and we enjoyed our breakfast and Mexican hot chocolates before we headed out to the airport.

The flight home went well and seemed to go by quickly. I guess taking a nap with the girls helps make the trip shorter! Once we arrived at the hanger and unloaded our stuff, we had to take a picture of all the stuff we were able to fly on the Baron! It's amazing that it can carry so much stuff and is really great work horse! We had such a fun trip to Santa Fe and such a special Thanksmas this year!

Olivia and her Papa waiting for breakfast to arrive

The girls and me

The Baron and our stuff, including the girls!

Hiking in the Mountains

After breakfast, we got dressed and decided to head into the mountains for a hike, hoping to see a little snow. We've done a hike on a particular trail every year we've been in Santa Fe and in 2008 there was easily a foot of snow. This year we weren't sure we'd see any. Uncle Steve decided to stay back with Aunt Shirl, who really felt bad still. So, the four of us loaded up and headed up the winding road to "our" trail. There was actually a bit of snow on the trail in the shaded areas and Sofia was beside herself! She was SO excited to be able to "play in the snow," even though there was hardly enough to play in. She'd brought two of her horses and immediately got down on her knees and was narrating a story about the horses living in snow....

Meanwhile, Olivia was very happy to walk and charged up the trail, but when it came time to touch snow she wasn't that into the idea. She much preferred being held by CK or me and watching her sister play. It turned out to be comfortably cool, especially in the sun and I was surprised we didn't see other hikers as we've always run into every other time we've been there. We finally found a great patch of snow that Sofia could really play in and we hung out there for a while so she could enjoy it. We were also able to introduce Olivia to snow without a huge objection. However, once she's felt it a time or two, she'd had enough.

We continued to hike up the trial, but once it became clear that the rest of the walk would be in the sun with no hope of snow we decided to turn back toward the car (plus, there was something about a Florida football game starting soon). Sofia would run ahead and play in patches of snow as we headed back toward the car while Olivia was perfectly happy enjoying the walk and snow while being carried and sucking her thumb.

After our walk we were hungry so we were able to visit Bumblebee for burritos before heading to Aunt and Uncle's casita to watch the football game while Olivia napped.

Olivia and Papa are ready for the hike!

Sofia finds her first patch of snow and is in heaven!

Having fun

Olivia and me walking up the trail....

Our view as we walked

In search of more snow

Olivia was happy to ride on my back for a while

Sofia finds the biggest patch of snow yet!

Making up horse stories

Olivia and Papa take in the view

Olivia's first snow

Touching it...

Papa and Sofia "hike" down the hill to play

At the end of a fun hike!

Fun in the Casita

The girls love playing in Aunt and Uncle's casita and I've been impressed this trip with how little either of them "get into" things. I've always thought the girls aren't much into going through drawers, etc, but I think Olivia is even less inclined to do so than Sofia was at her age. While the gals were playing Saturday morning, I realized that Olivia was wearing the same pjs Sofia wore when we were in Santa Fe for Thanksmas in 2008. I pulled up a photo of Sofia from then and can't believe how similar the girls look - Sofia's face is longer while Olivia's is rounder, but even their hair color and length is pretty much exactly the same.

The girls chased after each other and Olivia loves following her sister around and will laugh and laugh. So, I captured a few pictures of them being silly together. Otherwise, Sofia wanted to be with her Uncle Steve and after she received new books from them, she wanted him to read the books to her over and over which he very kindly did. The girls just make themselves at home in the casita and have fun, and thankfully haven't broken anything.

Olivia having a little pre-breakfast snack

Sofia with her "horse tail" and Olivia trying to catch her

Such a silly horse!

Sofia wearing her "Santa Fe Cowgirl" shirt that was a present from Aunt and Uncle

Olivia in her pjs

Sofia chasing Olivia

Giggles!

Sofia in the same outfit, Santa Fe, November 2008

Sofia with Aunt Cathy, November 2008

Uncle Steve reading to Sofia

One of the books is actually perfect for Sofia to try and read and she did a good job getting through most of the words

Sofia loves her Uncle!