Sofia at 27 months.....

Today Sofia is 27 months old (I nearly forgot!) and is such a big girl! She still loves to sing "Wheels on the Bus," "Farmer in the Dell," and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" as well as many others, although she doesn't sing them nearly as frequently as she was. Her new favorite phase is "What's that, Honey Boo?" Where not entirely sure where she got the "Honey Boo" part, but it is adorable and she uses it any time she wants to know about something. She's really into her wagon which my Mom's friend Kris and Jim gave us for a baby shower gift, and her Winnie the Pooh train. She pulls her wagon around the house (usually with Green Beup Beup riding on it) or rides it and loves to put stuff inside the compartment. She also rides her Winnie the Pooh train around the house and both get 'oil changes' in the office regularly.

Now that Fall is here we recently bought her some dresses, long sleeve shirts, pants and a sweater and decided to buy 3T. It all fits her perfectly, especially the dresses! She still fits in 2T, but everything is a bit too short on her and at least she'll be able to grow into the 3T a little (there isn't as much extra room as I expected!).

She still chats throughout the day and now loves to pretend play with Green Beup Beup and a few balls of various sizes. She tries to put diapers on Green Beup Beup and pushes the balls around then fetches them saying "Oh, I have something to show you." It's all very fun to watch. When we go to the park or during conversation, she often mimics a phrase or sentence that has been said, so we obviously have to watch what we say!

One of my favorite things lately is when I get frustrated with something and show it and she'll say "Mommy, don't get frustrated!" which is funny because she so often pegs my feelings.

So, our little gal is growing up so fast!

Our big girl!


Smiles!


Playing with Hootie


After eating a chocolate-covered rice crispy treat I made - she wants me to clean her hands, as usual!


Chocolate face!


After she ate all the chocolate off, she was done with her treat!

Sofia and her Grandma

During Sofia's Grandma Lee's visit, we went to a portrait studio to get pictures made of the two of them together. The photographer was able to capture some great pictures with really happy smiles! Here is Sofia with her Grandma!

Another day, another pumpkin patch

Just a few days after visiting the pumpkin patch near our house, Sofia and I joined my Mom's group at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch, which is apparently one of the larger ones in the area. It was very impressive, except every elementary school group within four counties were there as well! It was a Monday morning and it was absolutely crazy! Aside from numerous pumpkins and decorations, they had several bounce houses, which Sofia loved! She spent most of her time inside the "under age four" bounce house with Isabella. It was fun to watch her bounce around and she loved bouncing and falling on her stomach. After, we walked around a little longer before heading off to lunch. After lunch, we said goodbye to our friends and started off for home. Luckily after just a few minutes Sofia asked for Green Beup-Beup and I realized that we'd left him at the restaurant! Disaster was averted when we returned and our waitress gave him back!

The entrance to the Flower Mound pumpkin patch


With Sofia on the wagon


Playing on the wagon


Looking out over the pumpkins


With Green Beup Beup (and a fake smile)


Bouncing!!


Girls in the wagon! Sofia with Isabella and Milani


Kissing a cut-out character goodbye - she had to give each one a kiss and a hug....


Post lunch snooze with Green Beup Beup

Pumpkin Portraits

While at the pumpkin patch I tried to get some good close up pictures of Sofia with my "real" camera and had a little success. Of course, since I was by myself and CK wasn't there to make her smile or laugh, I got the "fake" smile in a few of these until I stopped asking her to smile and just took candid pictures. Enjoy!

The Pumpkin Patch

Now that we finally have sunny days and beautiful Fall weather, I decided to take Sofia to the pumpkin patch after her nap. Unfortunately CK was on his way back from a work trip, so we went solo. Our weekends have been so busy or we've been traveling so we haven't yet had a chance to visit the pumpkin patch and I wanted to do it before Halloween.

It was fun to remember the year before when Sofia would walk between the pumpkins and pat them or play with them. This time she was very interested in the play structure and all the fun things to do and not as interested in the pumpkins. We did end up picking out a large pumpkin and two smaller ones before we took the hay ride at dusk. We stopped twice on the hay ride to feed donkeys and cows. Ironically we fed them hot dog buns and hamburger buns (I wondered if anyone else thought it strange that the cows were eating hamburger buns.....), although Sofia decided the donkeys didn't need her portion of hot dog bun!

