She's Already One?! Finally!

So hard for me to believe that Sophie's one!  Just look at her!!  Such a beautiful and mischievous little girl!  Seems like much less than a year since she entered our lives and brightened our days, and yet by watching her today you could tell (or at least I can imagine) that she thought this day would never come.  It's like she's been waiting for and looking forward to her first birthday for a very very very long time and finally made it.  Finally!  So many things to look forward to.  She wants to eat everything she sees anyone else eating.  She thinks she can safely climb onto everything and nothing unfortunate will happen.  She's fearless and invincible.  Right?  She watches her sister and it's clear that she thinks she should be able to do everything that Lydia does and then some.  I've been looking forward to this milestone simply because of all the scares she's given us through the year and am so happy she's made it!!

Sophie got to watch me make her cake.  Not once, but twice.  And in fact it was actually the third attempt to get our little darling's cake just right before things really worked out, but I'll get to that later.  I'm pretty sure she would have preferred to be a little more hands on.  That's how this one rolls, but despite not being more involved I think that just seeing her cake was exciting for her.  I'd also like to think that she sensed something magical in the air and that perhaps that was the reason it was so challenging to get her to nap this afternoon.  We really wanted her rested up for the festivities, and I wasn't succeeding at getting her to cooperate so Jon (The Baby Whisperer) stepped in and that was that.

She woke up just as the first guests arrived so we dolled her up a bit and she was the life of the party!  Not really so much into opening her gifts, but she did kind of get the hang of it by the last one. She had lots of love and support from both sides of the family and we really loved having everyone over!

When everyone sang she was adorable and kind of shy.  She kept turning her head, but didn't full on try to hide.  She didn't seem to be loving the spotlight, and yet definitely wasn't hating it!!  And then the cake.  Oh the cake!  She didn't even hesitate.  She got right into it. Started squeezing the cake and really got a feel for the spongy texture.  Like I said, she's hands on, this girl!  Then she licked her fingers and it didn't take long for her to start downing that anxiously awaited piece of precious cake.  I honestly thought she'd be timid like Lydia had been with her first cake, but Sophie is Sophie, not Lydia and I shouldn't have been surprised at all to see her dive into it!  She was wearing that cake all over her face.  Oh yah, and on her chest too, despite the bib.  We even found it under her legs.  She wasn't messing around, this one.  We probably would have done better to hose her down at the end of the evening, but the sponge bath worked well enough.  She ended the day by taking a couple of steps on her own.  Something she's done a few times, but a little more confidently tonight.  It won't be long till she's running around with her big sister!  We love our little fire cracker and look forward to another year full of growth and excitement.  She certainly keeps us on our toes!

We had to document her height on her beautiful growth chart and she did her best to hold still for just a second, but then she was done.  So much to see and do and explore.

As for the cake and the many failed attempts.... Let me tell you about them... In deciding what cake to make for little Soph we knew that we wanted to make her a bear.  She's in love with this pink bear and since she can't tell us what she wants, a bear seemed the perfect fit.  We stumbled across a 3D bear cake mold that Jon's Mom had used to make her girls cakes when they were young and that amazingly enough, she still had.  So cool!  Jon suggested I test it out in advance just to make sure I didn't run into any bumps in the process.  Good thing I listened!  First attempt spilled out horribly and our bear was missing his tummy.  Looked like he was wearing bell bottoms.  It also made the house smell like burnt chocolate for a couple of days.  Not fantastic.  Oh, and it left me with a hideous burn on my wrist.  Not that I can blame the cake for that.

