One thing I failed to mention in last weeks post was that when we left town we accidentally left our older cat, Dawn, locked in the office. We had left all other doors open in case they had been in those areas, but we never thought about the office since she rarely ever goes in there. She was in there from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday night. We are so lucky we didn’t come home to a dead cat. She could barely meow and felt so light. She ate and drank right away and promptly barfed it all back up in our closet. After a couple more days she was back to herself and was putting her weight back on. We felt so terrible and vow to double check the house before we leave.

Continuing to work on the potty training this week with no luck. Not once has she gone while sitting on the potty. I feel as if she is teasing us now about it. One night she says, very sincerely “Sophia poopoo potty.” My reply, “Sophia are you REALLY going to go on the potty?” “No, don’t think so.” I should have known….

I have this little sing song saying when playing with Sophia to get her to dance a little for me. I simply say “Jam out tttttttt, jam out! Jam out! She never once has repeated it but this week I caught her saying something that I couldn’t figure out. I am usually the one interpreting for BJ, but he nailed this one. She was saying “Jam out tttttttt” while bopping her head. I hadn’t said it in weeks so I don’t know what made her think of it but she sure enjoyed it.

Just in time for her birthday, Phoebe cuts tooth number one–bottom right. The exact same one Sophia had cut first. Phoebe has been flicking her tongue quite a bit over this new thing in her mouth.

Phoebe has also abandoned crawling. She started the week with what I call “momentum walking”. She would throw up her arms and take a couple normal steps, then she would see the thing she wanted or the place she wanted to go and she would start walking really fast with such a momentum behind her. Then the speed would catch up with her and she would fall forward or on her butt. By the end of the week she had learned some patience and paces herself better and walks everywhere. Sophia is helping too. She caught Phoebe crawling one day and said to her, in a firm voice, “No Phoebe, walk! Walking!”

A little scary thing happened for me. I had my teenage sister-in-law babysitting for me this week while I worked for my mom. I had the girls happily playing and watching a cartoon while I could take a shower. Just as I had gotten my bathrobe on I heard voices coming through the front door. I know I had both locks done up and I promptly found out what happened. When Mike and Catey knocked on the door (they said she started to yell mama right away) she went to the door and they were able to talk her through unlocking the door. When they heard the clicks they were able to get right in. I often bathe while the girls are awake with this same set up (otherwise I would never get a shower!) and so it makes me worried to do so now. What if a solicitor comes to the door? Or UPS delivering a box? I have thought about a doorknob cover but there is an open hole over the lock that would still allow her to get her little fingers in it to unlock the bottom one as well. As Pooh Bear would say….”think, think, think.”

Sophia got a new night light this week. We were so impressed with the pink flower from Ikea that cousin Gwennie had in her room we got one for Sophia. As soon as she saw it she said “Gwennie light!” We like it because it puts out about the same amount of light as having the scarf over her bedside lamp. But now she can’t turn this off or on or possibly knock over her lamp by pulling off the scarf anymore! Plus, she just simply loves it!

BJ was in Fort Worth for 3 days staying at the Fort Worth Stockyards Hotel. I called it “his vacation” since he really didn’t DO work, had a bunch of meetings, and ate steak and other great food while having no toddlers to bother him or drain him. Although, he was so ready to come home the 3rd day and he missed all his girls.

We bought a sit and stand stroller, finally! I thought I would try and put it together while BJ was gone. I had done well until the very end. I won’t necessarily explain the logistics of it but I smashed 3 fingers on my right hand very badly. My whole arm was shaking from the pain and still today my middle finger has pain and even some strange numbness to it. The pointer finger isn’t 100% either. I hope it is all better by next week. The girls were very impressed with it and Sophia wouldn’t stop sitting in it until she went to bed.

Sophia discovered broccoli this week and loves it. However, she held it up and proudly announced “a tree!” I explained to her what it was and then later she exclaimed “grass!” Oh well, like it really matters, right?

Sophia has also really taken to singing songs. I have sung to her all sorts of songs and she loves singing along now. Even her nursery leaders have commented on how she is the loudest and best during singing time.

Sophia has to be the one to say prayers every night now. She repeats as much as she can and does pretty well. A close friend of mine recently got diagnosed with diabetes. The first night we prayed for her Sophia was repeating me and actually managed to say diabetes perfectly, but then said “I don’t know” right after. BJ was busting up, very obviously I am sure, since she has never said that word before and doesn’t know what it is or means. We quickly ended the prayer for daddy’s sake and tucked our smart kid into bed.

