Happy birthday, Princess Sophie!

So...yeah. Sorry about the lapse in posting. I'd like to blame it on gearing up for KOOZA's debut at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, but then, I'd be lying. But it IS a large part of our goings-on around here. I don't know how I got so busy/lazy! My sincerest apologies.

Anyway, so our precious Princess Sophie turned FOUR last week! How in the world did that ever happen? Jim's parents were in town the week leading up to it, so we decided to do a little private celebration. I think they appreciated it, and Sophie loved having them here! Sophie opened the presents from both sets of grandparents and couldn't wait to put on her new costume things! My mom also made a princess blanket. She hasn't gone a night without sleeping with it! I think she likes it! :]

Since we're in beautiful St. Petersburg, FL for her birthday, and there is a small wading pool with tables, we decided to have a Royal Princess Birthday Party, per the wishes of the Princess. The pool area is open to the residents, so I was nervous that there would already be people there, but it worked out perfectly! We played, ate pizza and cupcakes, and played some more!
Here are a few pictures the me and another mommy took of the royalty.

Beautiful princesses!

 

I'm impressed she actually stood in the pool!

PINK PINK PINK!

Every princess should wear her tiara when eating cupcakes, right?

Even princesses start with the frosting!

Afterwards, we opened presents and promptly fell asleep. Sleeping Beauty IS her favorite, after all!
I was thankful that the parents were thoughtful and only gave small, easy to travel gifts. :] It was SO APPRECIATED!

I can't believe how much she's grown in the last four years. She is my mini-me. Absolutely and completely. She is opinionated and impatient, sweet and caring, beautiful and girly. She likes what she likes and wants it when she wants it. She loves to read and color and snuggle, but also loves to run around and be loud. She has the most infectious laugh. She's funny and always has a song in her heart and on her lips. She's one of a kind and I wouldn't trade her for the world. She has made my life complete (and Jim's, I'm sure) and the sole reason I get up each morning. I can't imagine my life without her.  All she has to do is flash those twinkling blue eyes, and the world is hers. 

Houston's Downtown Aquarium

We recently visited Houston's Downtown Aquarium. It was A LOT smaller than we expected, but still a nice, air-conditioned way to spend the afternoon. They had a lot to offer, besides the usual tanks. 

Jellies!

Sparkly!

 They also had a touch pool with a viewing dome, that Sophie enjoyed.

And albeit a bit randomly, a (beautiful) white tiger lives there as well.

Outside, they had a train that went through a shark tunnel, and a few kiddie rides. Sophie picked the ferris wheel. I thought her pink dress and blue eyes were striking against the turquoise, so I apologize for the amount of pictures. This girl is too pretty! I have no idea what she was talking about, but her face in the last one makes me laugh!

Drawing fun

Sophie has taken to drawing and writing words completely from memory.
Here are her latest.

Sophie-isms

So, as 3 1/2-year-olds go, they can say some pretty cute things. Here is a round up of Sophie-isms that are too cute not to share.

1. The other day, we went to see KOOZA and we usually get cotton candy as a treat. "Mommy I would LOVE some cotton candy. It would be glory on my tongue."
2. "Hellocopter" instead of helicopter.
3. "Pinknic" instead of picnic.
4. "Pointytail" instead of ponytail.
5. When she steps on your toes or something, she likes to say "sorry, sorry, sorry."
6. When watching or reading Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin is actually "Christmaser Robin."
7. She pretty much never, ever stops talking.  At the end of her rants, she usually trails off with "kinda, but I don't, but I do..."
8. Grilled cheese sandwiches (her favorite) are "girl cheese."
9. She calls Chuck E Cheeses "the mouse store" (in which, she has never been) and McDonalds is "Old MacDonalds".
10. A walrus is actually a "rawlrus."
11. Sophie calls the hotel we are in (in Houston) a "holetel." We don't correct her, as this is a quite accurate depiction of our lodging.
12. She calls napkins "mackins."
13. When she sings "Old MacDonald" she says "Everydere a moo moo" (usually at the top of her lungs).
14. She tells us that things are "unasseptable" when they are unacceptable.
15. "Why are you THINK you're doing?!"
16. When she's thirsty, she says that her "throat is asking for more water."
17. When she's tired, she has "a sleepy head."
18. Instead of someone supposed to do something, they are "oppost" to do it and "it's a good thing to do."
19. If the road is bumpy, it's "a really bumpy way!"
20. When she wants us to buy her something, she asks if we can "bring dat, please?"

