The Secret of Sophia

Sophia is definitely different from her big sister. Sophia is interesting. She observant, rough and tumble, ornery, and sweet. But there's something about her. She's different. Her vocabulary is awesome. She just says things. (Reminder, she's approx 21 mos.) Her most frequently used words are, "Daddys," "Babies," "Eyes," "Cheese," "Huh," "Down," " 'Side" (for "outside" or "inside"), "Slide," "Stop" (mostly used when she's getting tickled), "Josh" (my brother), "Emmys," "Mommys," "CeeCees," (her and the "s's" thing...), and "potty" (she's more interested than Cecilia.) But today, she was just spewing words. We went to the horse races, and Sophia was saying "House," for horse, and she said "flowers" (clear as day), "hot," "color," to name a few. Unbelievable. Granted, I haven't seen her in a week, but still!
But, back to my original thought--she's different. She's kinda spastic, she smacks people in the face. She always tries to steal my glasses, and when I tell her "No," she laughs at me. I have yet to smack her hand, but I think she's starting to get the picture. When I was teaching her sister, Cecilia was so responsive. Sophia takes much more doin'. Cee learned quickly.
Sophia is very interested in Lily, which was cute for a minute, but now, all she wants to do is poke Lily in the eye, "Eyes?" She also likes to stick her finger in Lily's mouth when she yawns. When I tell her to be gentle, she looks at me and laughs, "Eyes?" Ugh...exhausting just isn't the word. So, today, with the flowers, I was teaching her to be gentle. I don't think anyone has ever really taught her what gentle means. I can remember sitting with Cecilia in the garden, watching her gently touch the petals. So, I was showing Sophia that today with the flowers in a vase on the coffee table. She would get it, then a while later, she would start smacking them again, so I repeated myself again--I'm pretty sure Sophia and I had a 3 hour cummulative lecture about being gentle to plants and babies.
What a kid.

Pics from the Beach

A Day at the Beach!

This week, my mom got a place down at the shore, so my sister's family and I went down Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday. I forgot to bring my camera to the boardwalk, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Cecilia ended up throwing a fit because she didn't win when she tried to play Whack a Mole--shit, I'm no good at whack a mole either! She threw herself on the boardwalk in a fit, face down, kicking and screaming. I tried to tell her that she can't win every time. Mom told me later that I should have waited for to rationalize with her. Live and learn.
The next day at the beach was fun. Both girls were in good spirits. Loving the ocean and the sand, the sand crabs. I, personally, am not a beach person. I'm pale, I'm overweight, and sand gives me high anxiety. I say this jokingly, but I'm serious. Having sand everywhere makes me crazy! It's like the grass in Easter Baskets or tinsel for the Christmas tree--you find it throughout the year--you can't get rid of it! For me, it's also the fact that I'm re-applying sunscreen frequently, and I have sand all over me. So, I rinse in the ocean (but I don't swim--not in the Atlantic, anyway). But I still feel gritty, so I try to dry off with a sand-covered towel. Now you see why I only went down for one day. I'm happier sand-free. It sucks too, though because I don't share the excitement for the shore as the girls do. Their daddy loves the beach, so he spent the day humoring their requests. Cee and I did search for sand crabs, and she sat with me under the umbrella and had snacks. We jumped over the waves (the baby waves). I helped Soph jump the waves too. She genuinely loves the ocean, but you can definitely see the trepidation in her eyes. She would run away from it with her arms out, screaming and laughing. But I did spend a lot of the day taking pictures and reading under the umbrella. I do like the relaxing aspects of the beach.
Now, I'm home, and I haven't gone through my beach bag yet because I don't want to deal with the sand yet. It's too soon.

PlayDate Success!!!