Phoebe turned one year!!! We had a family BBQ on Saturday and enjoyed yummy ribs and good company. Phoebe (and Sophia) got some great gifts. One of them being a porcelain tea party set. Sophia adores it and it will be even better once Phoebe is old enough to play with it the ‘right way’ an not knock everything over sending her older sister into a tailspin. She also got a little cooking set with pots and pans and spoons. She already had plastic fruit and veggies so she and I have been enjoying ourselves “cooking”. She is so willing to do so and is very interested. Phoebe is having fun with the 2 push toys she received and the stability it gives her while she is still learning to walk is great. There is also this automated pat-a-cake bear that the girls both adore. The first encounter was one of just shock and awe. This is what I imagined they were thinking “This stuffed animal is MOVING!! They aren’t supposed to move! What is going on?” Sophia was so excited about the whole party idea all day long and since she got gifts too, how could this have not been all about her? When we did the birthday cupcakes and sang to Phoebe she was so hurt. She hung her head down and the saddest face I have seen. I think her heart was broken. We sang to her and re-lit the candle so she could blow it out too. When we started singing her face was one of unsure intrigue, then when we got to the part where we say her name she broke out into a HUGE smile and very proudly blew out the flame. This whole day only made us excited for Christmas for the girls!

I can hardly believe Phoebe is one year already. Didn’t I just have her?! I love her so much and enjoy every week that she is a part of my life. She is so sweet and quirky and fun. She is a great playmate for Sophia and I know things will only get better for the two of them.

Tags: birthday,bj,Heather,Phoebe,Sophia,torturing cats,Weekly Family Update
Categories: Heather, Weekly Family Update
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This happened on Sunday the 25th, but is still worth mentioning. We went to church with BJ’s parents because Michael was being ordained an Elder. I enjoyed a break from my normal Primary duties and actually got to attend Sunday School and Relief Society. It was nice for a change and I barely had to take care of Phoebe too! Also nice for a change. She fell asleep in Aunt Catey’s arms during the 3rd hour she was so exhausted. I put the girls in their matching daisy dresses and they could not have been more adorable. We got so many compliments and oh’s and ah’s.

On Memorial Day we had a BBQ at the Atchley’s house. I wasn’t there for most of it because I was out enjoying my birthday gift. An afternoon out shopping without the kids! I bought a lot of new clothes and a new pair of shoes. I was gone for 5 hours doing it and I loved every minute of it! Bekah and her hubby were in town for a few days and we enjoyed a visit with them and great food.

Also for my birthday I had a night out with 2 girlfriends of mine. We ate dinner at TGI Friday’s and saw “Baby Mama” with Amy Pohler and Tina Fey; two actresses I really like. On Sunday after church we went to the duck pond for a walk and then had chocolate cake when we got home. BJ made it all by himself which I am so proud of him for. Granted it was uneven and not frosted all the way around, and frosted when the cake was still warm so it took on a more fudgy consistency than fluffy. BUT it was delicious and I thank him for my sweet birthday treat.

Most of this post is going to be about Sophia because let’s face it, Phoebe is only 10 months and not really doing a whole lot right now. But here is a little of what is going on with our little sunshine:

She waves her hand. She kind of skipped past what babies normally do with the backwards waving and did it right the first time.

STILL no teeth! Argh! This child would be eating so much more right now if she just had some.

Babbling a lot more too. Has started to say dadadada and says mamama with more frequency.

Has slept through the night 2 nights! Yay!!!!

Sophia:

I was attempting to have a shower and managed to be left alone during most of it until the very end. Sophia walks into the bathroom, gets up on the stool and remains quiet. I am almost done so I don’t bother looking at what she is doing since I will find out soon enough. So, what WAS she doing? Unrolling the floss from the container. I was able to stop her in time to salvage just a little. Phoebe came crawling in just in time to grab the wad of it on the floor and start playing with it.

She discovered what Eskimo kisses were and thinks they are hilarious.

She has taken to biting people and Phoebe, her cousin Linus, and Daddy are her latest victims. She doesn’t do it often but it sure hurts when she does!