Attempt number two would have been wonderful but in my eagerness I hastily opened the bear before it had cooled and split him in half.  That delicious carrot cake was still delicious, but I'd lost all my presentation points and really wanted Soph to have her bear cake.  I'm pretty sure she was counting on it to look just right! ;) 

Finally, on the third attempt the bear turned out beautifully.  Just beautifully!  But it didn't have enough batter and so the bear paws weren't filled in all the way to the bottom so that when I turned the cake right side up it wasn't touching the cake platter, it was only resting on the stand and hovering about an inch above where it should have sat.  And as you might have been able to predict, gravity took over just as I was finishing the final touches of frosting, despite my best efforts to support this lovely bear's legs with Nilla Wafers and marshmallows.  Cracks everywhere.  Boo.  At that point we called it good.  Pretty sure Sophie wasn't too upset about it.  :) That's our girl!

We love you Sophie!!  Happy first birthday!!

Lyddy kitty

For Christmas Lyds got a dancing kitty from her Frazier grandparents.  It's funny to remember how much it frightened her to begin with, especially since the days of Lydia being a different storybook or movie character have essentially vanished.  She has meowed for months, revealed her sharp claws and paws, and crawled on the floor.  That's right.  Crawled on the floor.  Not just at home, but at the store, and at neighbors homes, at grandparents homes and even at church.  In fact things were getting a little out if control.  We found the need to set some boundaries.  No kitties at the table.  Jon would say that and then tell her, "it's the law." Something she's learned to repeat and clearly understands and yet can't resist pushing the boundaries and testing us.  Everyone at church has started asking how the kitty is and she loves it!  We're still working on her understanding that there are no kitties at church.  Is it really harmful?  I don't think so, but it's nice to know that she can turn it on and off.  And I know that she can, because at breakfast she'll suddenly meow and I'll meow back before I remember that there are no kitties at the table!!  She loves tricking me!

The other day she told me that her dancing kitty had a sore bum.  She took pity on him and also took the initiative to care for him by wiping her kitty's bottom with some wipes.  When I saw the wipes I thought she was taking some of the color out of her kitten's fur- the wipes looked orange to me so that was certainly a logical explanation, but as I think about it now, I'm not sure why I accepted that so readily.  I told her not to use those anymore and she suggested we buy some play wipes.  As a result Jon dried out some wipes so Lyds could have those much needed play wipes for her kitty or any other animal in need.  Later that day I discovered the Butt Paste with it's unscrewed lid and the light bulb went on.  The wipes were orangy because Lyds had pasted her kitten's sore bum with Butt Paste before wiping it with the wipes.  Something she's seen me do multiple times for Sophie when she's had a rash.  If I wondered if Lydia was paying attention I now knew for sure.  She's sweet and she hates for anyone to be sad or hurting.  I love that about her!

Jon was reading to her one night and she asked that he remove her batteries.  So he did.  She loved it. And I love that she made the request.  She wasn't just a kitty.  She wasn't even just a dancing kitty.  She was a battery operated dancing kitty.  So clever!

Finally, the latest thing she does is ask a million kitty questions.  Do kitties need their blankets?  Do kitties sneeze?  Do kitties cough?  Do kitties eat broccoli?  Do kitties like PEZ?  Do kitties go sleep when the sun goes to bed?  Do kitties like milk?  Do kitties eat blueberries?  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  It's really important to know what kitties do!!  Because she wants to be just like one!

This girl wants a kitty cake for her birthday and based on her focus I'm sure that that request won't be changing in the next two months.  I guess we'll just have to see.