Tuesday afternoon, I picked Cecilia up after work. She was so excited! (Me too, considering my last playdate was a snooze-fest!) I told her this weekend, that she had to use the potty if she wanted to come to my house, because "Aunt Lisa does not clean poop out of panties!" I was very serious with her. So on my way to get her, I phoned my sister to check on the potty progress. She informed me that Cecilia had gone pee on the potty all day, but she had yet to poop. Great.
When I arrived at Kerri's, Cecilia ran into my arms and kissed me--ready to go play! I made sure to give her the potty-pep talk before getting in the car. First, we went to the store, to pick up a few things. She was a great helper! She carried the basket and helped me pick out the things on my list: toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper, and laundry detergent. We had everything in the basket when I picked up the laundry detergent, I told her I would carry it because it was heavy. She insisted, "I want to do it by myself!" She's very independent. So, fine, I gave her the bottle of detergent. She learned, in about 10 seconds, that she would not be able to do it by herself, and gave in, willingly.
At my house, we played tea party: Me, Cee, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and the alien from Toy Story. She allotted everyone crackers and juice, then she was bored, so we moved on. We walked outside. I showed her the pond, and we looked for frogs. It was very exciting. We didn't find any by the pond, but when we were sitting on my porch, a baby frog hopped by. I told her how to hold them, and every time it jumped from her hand she squealed and giggled. It was pretty cute. Then I taught her how to thank Mr. Frog and send him on his way. She was very good about it. We went back in to play Dora the Explorer Candy Land, when Cecilia looked around my room puzzled, and said, "Were's your T.T.?" (T.V.) I told her that I don't have a t.v., I just keep a little one for her (I don't have cable, but I do have a television with a VHS built in that I use when Cee comes over, in case she wants to watch any Disney movies. If she wants DVDs I can put that on my laptop. No big wup.) She was pleased with that, and decided that she wanted to pick a movie. She chose 'Dumbo.'
I guess she's never seen "Dumbo" because she was glued. I made spaghetti with an applesauce appetizer. She liked that. I gave her a little stool to put her dinner on, and she set it up just the way she liked. We sat, watching the movie, and from time to time, she would go grab Candy land and start to play, then get glued again.
That's when it happened. I stepped out on my front porch to call my mom quickly, and Cecilia came to the door. Her legs were bent, and her knees were together--it looked like the most painful pee-pee dance I had ever seen. "Oh, you have to go potty!!! Let's go, C'mon!" She stood up slightly and said, "I no hafta go." I gave her a sideways look, got off the phone with mom, and went inside. She was already back in front of 'Dumbo,' but she immediately said, "I hafta poop." I quickly grabbed her and ran downstairs to the potty with her. When we got there--we were too late. "Oh, Cee, you already pooped!"
"Yes, I awdeddy pooped, Weesa." She said frankly.
"Well, you have to go on the potty, Cee--you're a big girl now."
"I no big girl now. Ima baby. I have baby diapers."
"Aunt Lisa doesn't have baby diapers for you wear, Cee. I only have panties. You have to sit there while I clean up. You cannot move!" She pouted in an animated way--I knew she wasn't too upset about it, she probably felt better since she hadn't pooped all day. I made it seem like a big deal, cleaning up her 'accident' but I really just threw them away. Then I sat on the stairs outside of the bathroom. Not saying a word. Then she said, "I'm all done, Weesa."
She had been sitting for a few minutes, so I cleaned her up, and put her in her pajamas--per mom's direction.
We watched the rest of 'Dumbo' then I told her that we were going to have to clean up and go home.
"I no want to go home, Weesa."
"You have to go home, Cee. You have to say goodnight to Sophia."
"Sophie my sisser. An' I see Daddy and Mommy?"
"Yeah, Mommy and Daddy'll be there, you can say goodnight to them too."
"I know want to go to sweep."
"Okay. You don't have to go to sleep yet, Cee."
"Thanks, Weesa." She smiled, and started cleaning up her toys.
Too funny. I love the conversations we're having. It's amazing the way she interprets things. I love it.

Niece #3!!!

Liliana Mae was born today at 10:59 a.m. She weighs 6lbs. 8oz, and is just as perfect as she can be.
My sister Kelly went in Wednesday evening to prepare to be induced the following morning. As the inducing took place, Lily's heart rate should have been fluctuating with the progressive contractions, but it wasn't. They call it a "flat" heart rate, but it doesn't mean "flat line." (Learn something new everyday--I got scared when my mom said "flat heart rate," that's a scary term.)
They ended up doing a C-section, and found that Lily had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, poor thing! It's interesting because it's almost like history is repeating itself. My mom had me when she was 21 (my sister is 19), and my mom moved out, despite her mother's attempt to keep her at home, and I was a c-section birth as well; although mine was an emergency because I definitely had the cord wrapped around my neck, and my heart had stopped. I weighed 6lbs., 6oz (very close). Interesting. It's also interesting how when I was born, I was considered a preemie and put in an incubator for nearly two weeks, and Lily is just fine. Funny how things change, yet how much they stay the same. :)

Play-Date Bust!

