The L.A. Dime

One of Sophie’s favorite past-times is dancing, especially with her Dada. I love watching the two of them sing and dance — Brad shows her new moves, she happily follows his lead and it always ends up with her laying on his shoulder as he sways her back and forth.

Another favorite playtime activity of hers is making us oatmeal, milk and hamburgers in her kitchen. She likes to line us and her bears or dolls up in a row, give us each a bowl & spoon and then fill the bowls up with “home-cooked goodness”. Aunt Mandee added a lovely apron and chef’s hat to the kitchen accessories this past Christmas.

Trying to continuously make progress in preparing Sophie for the transition of becoming a big sister as well as trying to get our house ready for Baby Riddell, we spent this past weekend switching the office/guest room and Sophie’s room. The “new kids room” now holds all of Sophie’s toys, the crib (waiting for the new arrival in July) and Sophie’s new bed. She seemed very excited about her “pink, big girl bed” in the store but we weren’t sure if she’d like sleeping (and staying) in it once we got it home. It’s been about 4 days now and even though she’s gotten up a few times to check on us and in the mornings we tend to find an extra bear or doll in bed with her, she seems to be adjusting ok.

Just a few shots of our silly little Sophie-Bophie who has recently started telling us: ”You’re my best friend!”

With Sophie almost hitting the 2.5 year mark and us wanting to take advantage of an extra day off for this holiday weekend, Brad and I decided to not only talk about the potty and read stories, but to put some Princess Underwear on Sophie’s bottom and see what happens.
Brad printed out a “potty chart” that encourages stickers for the various phases of going to the potty – pulling down one’s pants, sitting on it, flushing it down the toilet, washing hands and of course the big one….actually going on it. Sophie was super excited about the concept and started pilling up the stickers in all the categories….except the one that doesn’t include us getting out the carpet cleaner.
Then, after many many talks about why we wear underwear and what she’s supposed to tell us when she needs to go…….she actually does do it….twice…..for the babysitter!! Brad and I decided to go on a long-overdue-date last night and Sophie decided to impress Julie by going for her.
We made a big deal about it this morning though and am hoping for more stickers today!!

02/18 Update since posting this: She’s been going pretty consistently and gets very excited when Brad & I make a big deal about it. She’s started telling us when she needs to go (rather than us asking every hour or so) and has almost filled up her sticker chart. So far so good…hopefully it’ll last. She’s not yet going at her daycare though but we think the issue there might be is that there’s only a real toilet and not the little potty we have at home and she’s been practicing with.

A trip to Aveda for a haircut and some makeup (our stylist’s next appointment had cancelled b/c it was raining). The rain broke, and we went for a walk with our new Cindumbrella. Today, a cold morning at the park once this thing called sunshine reemerged.

This is a few weeks late but the last time Brad and I went for our check-up at the dentist, we took Sophie along so Dr. Knitter could take a look at her teeth too. She watched Dada have his teeth cleaned first and then she hopped right up into the dentist chair. The dental hygienist was very calm and didn’t get discouraged when Sophie would only keep her mouth open for a few seconds and was really more interested in eating the polishing paste than sitting still. The dentist also took a quick peek and gave us the thumbs up. All in all, it was a good attempt at getting her used to the idea and getting a new toothbrush with Elmo on it was a sure way to win over Sophie for her next appointment.

Many of you might have heard about the wooden horse that came home with us from Germany this past May. The horse was a gift my family got me when I was 3 years old and I loved dearly. Once I outgrew it, it got passed along to my younger cousins and some other close family friends. The plan was always to one day have it with us so my children could enjoy it as well. Well, after an excellent packaging job by my Uncle Peter, which required several rolls of bubble wrap and duct-tape (and a check-in at the “oversized baggage” counter) the horse now lives in our living room. Sophie has taken to it well and rides it quite a bit.

Another one of Sophie’s animal friends is Clifford, the big red dog. Given to her by Nana & Opa for her first Easter, she used to get very frustrated trying to pull it behind her. Over time she figured it out and now enjoys caring for him by talking to him, carrying him and cleaning him on a daily basis. Recently she’s even started having her dolls ride on Clifford.

Labor Day weekend was a very special one at Hamlin House as our little one turned two. It began with the arrival of Nana & Opa, opening presents that family & friends had sent and a flourless chocolate cake (which sadly didn’t turn out very good but Sophie liked the candles on it nonetheless). After dinner we took Sophie to her room to show her one last present – her very own kitchen!! Mom-Mom Saundra and Aunts Mandee & Tasha furnished the kitchen with all the necessary accessories and food ingredients to cook up some yummy dishes. Sophie squealed with delight upon seeing it and now plays with it on a daily basis. “I want to cook” is something we hear frequently now and we’ve even seen her line up her dolls and bears to serve them meals.

On Sunday we hosted an “end-of-the-summer/b-day pool party” which included all our closest friends. The weather was in the high 90′s so we were happy to be able to provide a cooling off opportunity with the pool.

On Sunday we checked out the LA Zoo which we decided wasn’t our favorite. There was a lot of construction going on, the animals were very far away from us and there was little shade. Turns out however that while all the other kids seemed to be content sitting in their strollers being pushed by their parents, Sophie preferred walking (the entire 2+ hours) or sitting on Opa’s shoulders to get a better look at the swinging monkeys.

There was a lot of preparing, cooking and cleaning up all weekend, but it was so very worth it to have our family and dear friends surround us.

Happy birthday Sophia — we love you so!!

Enjoy a serenade from Miss Sophie-Bophie…performing live at Hamlin House!

Sophie has always had a highly energetic, but overall very pleasant and happy-go-lucky demeanor. Over the past two weeks though, and ironically as we quickly approach her 2nd birthday on September 4th, she is turning into quite the drama queen. She’s gotten very whiney, gets very frustrated if things don’t go her way or we don’t immediately respond to her request for attention (especially while we try to get dinner done) and grabs things, even if someone else is using them and/or knowing full well that it’s not hers.

Today however, there was a break in all of that. She was her usual sweet self, smiling, singing her ABC’s (which include a whole lot of D’s!!), coloring, practicing her shapes and playing on her own.

We know this is all part of growing up and while we try to remind ourselves to stay calm while she’s having a complete meltdown over not getting her milk within 1 second of asking for it, we were very happy to have “the old Sophie” back today. Let’s see what tomorrow brings…..

Since Brad was a lifeguard for many years, he was excited about the prospect of teaching Sophie how to swim. There have been 3 lessons so far, and there has already been much progress:
- Sophie has graduated from only sitting in the frog pool to now being allowed in the big pool.
- She used to only jump off the side while holding onto Dada’s fingers…well, after watching a 4-yr old girl do it without holding on, Sophie now leaps in without assistance (we still catch her of course)
- She used to cling on to Dada for dear life, but now is starting to relax and even enjoys riding on Dada’s back like he’s a dolphin
- She has learned how to use the first two steps to get into the pool
- The latest lesson included practicing how to kick with her feet and blowing bubbles into the water