Where did Santa go?

Every night, Sophie asks me about Santa and his exact whereabouts. She seems to be a bit baffled at the fact we shoved this person down her throat for almost two months straight, convinced her she needed to be the best little girl in the western hemisphere if she wanted him to visit, and used him as leverage in every desperate situation....and now, with no real warning, there's no mention of him whatsoever.

So, I explained that Santa is back home at the North Pole resting from his big trip delivering presents to children around the world. We seem to have this repeated conversation over and over. Finally, Sophie suggested we visit Santa. I let her know the North Pole is very far away and it would be a very long plane ride to see him. To which she responds, "Okay, we need to bring the DVD, Elmo, and Sheep (her Lambchop stuffed animal from Aunt Ellie)." Great. Of course, I backtrack and let her know Santa is too tired to take any visitors right now and we should let him rest up so he can prepare for next year's Christmas.

Not sure if she bought it, but it is surprising she is anxious to go and visit him but refused to sit on his lap for a picture when he was actually here. When we were in SF we took her to see Santa all the way up on the 7th floor of Macy's. I write this because we waited for about 10 different elevators before we finally got up there. There was literally no one in line and we thought we had our chance and were willing to do ANYTHING to get her to sit on his lap since there were few witnesses to the event. Of course, Tim and I almost broke Santa's legs because we were both sitting on his lap while Sophie still adamantly refused. Instead, she reached her hand out and shook his hand. And that was our visit to Santa this year. Apparently he made quite an impression since we are still discussing him two weeks later!!!

Coffee, please...

Sophie woke up this morning and when I went to get her she was a little groggy and slow getting up from her bed. I said, "Are you okay? What's wrong?" To which Sophie replied, "I need coffee, mommy." Hmmm, easy to guess we're a coffee family! So, I made coffee for myself and put some milk in a mug for Sophie and we had "coffee" together. My little girl is growing up so fast!!!

Sweet dreams causing sour dreams

Since the day Sophie was born, I have always had a ritual of telling my little girl "sweet dreams" and "I love you" when I put her down for bed. The past couple of nights, Sophie has awakened in the middle of some not-so-good dreaming. Therefore, Tim has concluded the reason behind all of this is because I tell her "sweet dreams" and am creating a countereffect reaction. His solution to all of this is to quit saying this to her and she will quit having "sour dreams." Now, I will throw the disclaimer out that Tim mentioned this theory around 2am in the morning. Of course, I laughed only to realize he was dead serious. I waited until morning so we could chuckle together about his so-called theory, but again, he was very serious.

So now, I secretly whisper to Sophie to have "sweet dreams" and she whispers it back to me. After her two bad nights, her sleep routine is back to normal. I've had my husband come up with crazier theories, but this one is so delicious I had to share it with all!!!

Practice runs with her stroller

Sophie is enjoying barreling into things with her new stroller. Her baby constantly falls out of it and she picks it up by the head and throws it back in there. I think she'll be just as gentle with Noah when he arrives!

Scary Monster Face

Daddy taught Sophie how to make a scary monster face. Now she does it all the time, except she's not very scary since she can't help from laughing everytime she does it.

We have the best dog in the world.....

Sophie has a really soft little ball that she received for Christmas along with a softie bat. She has been playing with it a lot along with her new glove. Sierra, of course, always wants the ball and tries to steal it from Sophie. Since it's such a soft ball, we figured Sierra would tear it up in two seconds if she got a hold of it long enough. Well, yesterday I found Sierra cuddled up with the ball in her bed, sleeping with it while Sophie was taking a nap. I ended up letting her play with it later that night, watching her the whole time, and realized our little Sierra would never hurt Sophie's toy. She is so gentle with it and just likes to lick it. She left it lay last night without hurting it in the least bit......so cute!!!!

It's never too soon, is it?

Sophie's first softball glove. I'm thinking pitcher or middle infielder. Not sure, but she is definitely showing some potential already....

Sophie's Dance Party

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:127176

Here is a clip of Sophie dancing to her Dora Dance Party CD. She, of course, is wearing her princess tiara and has her magic wand in hand. I think she has a future on Broadway, or at least "So You Think You Can Dance."

15 minutes later......

Tim is singing on the Barbie karaoke machine and is hitting a record of at least 15 minutes. Sophie is dancing to his singing. Sad to say, but he thinks he's actually really good and getting into it. Who knew Tim could break it down to Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, sung by Dora the Explorer. And meanwhile, the football game is playing in the background.....like that validates or cancels anything out. I will refrain from capturing this on video...

The baby is upon us!

We went to the doctor the other day and confirmed our C-section date of January 16th. As long as I can make it that long, our newest addition to the family will arrive on that day! Only 15 more days left!!! I'm certain Tim has a countdown in his office because he's probably sick of my complaining! He has a feeling I will go into labor before then, since the actual due date is only 3 days after our scheduled C-section. We'll see. That would be pretty scary if I went into labor......not sure how it will feel since I was induced with Sophie and although I felt contractions, I didn't for long thanks to handy dandy drugs.....

I continue to have conversations with Sophie about the baby and his arrival. She tells me she will help me with the baby and take good care of him, including walking him in her princess stroller. Basically, the best way for us to get her into wearing any clothing or sitting in her stroller/cart is to tell her it's a princess jacket/shirt/pants/shoes/stroller/cart/dinner/snack....you get the picture. I know we're stepping into serious doo doo letting her think she's a princess. Let's hope it doesn't go to her head like it did her mommy!!!

Later this evening, while Tim was changing her into her pajamas, I heard her telling him a baby is coming to visit. Very exciting stuff happening in our family.....make sure to keep us in your thoughts in the next couple of weeks as much will change for our family and there will be even more to write about!!!