Made a few more pictures using PowerPoint. I scaled them to either 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10 since it saves it as different dimensions (so if you go to print one later, be aware that they could be cropped if you use a different size). I want to add a duck to the bottom right of the bath picture. I’d love to hear your feedback!
I’ve been neglecting pictures up here for a couple of weeks so I thought I’d share these meal time photos (and Sophie marveling her hands in the sunlight).
I’ve updated Ofoto pics so be sure to check that out. Here’s my Mother’s Day present: :-) 
Playing softball for Muggshots this year…we have a tournament on Saturday in Sterling (hopefully the rain holds out).
Planted a few more things in the garden the other day (spinach, onion sets, green onions, broccoli, lettuce, and more lettuce). It’s coming along nicely!
…still waiting to upload pictures, I’ll get to it soon! Planted a few more rows of the garden – some lettuce, spinach, green onions, broccoli, and onion sets. Sophie has been OK lately, a little moody. Doctor’s appointment and 4 month birthday tomorrow. Big day ahead!
Still working on organizing pics…have taken new ones but they aren’t on the computer yet. Had a good Mother’s Day – went to Ingrid’s in the afternoon and saw Michelle, Craig, Caitlyn, Mike, Erin, Tom (Shmina), Liz, Brian and of course Ingrid and Paul. We had a good cookout (and mac and cheese too!!) and just hung out. After, we went over to Mom and Mike’s to see Mom’s new peach tree (it’s Sophie’s gift to Grandma) and have dinner. The highlight for me were the steak kabobs on the grill and the frozen corn. I’m usually not a fan of the frozen corn from the year before but this was really sweet and delicious.
I was inspired by the pictures they try to sell you at Penney’s when you go in for portrait’s so I came up with my own variety. Let me know what you think or if you have any other ideas. I just used PowerPoint (the new 2007 version is great) and Saved As a jpeg. They wanted to charge $30 for something pretty similar to this at JC Penney…I’ll make you one for $10 :-)
Started the garden today! Planted peas – two varieties – and some carrots and radishes. We chose two types of peas because one is the snap kind that you can eat whole and the other is the shelling kind. Figured we could use the shelled peas for Sophie food. I mixed the radishes in with the carrots because one of the packets said that the radishes bloom early so they loosen the soil and make things easier for the carrots. We have more room in the row for the peas so maybe we’ll start more in a couple of weeks.
Sophie was good for Ingrid today – full of laughs and giggles…and then things turned. I took her over to Mom’s while I worked in the garden and she pretty much screamed the entire time.
Tom bought batteries today so we should have new pictures soon. He also brought home my Mother’s Day present: two rocking chairs and a table for the front porch. It is SO awesome. I’ve been saying how much I love those chairs for a couple of years now; since Rosie and I went to the Red Barn. It was very cool to come home and see them on the porch. I’ll have pictures up soon.
Sophie has an appt. on Wednesday so we’ll see how well things are going. Unfortunately, she’ll also be getting shots!
I’ll take new pics soon – in the meantime enjoy the eating video from the other week. We started out with it really thin (that’s how they said to mix it) and now she’s on to thick cereal and loving it!
Sophie rolled over today! We’ve been spending some more time on her tummy and I’ve been helping her “practice” by rolling her back and forth. I put her down on her tummy today and she pushed up on arms and legs and leaned at the same time and voila! Of course, after all that work, she was starving so we had some cereal and bottle and had to take a nap. Cereal is a messy endeavor but she really is getting the hang of it. I can make it thicker now (she actually seems to prefer it a little thicker) and she keeps a lot of it in her mouth. Of course, she likes to help and then figures that since her hands are already there, she might as well stick those in her mouth too. All in all, it’s messy. I know, I need new pics but I still don’t have any batteries for the camera. It’s killing me!
We’ve been pretty busy around here – I’ve got about a gazillion things that I want to do but I usually settle for one or two a day! :-)
Tom and I went golfing again yesterday at the Breeze (just 9). Tom golfed pretty well, and I, well let’s just say that I did better than last time. I did work out some kinks though so hopefully I’m on the right track.
We also saw Rich and Carolyn while we were in Saginaw today. It was great getting a chance to catch up with them and let them meet little Sophie!
She’s still sleeping through the night and she’s getting better at eating cereal. She got through most of it today without pushing it out. It was adorable: she grabbed the spoon at one point and “fed” herself … and then chewed on the spoon. I wish my batteries weren’t dead on the camera – it would have been an awesome picture. She’s getting her legs further and further to the side as she lays on her mat…one day she’s going to surprise both of us and roll over. I really need to give her more tummy time so she can practice rolling over from there (I know, I say that all the time!)