Sophie scare

So, super scary incident on March 11th.  The week before that Sophie ran a fever most of the week.  We were pretty sure it was due to teething and weren't terribly worried about it, but it was still a concern and definitely not fun to see her in that state; super lethargic and sluggish.  Not the Sophie we know and love.  Anyway, Jon took her to the doc on Friday that week and was told that if the fever continued another two days that she might have a bladder infection and we'd need to do a catheter and run some tests.  Fortunately we weren't to that point yet.  At any rate, we made it through the weekend and her fever broke and all seemed to be well.  She was weak, but seemed to be on the mend.  And then on Tuesday I brought her in to shower with me.  We were just finishing up when Sophie screamed, threw her head back and went limp.  Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she was completely lifeless. I totally panicked.  I rushed out of the shower, set her down all the while wondering what to do once I called 911 if she wasn't breathing.  What if her heart had stopped??  What if my phone dropped the call??  What if I couldn't revive her??  What if...??  What if...??  What if...??  Fortunately once I set her down her eyes opened and she was breathing. She was completely drained of color, but she was alive.  That lifeless little form is something I'll never forget, but she was alive.  She wasn't moving, but she was looking around and so I immediately called Jon, who had me call her doctor while he rushed home.  I knew if he held it together I could.  However once we were told to go to the ER we both lost it.  Jon and his dad gave Soph a blessing and Jon's mom watched Lyds while we drove to McKay Dee.  Everyone there was real sweet with her and just loved her.  The doctor kept calling her Beauty Queen and told her she looked like Betty Boop.  Her physical exam checked out and she was told that she was perfect.  Nothing amiss. He didn't want us to feel that we'd come for nothing, so he told us our options and asked what we wanted to do from there.  Given that CT scans are full of radiation and could lead to leukemia in the future (there's enough research to back that up) and we chose not to do that.  Blood work required putting her under and our doc said we may as well do a CT scan at that point, which left taking a urine sample and running some tests.  But that required a catheter.  He told us that it would give us lots of info and we would have a better idea of what the next step would be. What could we do?  We opted to test her urine- so horrible!!  Poor Soph!  Thankfully we brought her pink bear with us and Jon had the sense to set it right beside her while the nurses did what they had to do.  And then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  We weren't sure if we'd get the results right away, but finally the report came and her urine was spot on clean and perfect.  Basically she's perfect, so why did she pass out?  Our doc said without Sophie being able to talk to us and without him having been there there's no way to know for sure.  Based on the information he had he decided to call it a febrile convulsion.  Not a seizure because she didn't shake, but a convulsion.  It may have been her body's way of resetting itself after being sick and that was all it was.  Or we may be dealing with similar episodes in the future.  At that point we'd probably do a CT scan or at least consider it; though I've heard that they're only effective if the patient is actually experiencing one at the time they're being scanned... At any rate, needless to say it was a bit of a nightmare and neither Jon nor I wanted to set Sophie down much less let her out of our sight.  She's fine.  And for that we are forever grateful.

Like a peach!

Oh dear oh dear oh dear!  If Sophie makes it through the year it will be a miracle.  You remember the horror of her choking on that plastic sticker?  Well, this afternoon I set her down for ten seconds while we were setting up at the church and she found the metal and eraser end that once belonged on a pencil and promptly popped it into her mouth.  Then when I went to pull her and her car seat from the car I discovered that she had a tiny pink rubber band in her mouth.  What the heck?!  When?  How??  Why Sophie?  Why??

And last night.  Should we talk about last night?  She's a fan of boxes.  It just so happened that we had a large box of Pampers strategically place in our family room.  Sophie was loving it.  She kept climbing on top of it and then almost falling off of it, but somehow kept hanging on.  This continued for quite some time, but didn't last.  Jon and I were keeping an eye on her, trying not to hover too much... when she toppled.  She was suddenly no longer on top of the box.  She took a fall and landed...  Not just landed; that sounds okay.  She was totally upside down and in shock.  She could have been sitting, almost doing the splits.  Except for the fact that she was on her head.  And she stuck that landing. She seriously seemed frozen like that for a whole thirty seconds.  Pretty sure time froze on us as I raced over wanting to laugh and cry.  Did that really just happen?  She was fine, just surprised.  I'm sure it hurt a bit too, but she's tough.  So tough that she climbed right back on top of that box.  Why not?

