Flashback Friday

One year ago, this was my little chunky monkey.

Me Do Dat (Sophie at 22 Months)

I've fallen behind. Way behind. More than two weeks have gone by and I haven't blogged a thing! Sophie turned 22 months on August 14 while we were on the East Coast and I just haven't had time to catch my breath and catch up on the blogging. Twenty two months is such a fun and funny time for her though, so I couldn't let it escape without a little recap.

Miss Independent is all about "me do dat" these days. I probably hear this phrase at least ten times a day. Maybe even 20. Sophie is super busy exploring her world, pushing herself to figure things out. She insists on doing as many things on her own as I will let her. Picking out shoes, pushing elevator buttons, pushing the grocery cart, paying with the credit card and signing after we've swiped it. She's gotten very brave about climbing up things, jumping off other things and the most scary of all, swimming on her own! She is such a water bug and would stay in the pool all day long if I'd let her. After playing around with a small blow up tube on our vacation, she's gotten very comfortable swimming anywhere in the pool on her own with either that ring or a fun noodle. She scares the heck out of me and we, of course, stay right by her side, but it's amazing how comfortable she is in the water.

These days Sophie's vocabulary has really taken off and she speaks in full sentences all the time. She has been using adjectives that crack me up. She tells me puppies and babies are "cute", daddy is "silly" and her Lulu is "funny." She rambles on all day long, talking to me and Chase, her girlsies, Lulu, anyone who will listen.

The most amazing thing that has FINALLY happened at 22 months is that my little Sophie is now a good sleeper. She seems to actually look forward to going down for naps or bedtime without too much drama. Sleeping has been a hard fought battle in our household and while she has been pretty good at sleeping through the night for last nine months or so, we always had to rock her until she was fully asleep.  It has only been since the beginning of this summer that we can lay her down in her bed awake, kiss her good night and walk away. And its only been just the last month that I can FINALLY do the same thing at nap time.

My busy been continues to change every day and amazes me with her growth. She's smart, she's opinionated and she tends to boss me around, but I love every second of it!

Happy Birthday Chase!

Sophie and I are sad to be missing Chase's special day today. We are still on the road and today made it to Canandaigua Lake outside Rochester, NY. We are thinking about you and love you very much Chase. You are the best husband and father your girls could ask for!

Jersey Shore Day Seven

Our trip to the Jersey Shore ended not with one last trip to the beach but with a major thunderstorm! Late morning the clouds rolled in, the rain poured and the clouds "were bumping into each other." At least that's what I told Sophie. Things cleared up enough for a trip to the farm stand where Sophie helped sort through the corn and enjoyed posing by the pickles. Which, I didn't understand, by the way, because isn't it still just a cucumber when it's raw? We finished off the night with a big lobster feast with family at home. Soph wouldn't try the lobster but she did power her way through three cobs of corn!

Jersey Shore Day Six

Thursday was a busy day for us with a visit to the playground, feeding the ducks, a walk and lunch in Spring Lake. Sophie made friends at the patk and kept encouraging other little girls to ride down the slide with her the one-sided conversation would go something like this "Slide? Yeah. Two? Yeah. Me? Ok!" She's always very encouraging.

In the evening we went to see the minor league team the Blueclaws at a great little ballpark. We cheered on cousin Katie who is interning there and got to dress first as a green eyeball, then as the pork roll for a race on the field. Sophie kept asking for more eyeballs! She also loved announcing when a batter would strike out (miss!), would cheer them on when they ran to first base (go! Go! GO!) and reporting when new batters were up (new guy!)

Jersey Shore Day Five

On Wednesday, Sophie and I indulged in an East Coast favorite... Dunkin' Donuts! While I have not seen a Starbucks since I passed through the Dallas airport almost a week ago, Dunkin' Donuts is literally on every corner. Their coffee is good but their donuts are better. Sophie enjoyed a cup full of the munchkins!

Jersey Shore Day Four

Today Sophie entertained herself at the beach by collecting sea shells. She insisted not only on bringing them home, but also on carrying the bucket all the way up the beach by herself.

Jersey Shore Day Three

Last night we hit up an old favorite, the boardwalk in Point Pleasant. I have such great memories if the rides, the games and the food and they did not disappoint. Sophie's only other experience with rides was a carousel ride at the Los Angeles Zoo back in March but she was scared and wanted off the whole time. Last night she ride the dizzy dragon, Dumbo and more and loved every minute of it.

Jersey Shore Day Two

Today we spent more time at the beach but never actually made it down to the water. Sophie was seriously focused on her digging skills. She spent almost two solid hours digging holes, burying my feet, burying her feet, hiding and finding toys and just really enjoying the sand this afternoon.

Jersey Shore Day One

After two plane rides, several shuttles and a drive in the rental car, we made it safely to Sea Girt Friday night. We spent our first afternoon here in the beach and Sophie quickly warmed up the the "osh" (ocean) and quit being "nerves".

On the Road Again...

Sophie and I are off on another adventure to the East Coast. Today we are on our way to New Jersey to visit with family and fist pump on the Jersey Shore. Last year Sophie chased Sea Gulls, stole my ice cream and got a close up of some major rap royalty. 

After the garden state, we are on our way to Rochester, NY and can't wait to see Aunt Libby!

Sharing an early birthday cupcake with Dad

Oh Sh*t

This morning, Sophie locked herself in the bathroom. I knew it could happen. I figured it would at some point, but just not quite this soon. Not that long ago, I was telling Chase how thankful I was that we had round door knobs throughout our house instead of the handle style because Sophie can't quite get a good grip on them yet. "We better be careful though because she might start messing with the locks," I warned him. Looks like I should have listened to my own warning.

When I first realized that she had locked it, I though maybe I could talk her into unlocking. She hadn't done it on purpose or out of defiance (those days will come, I know) but had just been fiddling with the handle. I gave up on that after a couple of minutes. I was surprisingly calm because we were talking the whole time so I knew she was fine and she seemed to think it was a funny game. I now know that I could have bent a wire hanger and poked it through the little hole on my side of the door knob and popped it right open but the best thing I could think of doing at the time was just grabbing a screwdriver and taking the knob off.

As it started to take a little too long to unscrew, Sophie started crying and I started to panic. The door knob fell off on her side and I think fell on her foot (more tears) and then it still took a lot of prying to get that latch to pop. Thankfully I got it open and we both survived the ordeal. I'm sure it will happen again, but at least now I know the quick way to fix it!

Not too nervous yet, so I paused to take a picture

Door knob is off but I still can't get it unlocked!

She's free!