And our absolute favorite thing she says EVER:
When she doesn't want us to leave (usually after tucking her in to bed), she tells us, "I want to keep you."

We want to keep you too, Sophie-belle!

Smarty Pants!

As you know, Sophie is quite fond of drawing flowers and piggies, and a few days ago she drew her first pink mousie.


















Well today she and I were playing and I drew a flower. Just for fun, I asked her to write an F. She did.


















Then she wrote a P and an I. She needed help with the G.


















I am speechless. She's only 3 1/2! We must be doing something right!
PS This is my first time posting with the Blogger App. Testing 1 2...

The 9th of July - A Quick Update

I just realized that I haven't posted an official update of Sophie in a loooong time now, so I'd like to take this opportunity to do that, before teardown officially starts and we move to Houston. Sophie is 3 1/2 years old, going on 42. She weighs 36 pounds and is 39" tall. She is talking up a storm! She talks pretty much nonstop until she goes to sleep at night.  She can spell a ton of words, and "P-I-G" is her favorite! She can count by herself up to 40, and 1-10 in French. :] She LOVES books! Her favorites lately are any Princess books (Aurora/Sleeping Beauty especially), Fancy Nancy, the Critter books, and Pinkalicious. She likes it when you read to her, but she can "read" them back to us. Lately her favorite movie is Winnie the Pooh, and her favorite tv shows are SuperWhy and Imagination Movers, which are all we let her watch. She just saw her first movie in the theater, Brave. Some parts were intense, but she wasn't scared at all. She's happy she got some jellybeans out of it, I think! 

She LOVES to draw and color, she even uses other colors besides pink now! She's getting pretty good at drawing pigs, lollipops, and flowers. Here are a few examples. These are going in storage for sure! 

She loves Play-doh and blowing bubbles. She loves KOOZA as well, and her favorite act is the trapeze. She still has dance class and actually ASKS to have her hair put up in a "pointytail." She loves to sing (anything, anytime). Her favorite food is a grilled cheese and her favorite drink besides apple juice is the organic strawberry smoothie drink from Trader Joe's. Sometimes we have "pinknics" on the floor in the living room. She loves any and all fruit, and it still takes some coaxing to get her to eat her veggies. She's getting better! 

We celebrated the 9th (HA!) tonight by doing sparklers on the balcony. Here are a few shots I snapped.

Anyway, it's teardown week and travel week, which means it's going to be quiet for a few weeks.  

See you then!

Children's Museum of Phoenix

So Jim scored some tickets to the Children's Museum of Phoenix so we decided to use them up before it was time to leave for Houston. In 110 degree weather, that sounded like a wonderful plan! It was a gorgeous place to visit! They had pretty much everything you could wish for a children's museum. Here are a few pics Jim let me snap!

Playing on the sand table
 


Wall of CDs

On a trike

The floor of the cafe

Playing the instruments. She LOVES the xylophone!

Happy girl! 

Stroller parking!

Grocery shopping!

Paper or plastic?

Making pizza for lunch

PEEK!

Butterfly wall on the giant play area, and a big flying bathtub

On a wall, they had an air machine with clear pipes. You put the scarves in and they flew out where you can grab them. Sophie loved, what else, the pink scarves!

Waiting...

Success!

We LOVED it! If you're in the Phoenix area and haven't checked this place out, DO IT! We loved it so much we're planing on going back before we leave town!