Saturday she landed herself in the bathtub.  Smacked her face flat and hard.  Came up with a huge red spot on her cheek and forehead.  And then last week I discovered that stairs are once again my enemy.  I was sorting laundry and found her on the eighth stair and loving life!  We've been gating the top of the stairs for weeks now, but only realized last week that it's necessary to gate the bottom as well.  Lydia got a kick out of Sophie being able to do something she couldn't only a few days ago.  The three of us went up the stairs again and again because it was so exciting!  So exciting for Sophie.  So exciting for Lyds.  And it should be!  

Sophie's favorite place in the house is the book case and she loves grabbing at everything on the bottom shelf.  She climbs up onto EVERYTHING and loves loves loves! standing up as much as possible.  She really does bruise like a peach.  Such sensitive skin!  And Lydia's furniture is none too friendly, but Sophie can't seem to stay away.  She's crawled away with war wounds, but doesn't seem to mind much.

Taken right after she landed in the bathtub

She is high energy and super opinionated.  Lydia used to be able to sit at the dinner table with us while we eat even if she had nothing in front of her.  Sophie will not put up with that.  She's at the table and she wants food just like everybody else.  This wouldn't be so bad except that Sophie cries hard and Lydia can't handle it.  She tries to comfort her, then tells us what Sophie needs, then demands that she (Lydia) be moved closer to me and farther from Sophie.  It's very bothersome to her.  And Sophie's cries are not the sweet little newborn cry they once were.  She has a set of lungs and she's not afraid to use them.  We're going through some sleepless nights once again, and Soph basically lost her voice crying so hard!  I'm still convinced she's teething, but who knows.  It would be so nice if they'd just surface!  If that really is what's going on.  At any rate, an explanation would be nice! 

Thank you!!

A few weeks ago the girls and I were at the post office, finally mailing off Nate's calendar much much later than originally planned.  I was holding Sophie on my hip and directing Lydia to stay close.  We found an envelope that suited our needs and that's when I realized I was not prepared.  I looked around wondering if the floor was clean enough to set Sophie down for just a few minutes while I wrote Nate's address on the envelope.  It wasn't.  Why hadn't I thought to put her in the Bjorn?  I was rummaging in my purse looking for the Sharpie I'd thrown in there and was surprised that even trying to retrieve that wasn't as easy as it should have been.  And then there was Lydia.  She was not staying close and just wanted to explore and make the doors open on their own.  And that's when this kind lady offered to hold Sophie for me while I did what I needed to do.  Sophie cried for just a second and then stopped.  This woman had two granddaughters about the same ages as Lydia and Sophie and she figured stranger danger might be an issue, so she turned Sophie away from her and let her distract herself by looking at all the people surrounding her.  It was just what we needed.  I know it wasn't a big thing, but in that moment it meant everything to me.

Last week we were at the grocery store waiting for a prescription to be filled and Lydia was not Lydia, she was a kitty.  And as you would expect from a cat, she was on all fours.  This elderly gentleman saw me with the girls and told me what gorgeous eyes Sophie had and how beautiful she was.  He used to be a doctor and some of Jon's family were patients of his.  Anyway, he soon took an interest in Lydia, found out she was the dancing cat, and told her what a nice kitty she was.  He started petting her and she loved it!  I couldn't get her to stop crawling around the store on her hands and knees after all the attention she's just gotten.  It was all the encouragement she needed from this kind grandpa.  She's been talking about him for days and yesterday she went into kitty mode when she saw an old man at another store expecting the same treatment.  He didn't bite.  :) And who can blame him?  I am grateful for the grandpa at the grocery store and appreciated him taking an interest in my girls.

Lydia's growing up!

This morning Lydia told me, "that baby is clever."  She said that right after she informed me that there were s's all over sister's blanket.  Three of them to be exact.  Yesterday she said, "the witch didn't have any energy because she was eating bad food."  Over here our identity's are ever changing, but currently Jon is Poppa Pig, I am Grandma, Lydia is Alpha Pig and Sophie is Red.  For those of you unfamiliar with Super Why we totally recommend it.  It's fun and educational, and if you wonder what kids shows are really teaching kids, this is one you can trust.  At least we do.