Every Tuesday, my mom (Emmy) and I take turns taking one of the girls. Last night was my night with Sophia. I was sooo excited. Sophia and I haven't had the opportunity to bond like Cecilia and I have, so I was ready for a fun and exciting play date! I picked her up after work (around 4), and we loaded the car, and off we went.
Side note: Sophia hasn't been to my house very much. Every time I have a play date, it's either at Emmy's or Kerri's, not sure why, that's just how it has happened. Anyway, I didn't take that into consideration when I was figuring the success of our time together.
Well, Kerri also failed to tell me (until I came to pick up Soph), that she was teething. Great. I know the joys of teething, and they are few and far between. I was determined to make the best of it.
We pulled up to my house, and groggy Soph was sitting nicely in her car seat. When I pulled her out of the car, I set her down, thinking that she would run around (I live on a farm, and she loooves to be outside, so I thought it'd be perfect), well, she didn't. She pointed at my house and said, "side" (inside), so we went inside, but she was really apprehensive to go in passed the foyer. I showed her toys, let her walk around and explore, but she just wasn't feelin it. So she pointed at the door, "side?" (outside). "Oh, okay, let's go outside!" Once we get outside, she runs to my car, looks at me, waves, and says, "Bye? Mommy?" "No, Sophia, we're not going bye-bye, we're going to stay here and play!" She didn't care. She was tired, and crabby. I took her inside and tried to lure her with food, but that did nothing. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she didn't want to eat.
Finally, she started giving me pillows off the couch. At first, I started to smack her with them a little bit, in a sort of came, but she shook her head, as if to tell me that I didn't know what I was doing. I asked her if she wanted to lay on the pillow, and she shook her head. So, I grabbed a few books, laid down with her and started scratching her back---she was snoring in no time.
She ended up sleeping until her mother picked her up, then she woke up all smiley and happy.
It turns out that my sister stopped at Emmy's house before going home, and my mom said that Sophia was a hoot! Well, I guess so, since she slept for 2 hours.
Oh well, hopefully the next time will be better.
Next Tuesday I have Cecilia! And she loooves my house!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend my sister, Kerri (the mother of my nieces) and her boyfriend, Mike, finally tied the knot. They got married Friday, and we had the reception at my mom's on Saturday. It was a blast! Cecilia and Sophia had a sitter for the evening, and she brought them after the dinner hour to dance and hang for a little while. I saw them come in, so I gravitated in their direction, like I always do, and Cecilia ran over and jumped in my arms. She was tired, but she let me dance with her. She kept playing with my hair (it was up in a clip), and she took out one of my earrings. I took her out front at one point, and we sat in the yard, then she wanted to roll down the hill (my mom's front yard is on a little hill). So, we rolled. One roll too many, Cecilia knocked her head on the sidewalk. She still decided to go another time, but before she rolled, she said, "Weesa [that's me], watch my head when I roll." Ha.

Sophia danced with me a little bit, but she was very concerned with Mommy and Daddy and a little tired, so she wasn't entirely entertaining.

Late that night, my other sister Kelly (mom-to-be due on August 15th), fell down, right on her belly. She seemed okay, but, naturally, she was a little upset. She's had a difficult time with this pregnancy. Through her tests, she learned that she has a very common kidney disease, which is treatable, but she has to be watched carefully. She has had some significant swelling as well. Last week, the doctor told her that she was on bed rest, so she was trying hard to do as little as possible. After she went home from the reception, around 2:30 a.m., she started bleeding, so she and her boyfriend (who she lives with) went to the hospital. I didn't find this out until Sunday. I was at my cousin's house, and when I called my mom, she was taking Kelly food. She was there overnight, but she's been given the green light, so she's home now. The baby's heart rate is good, but she's only about 5lbs/14 oz, so they want to wait a little bit longer, if they can, and Kelly's feeling fine. Just bored. Poor kid. She'll have this kid soon, I don't think they'll let her wait full-term.

So, Sunday, after I stopped in to the hospital to visit with Kelly, I went over to Ma's to see if there was anything to clean up, or eat...teehee. There was plenty to eat. So, since we were all recovering, we just did little stuff, ate, chatted, sat under the tent, you know, putzing. Kerri came over with Little Miss Sophia. She was so freakin cute. We still had the dance floor up, and she was just running across it, smiling, and screaming. She was being super-cute. She took out her ponytail, handed it to me, then bent her head in my direction, asking me to put it back in. When I did, she looked up, smiled real big, and said, "Ouch."

Sophia and Emmy

Finally 2008!