Speaking of cousin Linus…..this is too funny not to mention. My sister was in town over a week ago and one day they were at my house doing water play in the backyard. While Jennifer was changing Linus into his underwear and PJ’s Sophia stared at his penis trying to figure out what the heck she was looking at. She was so quiet and so still, and when he turned around to face the other way and sit down she came walking around, bent over and stared some more. We are all giggling of course and Jennifer tells Linus to tell Sophia what it is. He promptly does so and Sophia goes over to poke it.

She really likes the Backyardigan’s series and is memorizing more and more lines from the show. This week we catch her several times taking a cup or funnel, putting it on her hand and saying (in a sing songy voice) “Pirate, pirate, arrrr!”

One night in the bath she lays on her side, bends her knees slightly with her legs together and tells me she is a “mermaid.” I tell her she is a very beautiful mermaid.

BJ taught her to do this and I must say it is quite impressive but a dangerous thing since she is already so darn cute. Whenever someone tells her she has beautiful, pretty (whatever) eyes, she looks up at you and will bat her eyelashes with a slight grin.

I bought a new disk of lip salve and had it on my night table. Sophia has a tendency to get into it but she REALLY did it this time. We were both scrambling to get ready for church when BJ comes out of the bathroom to find Sophia’s face and hands and clothes covered in a light pink substance. He grabs her and brings her out to me freaked out asking me what it is and why wasn’t I watching her. It takes me 5 seconds to realize what she was covered in and then I took in a huge breath and yelled “oh no!” The salve was a total loss and she gets stripped down and thrown into the bath; where she gets greasy vasaline on the handle and sides of the bath, and of course she is pretty greasy herself. It took a few days for the grease to come off the bathtub. Oh, and some of our carpet got treated with it too. However, even with all the morning drama we still made it to church on time.

More messes for Sophia this week. I was on a phone call and let her out back to play. She got out a huge bubble container we have for blowing bubbles. I didn’t think she knew how to open it until I looked out and saw her playing with the bubble wand. I thought, “well I am not totally happy about this but I will keep an eye on her and she is really only making a little mess.” Oh what damage can be done in a minute or two. She had dumped it on its side and therefore half its contents, was sitting in it and trying to blow bubbles. I had also been feeding feeding Phoebe in her seat and she was done and getting impatient, ready to get down. I get off the phone, rush to Sophia and put the cap back on the bottle. I get the hose going, strip her naked and start spraying her and the patio off. She thinks I am playing with her and starts screaming and squealing and running around the yard naked. She ends up slipping in the watery, soapy mess scraping her bottom in the process. I plop a now crying, injured, cold, soapy, wet Sophia on a towel I had out there already (thank goodness) and finish the patio which seemed like it would never get clean. Phoebe, in the meantime has been in the kitchen crying and yelling at me. I now finish Sophia off and bring her in still whimpering, get a crying Phoebe down, got Sophia dressed, smelled a Phoebe poopy so I go to change her. While changing Phoebe and getting things ready for Sophia’s nap she decides to get her foot stuck in the ball drop of a stand up toy we have. She has done this MANY times but this time her foot would just NOT come out. I had to go get a screwdriver and take apart the toy. This was all within one hour. Exhausted, I get Sophia and Phoebe in bed and plop my butt in bed and get a much needed nap.

Tags: birthday,movie,Phoebe,Sophia,Weekly Family Update,weekly update
Categories: Heather, Weekly Family Update
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Heather’s Birthday isn’t for a month but our old point and shoot camera is on the fritz. It wouldn’t turn on so I tried hitting it… since that works so well for other electronics, and sure enough it turned back on long enough for me to pull the last few pictures from it.

It’s an old camera with a bad flash sync that overexposes everything when the flash is on. So I wanted to get something that would take better low light shots. This meant a higher end point and shoot, or girding up and dropping some money on a DSLR. Heather and I talked and we decided to go with the DSLR. Heather’s Nikon d40 was dropped off yesterday by UPS and Adobe lightroom was downloaded yesterday evening. She knows I’ll probably be using it more than her, so to call it hers is possibly disingenous, but Heather looks at our old photos and albums more than I do. Advantage Heather.

Because of this new camera I’m starting a new category for photos within the blog. I’ll start it off by posting the last photo taken by our old camera. In this photo we see Sophia doing her best Axl Rose impression. Cap, Sunglasses, kilt, and a self confident strut.

Tags: birthday,Heather,nikon d40,photo highlight,Sophia
Categories: BJ, Heather, Photo Highlights
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