Previously Lydia was Tod the Fox.  Only when she'd introduce herself it sounded more like "Tod the box."  We're working on that F sound. And believe me when I tell you that she'd really introduce herself that way.  To anyone that wanted to know her name; from people at church to total strangers at the grocery store.  "I'm Tod the Box."  Jon was Chief, I was Vixie and Sophie Copper.  The fox and hound from the Heiselt cousins were an immediate hit.  Well, maybe not immediate, but it sure didn't take long for Lydia to warm up to them and decide that they were hers and that she needed to take care of them.  In the past couple of weeks I've watched Lydia put her animals down for naps in the wicker baskets in our bookcase day after day after day.  She'd give them blankets and know when they were hungry, and tell me they were crying and that she needed to take care of them.  I asked her if we should check on them and she said that "their whomidifiers and monitors are on.  So they should be okay."

The other night Lyds kept herself from falling asleep by singing, "Everbody Wants to Be a Cat" from AristoCats.  It makes me wonder if that's how she keeps herself up on the night's she doesn't fall asleep right away.  By whispering songs or telling herself things she doesn't want to forget or simply has going through her mind.  I've also heard her whisper and  repeat "Mom.  Dad.  Sophie" on another occasion.

She just started deciding what Sophie wants.  We were playing in the snow at the park yesterday and she got up on the equipment and found two steering wheels side by side.  She told me that Red wanted to drive one.  So Sophie and I hopped on the playground equipment and Sophie got to steer us around.  I'm pretty sure that that was only the beginning.  I love it.  Eventually Sophie will be able to tell us what she wants, right?  And until then, we have Lydia to help us out.  The not as lovable moments have come as soon as Sophie starts crying.  As soon as she does Lydia starts repeating, "it's okay baby, it's okay!!  It's okay!!!" While simultaneously bursting into tears.  Something about seeing a little person cry really upsets her.  I imagine that's true with lots of little kids, but I know that seeing me cry does not set Lyds off.  Thank goodness.

Last Friday I tended a friend's two little boys. It was really fun and I really enjoyed watching Lydia interact with someone her own age.  I was warned that this little boy might give Lyds a run for her money and that if he did start crying it was absolutely not Lydia's fault, but was sure that no kids are as sensitive as my own.  While I was trying to get Sophie down for a nap I heard crying and went to investigate.  What I found surprised me.  At least a little bit.  The little boy was crying, telling me that Lydia wanted him to eat dinner, but he didn't want it.  Lydia had been busy in her kitchen making a sandwich and had interrupted the farm fun to feed her new friend.  Surprising that Lyds would be making food in her kitchen?  Not even a little bit.  Surprising that she hit it off so quickly with her new friend?  Definitely.  She hasn't stopped talking about giving him food and how he cried, but it was later in the afternoon when all four kids were crying that things got stressful and I just couldn't spread myself around enough.  Sophie had had too many distractions and refused to fall asleep even though she was desperately tired.  The two month old just needed his pacifier.  And the two year-olds??  I'm pretty sure that even they couldn't tell you why they were crying.  They just were.  It took some time to comfort and console, but after a few good books everyone was sleeping.

I love Lydia's enthusiasm for caring for her animals.  I love that she cooks in her kitchen and helps me in the kitchen too.  I love it when she uses new words that she may or may not fully understand.  And I really love that she's aware of her sister and watching out for her.  For the most part anyway.

Christmas Magic

I started this post in early December... and am just now getting around to finishing it...

