Sofia at 13 months (almost)

We leave for vacation at the beach in Florida shortly, so I wanted to post Sofia's 13 month pictures. Although the monkeys are used for comparison of Sofia's growth, she doesn't exactly want to share the chair with them anymore. Also, she just got some new shoes - the sandals I had are too hard for her to walk well in, so we got some cute shoes that she can really cruise in. She is a HUGE walker now and only crawls if she has to. Here she is:

Sofia at 13 months


Throwing the monkeys around


Sofia on her chair


Hey, new shoes!!


They are cute and fun to play with!

Will walk (and dance) for mango!

Yesterday I recorded Sofia walking in our kitchen. She walks to me because I have her new favorite treat -freeze dried mango! She then walks back and pauses to dance a little (the radio was on, but I turned it down before I started to record her). Anyway, it's very cute! She's such a cute little walker!

More walking

Here is another video of Sofia walking. This was taken on Friday 15 August, and already today (18 August) she's walking so much further and wants to be on her feet more than she wants to crawl. Here is the video - enjoy!

Sofia in California

Here are a few additional pictures of Sofia while we were in California. Mom and I went for a walk with both dogs and Sofia (something we never tried again). Sian, John and their girls Danielle and Holland came for a visit and dinner on Saturday and Sofia LOVED hanging out with the girls. Sofia tried to learn a little ukulele with John!

Going for our walk


John teaches Sofia about the ukulele


Sian and the girls play with Sofia


Grandma and Sofia reading

Sofia and the dogs

Sofia is having fun with Max and Maggie, although it took her a few days to get used to Max's size and Maggie's energy (and little barks). She loves touching Max's feet and patting him, and has enjoyed playing with Maggie and trying to touch her nose! She also says "puppy" when she sees either one of them (it sounds like an elongated "Papa"). She also tries to bark, but she hasn't quite got it down yet. Here are some pictures.

Max the horse


Max, Maggie, Grandpa Joe and Sofia hanging out


Road block!


Hi Max!

Tomatoes and Fish

Sofia and I are enjoying our time in California and have been hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Fryer, Maggie and Max, and the koi. Sofia loves to watch the koi swim around and especially enjoys feeding time when all the fish come to the surface. On Friday we went to the back of the yard with Grandma to pick tomatoes from Grandma's extensive tomato garden. Here are some pictures:

What's down there?


Fish!


Picking tomatoes with Grandma


Look at all those yummy tomatoes!


Just after this picture, Grandma dropped in cherry tomatoes and Sofia ate several of them right from the bowl!

She walks!!

Sofia finally started taking more than a few steps on her own. Although she is still shy about walking, she loves to go back and forth from one person to another and is fairly steady on her feet. CK and I spent Sunday afternoon going to lunch, shopping and walking around South Coast Plaza and returned to learn that Sofia started walking across the room on her own! So, here are a few pictures and a short movie of her moves. More to come!

There she goes!




Hanging out with Maggie


Here is the video, but it's sideways (long story, but I couldn't set it up correctly). I'll take additional video so no one messes up their neck watching!

Ft. Worth Longhorns

On Saturday 2 August, CK, Sofia and I went to Ft. Worth to look around the stockyards and watch the Longhorn drive! It was "only" 105 that day so we walked around, looked at custom-made cowboy boots and saddles and checked out the stockyards and train depot. Here are some pictures:

Ft. Worth


The Stockyards


Waiting for the Longhorns


Longhorns

Post-birthday girl

Just wanted to show off Sofia's new swimsuit that her Great Grandma VanDevender gave her! So cute! Also, I captured some really great pictures (I think) of Sofia and her Grandma and Grandpa Fryer.

Sofia's cute new swimsuit!




With Grandma and Grandpa Fryer

Presents!

Sofia got a TON of presents for her first birthday and she enjoyed opening them all! All that paper to tear apart and tissue paper to play with!

Sofia's presents!


Starting to open gifts...


A cute dress from Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Jay




That's my Penguin! Grandpa and Grandma Lee gave Sofia a musical penguin (it took Sofia a few days to warm up to him, but now she loves him)