Okay, this is also a kind of catch-up blog, but from here on in, everything will be current. :)

January 31, 2008, Sophia Louise had her 1st birthday! It was a blast. Sophia almost has a little bit of a suspicious personality. Like, she's not sure at first, then once she has assessed the situation, she's good. There were a lot of kids at her party. It was border-line ridiculous. She wasn't sure at first, but when it came time for cake, she was good to go!
Sophia is always happy when there's food around--my girl can eat!!!

This was taken on May 18, 2008 (my brother Josh's red velvet birthday cake--I think she liked it).

Cecilia's 3rd birthday was May 26 (May tenty-ticks, as she says). She had her first "friend party" which was the cutest thing ever.

My girls are growing up fast. Cecilia says something new every time I see her (at least once a week). She once told my that my "tickle feels wike a wadybug." The greatest thing ever. One day I accidentally scratched her when I was tickling her, and she looked at my nails and said, "I had cwippers at my howse, you come today, I cut dem for you." I felt like I was at the nail salon.

Sophia isn't saying much but "Daddy" "Momma" and "Arf" (Yup, she "arfs" instead of "woofs" when she hears dogs.) She, like Cecilia, loves to be outside. They'd much rather be running around in the yard--rain or shine.

She was so excited because she could hear the rain on her hat! Ha!

My assessment: Cecilia is the New Princess. She doesn't like icky things (getting her to catch fireflies was a bit of a process, but now she's hooked). She hates having her feet dirty and her hands, yet every picture I have of her has something on her face. I guess that doesn't bother her because she can't see it. She has a great imagination (thanks to Dora the Explorer). She loves to dance (especially outside). She'll say, "Tum 'on, wets go dance outside." She likes to pretend she's a ballerina. Now that she's 3, she's pretty whiny, but she's good for me (and that's really what matters). We're buddies.

Sophia: She is a tough cookie. She laughs when she falls. If she cries, you know it's serious. Otherwise, she's wipes her hands and giggles, getting back to whatever she was doing. She's difficult because once you know her, she's warm and gives big hugs, but sometimes it's like she doesn't want to open up. She's not too crazy about dogs (even though she "arfs," I think she likes them at a distance). My mom has a 125 lbs chocolate lab, Tucker, and Cecilia will sit on him, ride him like a horse, pull his face, poor Tucker gets a beating from that kid. Sophia, however, understands that he's there, but she doesn't really associate with him. She doesn't even pet him. She just tries to steer clear. His tail is lethal, and I think Sophia got smacked one too many times, and now she's done. Last week, she finally realized that she could give him the food that fell on the floor. She would pick up the scrap off the floor, walk over to Tucker (sitting smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen floor), she would stand two feet away, and toss the scrap. Then, she got scared when he jumped up quickly to catch it. She jumped a little, then smiled, and came running over to me as her base. Pretty funny.

Okay, I think the catch-up is complete.

Here we go!

Still Playing Catch-Up

Sophia caught on quickly--with a big sister not that much older, Sophia was dying to catch up. She was very strong and beautiful--capturing everyone with her smile.

She was a smiley, drooly baby. She had to be held. At all times. Honestly, that annoyed me--it annoyed everyone. Once she became mobile, she was a little less demanding.

To me she seems like she's up to something sometimes.

This was Thanksgiving, 2007. Sophia was 10 months and on the brink of walking. Cecilia was 2 1/2 and on the brink of whiner-town. Cecilia learned at a young age that her facial expressions created reactions, and she used that to her advantage. Sophia just laughs....at everything.

Here, Cecilia was showing us different facial expressions she had learned. I did a series of pictures asking her "Let me see your happy face!" "Okay, now, let me see your sad face!" She didn't comply for long, but I'm glad I got the shots I did. She is too freaking cute!

Fast Forward

I got my digital camera in October of 2006--Cecilia was already 17 months. The first pictures I took of her are classic!

At this point, she was jibbering and jabbering in fun baby talk. I always talked the talk back, and she got a kick out of that. Some more classics from October:

She was jibber-jabbering to me about the goats. Pretty cute.

I love this shot. She is really unsure about what's going on. :)

Cecilia is a wild child!

This is one of my top favs!

She looks like one of the lost boys! (That's my youngest brother, Josh.)

The Christmas before Sophia was born (2006), Cecilia was a blast. It was better than her first only because she was so much more interested in her gifts. Her first Christmas, she was still pretty young and mostly played with the paper. Her second Christmas was much more exciting!

She was so excited about her fire truck! Teehee!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the past. There will be more to come!