This morning we pulled the tree up from downstairs along with all the other Christmas decorations.  It snowed enough last night to coat everything outside and has continued to fall throughout the day blanketing everything in sparkly white.  Perfect weather to deck our halls.  As soon as I removed Santa from his wrappings (a gift from Grandma Duse, Jon's grandmother) Lydia immediately lost all enthusiasm and declared "I don't like him.  Not one little bit."  The Cat and the Hat is a regular read around here.  This Santa is bigger than Sophie and nice and soft.  He has batteries and reads The Night Before Christmas, but not this year.  Lyds would not have anything to do with him.  Sophie, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of this stuffed Santa!  She hugged him and jumped on him and wrestled with him until he was no longer available because he was forced to find a new home, back in the basement.  He'll reappear next year and we'll look forward to seeing what sort of response his presence brings.

Sophie's new best friend

Lydia keeping her distance

Lydia loved the decorations we hung on the tree.  Both girls loved the nativity set and wanted a sheep of their own.  The candy canes were super exciting and Sophie wanted nothing to do with her green beans (a veggie she's not very keen on to begin with) after Lyds shared with her an open peppermint candy cane.

The holidays were magical and memorable and we're still talking about them.  We loved having family over and especially enjoyed interactions between little cousins, although we could do without spreading germs... Sorry Milo!!  We really can't seem to get together with the Israelsen's without making each other sick. :(  The dancing cat from Grandma Frazier was terrifying to begin with, but before long Lydia was calling herself the Dancing Cat and singing AristoCat songs.  The girls loved their ginormous stuffed animals and I loved watching Lydia try to drag her horse up to bed with her.

Personally I wish that I could carry Auntie Abby around in my pocket as my personal trainer and I know the girls wouldn't object to having her around.  Jon felt the same way.  Lydia made a new best friend in Paul and could not get enough of him.  One of my favorite moments with Lyds was hearing her say, "Where'd the dude go?" in her sweet little voice.  Was she referring to Paul?  We concluded that she'd heard Paul call Milo dude and picked up on it right away as she does so many other things.  Playing the Loser game with Sarah and Paul was awesome, but I think I enjoyed watching Sarah gamble in Farkle even more.  Vegas would not be good to her or for her.  New Year's Eve with the fam was fantastic.  Uncle Jarom read How the Grinch Stole Christmas and we sat around talking for not nearly long enough.

The owl rocking chair Jon made for little Leila was one of my absolute favorite gifts ever, but more on that later (in another post).  Earlier in December we came home to find this beautiful Nativity parked in our front yard with a light shining on it.  A gift made by Grandpa Frazier and one we look forward to displaying each year. The church bags Aunt Lizzie made the girls are genius and hold the cute and creative puzzles Aunt Stacey made for the girls perfectly.  I loved that Sophie had stranger danger moments, but not always.  Sometimes she'd be doing great, and then you'd laugh too loud and immediately pay for it.  Moving Jarom and Brittany into the parent's basement was definitely good times.  So glad Brother Jon didn't get the Stott's car stuck in the snow too horribly and Lyds warmed up to him pretty quickly.  Although I wasn't there for it, hearing about the epic sledding adventure was riveting.  Seeing all the bandages on little Juicy's hands and Abby's torn jacket made it all the more real for us.  Lydia loved sledding with her Frazier cousins and probably would have stayed outside all Christmas Eve if we'd let her.  I'm glad that my Jon and Derek got to have their Halo adventure and we loved the visits to Amber and Isaac's and Will and Summer's for delicious breakfast foods.  I believe Uncle Tophe made it through the holidays with his title of Favorite Uncle still in tact.  And visiting Grandpa Andrus was a treat as always.  Is he really 92?!

Lydia has written a story inspired by her little sister and a princess book she got from her Aunt Cathy.  She holds the little book as she says  "Once there was a baby who liked to steal things.  But then she changed her mind."  Based on a true story. ;).

We're "cleaning up Christmas" on a daily basis.  In fact, every time we tidy anything up, we're "cleaning up Christmas."  Which reminds me, Lydia has been saying/doing some super awesome things lately, but this post is already much longer than I'd originally planned, so those tales will have to wait for another day.