Today after her one feeding, she sat with Tom in the chair for a good 20 minutes or more and watched the Red Wings game. She really wasn’t looking at anything else, just watching the TV. She probably can pick up movement in hockey better because of the white background. Paul’s always saying we need to get a bigger TV; Sophie probably agrees with him because she really likes to watch at Ingrid’s and Michelle’s.
Recycling through pics since my batteries are still dead. Haven’t finalized the April folder on Ofoto yet for the same reason.
Went to Liz’s Talent Show last night – she was nervous but did a fabulous job. You could really hear her singing talent break through in different parts of the song.
Summer’s starting to fill up so if people are looking to plan something, better get on the calendar soon!
Sophie has been quite the happy baby lately! She’s figuring out all the sounds she can make so it’s really entertaining to watch her try. Also, we got the high chair the other day so she likes the change of scenery. We sit her at the table so she can hang out with us. Thinking of starting rice cereal soon. The last few days she’s been really hungry and it seems like maybe some cereal once or twice a day would help her stay fuller.
What a busy couple of days! We left Friday morning at 7 or so and went to Warren to show off Baby Sophie at Tom’s old office. Greg and Rosie were able to time their trip north so that they could bring Eve by at the same time. It’s crazy how big she’s getting! We got to see a few people there but unfortunately a lot of people were off that day (the 80 degree weather probably didn’t help).
After Warren we swung by Jamie and Keri’s to drop off our stuff and hang out for a little bit before Jamie went to work. I think Sophie really enjoyed having the time to play on her mat and hang out. We left for lunch around 1 or so and went to Dos Pesos. I was really craving their steak quesadillas and I wasn’t disappointed. Tom got the chicken chimichanga (sp?) – I don’t know how they cook the chicken but it is amazing. We also swung by our house in Belleville for a check to make sure the renters didn’t need anything and to check that everything was going OK.
Ah, but the day doesn’t end there. We left the house and drove to South Arbor so I could see my old team and other colleagues. I tell ya, it’s great to be up here with family but I do miss everyone there. Sophie was pretty good all day – we were lucky to be able to time feedings/awake times with our visits and then let her nap in the car.
After SA we went back to Jamie and Keri’s for the night. On Saturday we were able to stop by Brighton and see Max and Lisa on our way up north. Abby had a soccer game so we saw the second half of that. We didn’t get a chance to see Alex – he was off with friends fishing and playing. It’s too bad we live so far from those guys, they are always some of our favorite people to visit!
…and then we were off for home. Pretty uneventful evening – Sophie was really off of her sleeping schedule though. Then we lost power last night. Not sure what was the cause, but Sophie got up around 3:30 and wanted a bit to eat. The power’s back on now so hopefully she’ll get back to her normal sleep-through-the-night schedule that we were so very fond of!
Around here, Sophie and I have been trying to stay clear of Tom since he came down with the flu on Monday night. Alex was getting over the flu at his birthday party, but apparently wasn’t over it enough because Grant, Amy, Jackie, Tom Shmina, Mike, and Erin all got sick! Good thing the kiddo and I stayed home!!!
Looking forward to the good weather this week – we’re heading downstate to visit friends and check on the house.
Oh, one last thing – I’ve been working on signing with Sophie. Just the basics really (Mommy, Daddy, Milk, Water, Elephant), if I know the sign I try to use it because I figure the more I use the better. Anyway, could have just been an accident but she was doing the sign for milk while she was crying waiting for her milk. But, it’s a pretty basic sign (open and close hand like you’re milking a cow) so it could have just been a reflex to go with her frustration. She probably won’t really start signing until 6-8 months but we’ll keep at it.
And one more thing (saying “months” reminded me): she’s hanging steady on 3-6 month clothes for outfits, sleep and plays, and pants but it seems like she can wear 6-9 month onesies too. I think she just has a long torso right now and maybe her legs will catch up eventually. It definitely seems like she grows unevenly!
She’s chewing on her tongue lately (you may notice in some pics). And she’s been jumpy (if a sound startles her, she cries…she didn’t do that before, she’d look at it but not necessarily cry) – she really hates sneezes!
Well, after a run of a couple of 70 degree days we’re back to the dreary chill of an overcast spring day. It sure was nice while it lasted! Jen came up yesterday and got to see Sophie for the first time, so that was awesome. We went out to Tony’s Tacos for dinner and I have to say I wasn’t that impressed. It just can’t compete with Dos Pesos (or even Mexican Fiesta II) – I really had my hopes up too. I may get a chance to fill that craving though because we are planning to head down to the city next weekend to check on our house and parade the kiddo around. A little nervous about how she’s going to be with all of the car riding and hanging out in lots of different places. People may get to know Sophie as “that kid who cries a lot”.