I'm so desperately trying to play catch-up, but it's harder than I thought. :)

Sophia Louise

I tend to say that Cecilia was born talkin' and Sophia was born smilin'.
From the moment I looked into her eyes, I got the feeling that she knew something we didn't.
She was (and still is) a giggler. She was sweet, and again, I fell in love instantly. She was a little more demanding than Cecilia through infancy, but she was (and is) very personal. She loved to watch your face; whereas, Cecilia would watch the room. She had to be held, and did not catch on to the whole self-soothe idea that Cecilia had. Either way, she was a joy to be around...for the most part. ;)

Cecilia was a good big sister, when it suited her. At that point, she wasn't even 2, so she really didn't care. She did help mommy change her and feed her, and she was very concerned if her sister started to fuss. But after someone rescued Sophia, Cecilia was content again. I get the feeling the two of them are going to be quite the pair.

Cecilia Bedilia

So inquisitive, so smart, Cecilia picked up on life quickly--she had us all wrapped around her little finger.
She was born into a large family that couldn't have been happier to add one more. We were ecstatic. I am the oldest of five, so we were all anxious to have a new little one running around. I took that baby every chance I had. At the time, I was living with my mom, and my sister lived three houses down the street. We saw Cecilia many times a week. She was the light.
If I had a bad day, I knew that having baby time would make it better. And it did...it does. Children have no concept of stress, responsibility, social stigmas or prejudices. Their innocence is refreshing, and the time I spend with her gives me time to reflect on everything I've forgotten. Imagination. Wonder. Discovery.
All these things get pushed to back burner as we grow into adulthood; and, although I have no children of my own, I love finding those elements of childhood with Cecilia.
Cecilia has always been calmed by the outdoors. She loves outside. When she was only weeks old, I remember taking her outside to calm her and walking with her, telling her that I would take her hiking and camping. Her eyes opened wide, and her little head bobbled as she tried to lift it from my shoulder, almost as if she was agreeing with my proposal.
When she started to crawl, I would take her out front in my mom's garden. She loved the flowers, and learned at an early age to be gentle with petals. Very cute.
Even before Cecilia could crawl, we knew she had her own mind--what I mean by that is, she knew what she wanted when she wanted it, and would rarely stop before she got it. When she started to travel through the house on her own, she explored as much as she could.
Mom and I spent a lot of time, baby-proofing the house, and designating certain areas as "baby" areas. Some bottom drawers and cabinets were filled with tupperware, some pots and wooden spoons for her instrumental experimentation. She loved all her little "toys." The other areas, we taught her that they were not for her, and still, to this day, I haven't seen her get into any drawers or cabinets other than her own.

The Last Three Years

Cecilia Catherine was born on May 26, 2008. She was a beautiful newborn. (I'm not one for newborns, really. They're usually not that cute, kinda wrinkly, kinda stinky, and generally kinda loud.) Cecilia was different. I saw her little, angelic face, and I couldn't help it--I was hooked. I vowed that day to form a strong relationship with her. I always want her to know she has me. It was (and still is) an amazing feeling...I'm an aunt.

It's funny because I knew I would love her, but I didn't realize just how much I would love her...unbelievable.

She was a good baby from the start--my sister sure got lucky--she couldn't have asked for a better first baby.

As an infant, Cee was able to self-sooth very well. She would play in her crib for the longest time, then, finally, she would holler to let someone know she was ready to come out. She never even tried to climb out of her crib.
I didn't get my digital camera until Cee was a few months old, but these are the very few young ones I do have:

Simply adorable.

More soon! There's a lot of catching up to do! :)

It's About Time

I am a single female with no children, but I have two nieces (and one on the way!). I have a ton of pictures and a ton of stories, and I can't believe I haven't thought of a blog before today.

I am the oldest of five and have always been back and forth on the whole motherhood thing. I helped raise my siblings, and I'd be lying if I said that I never resented them. In retrospect I know that it wasn't their fault, but I was young and didn't fully understand how to handle the situation. Because of my resentment and teenage angst, I really didn't take advantage of the wonders of childhood...until now.

My sister has two daughters, Cecilia Catherine (3) and Sophia Louise (18 mos), and I have enjoyed nothing more than being a part of their lives. Cecilia and I have become buddies, and it's really cool to watch the two of them grow, learn, and develop. Now that it's not a chore, I really appreciate them. I also really appreciate giving them back. :) I mean that with all the love in my heart.

I look forward to sharing stories and pictures, lessons, and tid-bits.

Enjoy!