Mini update

Howdy all! Not a whole lot going on here in Santa Monica, but I thought I'd give you an update.
Here's a [notsogreat] pic I took of site, next to the pier and the ocean.














Sophie has 5 teeth, with one more on the way. She really enjoys grinding them together so you don't forget she has them. It's really a fantastic sound. Really.
She just recently started picking her belly up off the ground and is really scooting up a storm, but no crawling yet. She is confident in sitting, sitting up from laying down, and going to the crawling position. She is pretty much always happy and sweet. She says "mama" and "dada" and "hi" and waves. We're working on clapping and saying other simple words. Solids aren't going well, anything with texture is not a good thing, although we are making progress with the sweet potato puffs. She has had a few a day with no gagging, so we're headed in the right direction. I really can't wait until we can just go on site [where she eats for free] and she can have what we're having. It's going to be a lot easier I think. We also tried whole milk and she seems to like it. We'll talk to the pedi when we go home to MI for Christmas to see what we should do about the bottles. She gets one 8-oz bottle at night, and three 8-oz meals of a fruit and veggie every day. We'd like to try and wean her off of her bottle, but I think that will come when she's on solids for good.

Last Monday on our day off, we went to a local pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin to carve. There, we snapped a few pictures with Sophie in her cute Halloween shirt.











































On site, there have been quite a few celebrity sightings. When Sophie and I went and sat on the couch last weekend, Sharon Stone and her son were there. She was super appreciative and even took a few pictures with the cast. Earlier that week, Cher was there. At the premier party, Jim and I met Neil Patrick Harris, who was super nice, down-to-earth and just plain cool! He put his hand out and said, "Hi, I'm Neil." I thought I played it pretty cool, but when he left, I seriously lost my sh*t! He said it was nice to meet us and he even blew Sophie a kiss. He is one of my all-time favorite actors [even more so now!] and it was definitely the highlight of the city!



















Last weekend, there was a joint 6-year-old birthday party with the theme "Mermaids and Pirates." I made Little Mermaid cupcakes and pirate cupcakes based on these. [These are not mine, but you get the idea.]:















Since Halloween is this weekend, I will be making Halloween cupcakes for everyone on site, so I'm a little nervous and excited. No fondant this time! :] I'll post pictures of Sophie in her costume soon!

Ode to eyebrows

As parents, Jim and I are as lucky as they can get. Not only is our beautiful daughter a super sleeper, eater, snuggler and all-around great kid, but she has these facial expressions that cannot be beat. If they gave awards for expressive eyebrows, hers would win every time!

Paparazzi, already? In the hospital, Dec 8 2008, 1 day old














Atalanta, GA 1-2 months old




























Baltimore, 4 months, trying sweet potatoes for the first time














New York City, photo shoot for Mothers' Day, 5-6 months old


















St. Paul, 7-8 months old

























































On the road to Denver, 9 months old














And one to grow on

Flashback Friday

This was from Easter 2009, on our transfer week between Baltimore and New York City. Sophie was 4 months old.

Sophie checkin' out Grandpa.














Sophie showing off her Easter duds. Too bad she didn't have any hair for that barrette!














Sophie tuckered out. Must have been the turkey dinner!














This was also a momentous occasion: Sophie laughed socially for the very first time!

Smile, Sophie!

This is a short video of Sophie being cute -okay, that's all the time, but still- when eating breakfast about a month ago in Denver. She hasn't really done it since, so I'm super glad we got it on video.

Flashback Friday

This FF is a continuation of last week. We were just starting to experiment with solid foods [new tastes and textures] and decided to videotape it. She was around 4 months old and we were in Baltimore. Her face is priceless.

Not a happy camper :[

Sophie learned firsthand about gravity a few days ago, and that the bed isn't as wide as one might think.














I'm reminded of the time we first brought Clay home, and we were all on the deck talking and saying how cute he was, and *whoop* off the side he went, right through the railing. After we were alarmed, there he went just running and playing in the yard like nothing happened. Sophie is quite resilient and after a few minutes, the only reminder of the tumble was the goose egg on her forehead. I know it's the first of many bumps and bruises, but it's still horrible to see your baby get hurt!

Flashback Friday

Hello all! We just finished our four-day trek from Denver to Santa Monica. I'll post a blog about our adventures later. For now, this FF was from Baltimore when Sophie was around four months old. The doctor said we could try solids, so we started with plain organic applesauce with interesting results. Once she got used to eating baby food and didn't push it all out with her tongue, we tried organic sweet potatoes. That first bite is always [even now!] a little funny, but once she got the hang of it, they were yummy! Even now, six months later, they are still her favorite vegetable [besides Grandma Lutz's sweet peas fresh from the garden]!

Crazy busy week

This week was super busy! It started Sunday when I co-hosted a baby shower for one of the clowns and his wife, as well as baked and decorated 102 chocolate and yellow cupcakes [with frosting and homemade marshmallow fondant]. It took a lot of time, and I'm pretty proud of myself, haha! Here are a few pictures. The white squares are stamped with 'It's a Boy' and the colored fondant was super sticky, so I just used cookie cutters instead of stamps [after a relatively minor freak out]. People told me they were really yummy and the parents-to-be were pleased. I think they could tell I spent a lot of time on them.








































After the insanity was over, on Monday Sophie had AussieROOs and later Grandma and Grandpa Lutz arrived for the double dark. We had a wonderful time, seeing all 11 innings of a Rockies game, and visiting Boulder for crepes [I had ham, swiss and spinach and Jim and I split a chocolate/marshmallow/almond one for dessert]. We also visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to research solar/wind/biomass renewable energy. It was smaller than I was expecting, but we just saw the visitor's center and not the actual lab. It was chock full of information and presented interesting alternatives to the fuel we use now. We took a drive in the mountains and just spent a lot of time together, allowing everyone to bond, since it's been a few months since they've seen The Soph.

On Thursday Mom and Dad left and we took Sophie to her last Kindermusik class. It was so sad, but she had so much fun! She got to play the drums and a tambourine. She absolutely adored the other babies and the teacher, Miss Jenny. Jim and I have had the music stuck in our heads for three days now! I still get a little lump in my throat when I sing the songs! We were driving home yesterday from dropping Jim off at work and Sophie was super fussy - ANOTHER tooth coming in, top right, making it four coming in at the same time - and I turned on the song and it calmed her down instantly!

To make matters more complicated, today was luggage day so packing was hectic yesterday. Trying to keep a teething baby content and get everything done was a more impressive juggling act than the one in KOOZA! Everything worked out thankfully and all of our bags are on the truck as we speak! [With lots of thanks to my wonderful and strong husband!]

Sophie has been scooting, but she likes to go backwards. The other day she backed right up under the bed, and when I got back a second later from getting the camera, this is what greeted me upon my return! Awwwwuh! She got lots of extra snuggles that afternoon!














Monday morning we're off to Santa Monica! I'm excited to go to where we know our way around [and there's a Trader Joe's!] and to see all of our old friends! So Cal, how I've missed thee!

Flashback Friday

This FF photo was taken in Baltimore, when Sophie was about 3 or 3 1/2 months old. Jim was feeding her a bottle and he called me over to look at her. This was not posed or manipulated in any way. Already with the sass! Gotta love her!