Though no one else can apparently see it, I’m convinced that she has two different color eyes. The right eye has definite brown in it while the left eye is much lighter, still a grey-green type of color. It might have a little brown, but not nearly as pronounced as the right. It’s best to check when' she’s looking out the window and both pupils are small – the right one was on the window side, probably why it is smaller in this picture. The other picture is blurry, but I think you can still see color.
Anyway, other than that, I wanted to remind everyone that I continuously update the picture links on the page so when you click “April” you should see some new pictures in the Gallery. Plus, I think once you follow the link once, it will be under Friends on your Kodak page and you can just look there for updates (not sure).
Another bonus – Sophie was good most of the day. It’s always a little hit and miss when there’s a crowd around; it throws her schedule off. Took some Easter pics of her in her new dress (it didn’t stay on long, just not quite warm enough for bare legs and arms). Also got the three month pic with the bear.
I haven’t posted in a few days but there really hasn’t been much new to talk about. Still working a few days a week, so that’s nice. Sophie hasn’t learned any “new tricks” lately, though she does seem like she’s getting closer to starting to roll over. She hates tummy time though so I doubt she’ll be very happy once she actually does roll over! She is still sleeping through the night, so that’s awesome. I did sign up for a Facebook account finally, so we’ll see how addictive that turns out to be.
Here are a few pictures from the last week or so. The first one has Sophie holding and chewing on a washcloth on the table. She still likes to chew on things, and if I give her a washcloth it means that I don’t have to sit there and hold a teether toy in her mouth. She’s getting so big, moving up to Size 2 diapers and Size 3-6 clothes. Oh, and she laughs more often now. So I guess a few things are new, just not as groundbreaking as “first smile” or “sleeping through the night”!
The other pictures are of the bonnet that Sandy brought over for Sophie. She’s not real crazy about stuff on her head, but sometimes you can distract her for a bit. She is good at looking at the camera though – probably helps that it’s shiny!
I actually don’t agree with a lot of the ideas put forth in this book, but I applaud the effort to start a conversation of change. A lot of Crosby’s ideas center around the reality that many people see schools as a de facto source of childcare. I’m not in favor of increasing the amount of days that kids spend in school (and not just because it would increase the amount of days I would have to work). I still believe that boredom is a great catalyst for original thought and let’s face it, what is summer vacation without boredom!? I believe if schools are interested in cutting costs they should seriously consider the 4-day school week or a month-long break over the Christmas/New Year holiday. Both solutions would reduce heating and transportation costs and only require a minimal amount of time to be added to each day. Like Crosby, I am in favor of using this extra time in the day as homework time. He proposes adding the time to each class and dedicating a part of class just to homework. This may be more successful than a study hall – too often study halls aren’t enforced and too many kids don’t take advantage of the opportunity. Plus, they may need help in a subject not taught by their study hall teacher. Anyway, the author does a good job of bringing up topics to provoke thought and conversation – I’d be willing to discuss/debate any of them with you all if you do get a chance to read the book.
Installed new photo-editing software to play with. It’s called GIMP and it’s free and I like it so far. Here’s a picture where I selected the ducky using the wand tool (you know the one…) and then inverted the selection so I could make the rest of the pic black and white. Enjoy! (Yes, I know I didn’t get all of the ducky but the colors ran into Sophie and I didn’t feel like playing with it any longer to create a border between the two of them.)
Yesterday Nana brought over a couple of balloons for her – she enjoyed those all afternoon and evening! She would pull them down or just look at them. She also likes when they float to the ceiling, especially if the string rubs against her as it goes up.
Of course, balloons have a tough time competing with ducky and bath time. Sophie really gets a kick out kicking in the tub, especially if you fill it up really full. It’s messier for me, but she plays more in a full tub so every now and then I make the sacrifice.
We tried to go get some pictures at Penney’s yesterday but I forgot that it was Spring Break so they were all booked – no walk-ins available until much later in the day. I didn’t want to make an appointment ahead of time because I figured that it would be easier to get her down there when her schedule fit instead of making her get up and eat at an arbitrary time (basically, I was trying to maximize the chance of her being in a good mood). It worked too, she was very happy when they told us that there were no openings!
Finished putting up pics in the March album for Sophie – looking forward to your comments!
Also added pictures from Kelly’s to the 2009 Misc. album (didn’t take enough photos to warrant creating a separate album).