Ready to explore the pumpkin patch


Playing on the slide - we spent most of our time here


Checking out the pumpkins


Picking out the little pumpkins


And putting them into our wagon


Driving the little tractor - she still needed to be pushed since the steering wheel was broken and her feet still don't quite reach the pedals


Our pumpkins!


On the hay ride


Yum, hot dog buns!


Cute!

Painting!

This morning we did a little painting again. Sofia had a lot of fun and ended up painting with her fingers, which was cute (and messy!). Here is a little recording of her "dragon" that she's painting.....

The ramblings of a two year old....

As requested by one of my most loyal blog watchers (thanks, Kris!!!) I've been taking more video of Sofia, which has been somewhat difficult since I either miss a great opportunity or the moment is over in the middle of it. Anyway, I thought this one is pretty cute and gives a sense of our gal and her constant ramblings.....Sofia and I were playing soccer by the garage and she would throw the ball down the driveway and then race down (checking for cars first) and get it. She talks about the turtle and then somehow penguins enter into it and the zoo, which we did visit in Denver a few weeks ago.... here is she!

Saving the turtle

On Thursday around noon we headed out to run a quick errand before Sofia's nap and turned onto the main road to find a rather large turtle/tortoise walking down the middle of the lane! Luckily there were no cars around, so I quickly pulled over, grabbed the turtle and turned toward home. I figured he would be far happier in or near the little lake that is behind our neighborhood, so Sofia and I walked down to the lower area of the lake to leave him near the water so he could decide his fate. As soon as I showed Sofia the turtle she had a field day turning him over and over and patting his shell, so he hid so deeply into his shell that I was afraid he'd never come out! We set him near the water, gave him a final pat and left. I tried to stay close just to watch what he did, but he never came out. I think he was still traumatized by a two year old!

We also ran into our neighbor across the street, Ann, who is a wonderful, vivacious, interesting and very friendly professional painter (www.annhardy.com - check her out!). Ann always makes a point to talk with Sofia and she gave her a cloth Frankenstein candy bucket for Halloween! Sofia loves it and calls it her "purse." We quickly found that it is perfect for carrying mail in from the box and she has experimented with all sorts of things that will (and won't) fit into it! We sent Ann a thank you card and included one of Sofia's "paintings."

Due to all the rain we've had, Sofia is a huge fan of picking mushrooms and we have some very large ones around here! So, she'll pick one and carry it around all day, before I take it and either throw it away or set it on craft paper to release the spores (we used to do this at the ranch all the time). I love how interested Sofia is in exploring and looking at everything. We can hardly walk to the mailbox without picking up rocks, acorns, inspecting the ants and any dead insects and looking for mushrooms. I love it!

Sofia and her mushroom. In her other hand is a lime from our little Mexican lime tree that is in a pot near our pool - it's small but a HUGE producer!


Inspecting...


With her new Frankenstein candy collector (and mail inside!)


Checking out her new present!


The turtle/tortoise - patting it's shell


THe turtle/tortoise's new home


Waving to Chocolate Kitty - a neighbor's cat who is incredibly friendly and forgiving with Sofia


Inspecting a dead bug!


Mushroom spores!

Finger Painting

On Wednesday I decided it was time to get creative with some entertainment since we've had nearly two weeks solid of either rain or cloudy weather. So I bought a cheap table cloth, set out the paper and finger paints, dressed Sofia in an old running shirt of mine and let her go to town!

First off, I must say that the "washable" finger paints are weird - for those of you who haven't experienced them, they are like colored hair gel! So, I'm sort of leaning toward buying regular poster paint next time, laying down a drop cloth, and letting her experience what I think of as paint! Anyway, along with the finger paint I bought a set of cheap brushes since often she isn't a fan of getting things on her hands, and that is exactly what she used. She had fun painting (she still calls it "finger painting" even though fingers were very briefly used) and has asked to do it everyday, but generally when we are about to head out the door, etc....

She did three pieces that day - one multi-colored, one solid green and the other solid blue. I can't wait to see her next creations!

All set to paint


Switching from fingers to paint brushes





Adding other colors


The finished beauty!


Now on to the next project, "A Study in Blue!"