Sophia's Second Birthday

I'm not sure who enjoyed Sophia's birthday more this year- her or me! It was so fun to get her excited about it and anticipating it. I felt like all we did for weeks was talk about "birthday coming" and cake and what we were going to do and all her friends that would be there. I had bought her a dress a few weeks beforehand to wear for her party, and we tried it on the first night that I brought it home, but since then, it's been hanging in the closet. I pulled it out to get her ready for her party, and she got so excited and kept saying, "birthday dress!" So I know she gets it this year!


We had her party the Sunday before her actual birthday, and she loved it. How could she not, all her favorite friends were there, we had pizza and cake, we played at the park, we splashed in the pool, and we opened presents. What's not to love?


Unfortunately, we were all recovering from the most contagious flu bug I've ever been in contact with. I thought we were all in the clear, but I was a little unsure about Noah, so I actually had a babysitter come stay with him in the basement so that I didn't have to worry about any of the other kids getting too close. Turns out that was all in vain, since we spread the dreaded illness to several of the families at the party. Oops! I'm just beginning to get over the guilt! And I realized during the course of the party how not back to normal Sophia was when I realized that she didn't eat one single bite of her birthday cake- the same cake that she had been talking about and asking for for weeks!


Sophia's actual birthday was on a Wednesday (Aug. 15), and we had planned to take her to a local water park, but it ended up being fairly cool and rainy that day, so we took her to the mall instead. We looked at puppies and rode the escalators, and I think I was more disappointed with the change in plans than she was. Presents kept arriving in the mail all week long, and let's just say that Sophia has DEFINITELY come to understand the meaning of presents. Every time we bring a box in the house, she gets all excited thinking it's presents. Yesterday, Tim went to the dentist for a routine cleaning, and when she heard him coming back home, she got all excited saying "Daddy presents!" (So he ended up giving her his freebie toothbrush and she was thrilled- I am cherishing the days when she is so easily appeased!)


We ended up going to the water park the following weekend, and it was still lots of fun. Sophia has definitely learned to enjoy the pool this summer and never wants to leave. She probably would have stayed all day if we hadn't been chased out by rain.


Anyway, it was tons of fun and now, I've decided I have mixed emotions about birthdays. It was so much fun, that I wish I could do it more than once a year. But at the same time, I'm pretty sure that I'm not allowing Sophia to have any more birthdays for the rest of her life because I kind of like the way she is right now!

Waiting for the party to start

Opening presents

Playing with one of her best buds, Mia Heck, on her actual birthday

Celebrating Sophia's birthday at the mall

Move over Paris Hilton, Hollywood, here Sophia comes! (This get-up was a birthday present from her favorite friend, Will Ballard.)

Birthday Girl

Ready to blow out candles

Summer Pics

Checking out the zoo with Uncle Eric & Aunt Gretchen

"Noah Flying!"

Noah has found his toes! (And the only time I could catch the picture was when he was naked!)

One of our favorite after dinner activities

I'd claim these cuties any day!

"Sushie glassee head!"

Toes and other stuff

Noah has had quite the month, with all kinds of firsts. His biggest discovery is that he has found his toes! In fact, he has decided they are his favorite thing to play with these days. He's finally started to grab for other toys, but more often than not his preference is his own toes. He has also had his first adventures in the swings at the park. He loves swinging! And Sophia loves to swing next to him and tell the whole world that "Noah flying!" and "Sophia flying!" Noah has also started riding in the actual stroller seat occasionally (instead of lying down), and Sophia loves to tell the whole world that "NOAH!" is behind her.

Sophia's other new trick is that she has discovered the word "mine." And while we knew it was inevitable, it's still not so fun. I'm not sure entirely where it came from, since the first time she said it, it was entirely out of the blue and unexpected, but I guess maybe that proves that it's just inherent in human nature? Anyway, she's only used it a few times, but I'm sure it won't be long before we're really tired of the word! She does have some much more fun phrases, too. She likes to say "Mama coming" whenever I'm not within arms reach, and she frequently tells me, "Noah miling" (translation: Noah's smiling). She definitely has not figured out pronouns and prepositions yet, but she is beginning to link several words together, and the other night she told me, "Mama, eyes, blue." Which was particularly amusing since Mama's eyes are, in fact, green!

The most exciting news in her world is her upcoming birthday. She recently went to a party for one of her favorite friends, which was held at a local park which happens to be very large. Her friends family also had a small version of a bounce house at the party, and that's the first thing Sophia remembers about the party. She's going to be awfully disappointed to learn that there will be no bounce house at her party, but she is certainly looking forward to the event! I think it's helped that she went to a party so close to hers because she now understands what it's all about and gets so excited every time we talk about her birthday!

She is also very excited to have another cousin this winter. She clearly has no idea of the concept of cousins, but she does know that "Dretcha baby" in her "tummy", so I know she's aware of the whole event. She's been asking to see Gretchen's baby, so I think she might be a little disappointed next week when Eric and Gretchen get here and she can't actually see the baby yet! Soon enough, soon enough!

Pepper-nose-ouchy!

That would be Sophia's version of today's events. My side of the story contains slightly more detail.

It was a typical lunch affair at the Nielson's- Sophia in her high chair enjoying pita bread, orange peppers and cottage cheese. Noah was playing somewhat contentedly on the floor. I was scrounging scraps of whatever I was giving to Sophia. Noah, however, was ready for an early nap, seeing as how we had already been to the doctor's office this morning for a vaccine for him. He didn't get much of a morning nap, so by 12:30, he was ready for some sleep.

Every time it happens, I think that I wish there were another way, but I took Noah downstairs for his nap, leaving Sophia in her high chair with her lunch. I came back up to find Sophia with a finger up her nose. Of course we discussed how that was not a good place to put fingers, but then when I looked again, her nose was rather red, and she just couldn't keep her fingers away.

I didn't really figure it out until she started saying, "Pepper, nose!" And can you believe the pepper was so far up her nose, I couldn't even see it? So I started replaying my way too many first aid training courses and wondering if I was really going to have to call our pediatrician and tell them I needed to bring my kid in because she had a piece of pepper stuck in her nose? I got Sophia out of her high chair and tried to investigate if there was anyway I could get the pepper out myself. That's when I realized there was not one piece of pepper stuck up one side of her nose, but multiple pieces in both sides!!! By this time, the kid was totally wheezing around the peppers.

I got the tweezers out of the bathroom, and successfully managed to pull one piece out of the right side, but didn't think there was much of a prayer of me getting the piece out of the left side without pushing it further in. I sat Sophia up and had her blow, and this is when the third piece came out of the right side! Good grief, she almost had a whole garden in there!

At this point, I realized, yes, I was going to have to call the pediatrician's office, and yes, we were going to have to take her in. I called the doctor's office and had to explain to the call center "what was going on with Sophia today" and had to explain that no, it wasn't ground pepper in her nose, it was a piece of orange pepper almost an inch long! After 10-15 minutes on hold, they told me to bring her in. They scheduled an appointment for an hour and fifteen minutes from that time at an office that isn't our usual office b/c no one at our regular office was answering the phone, but if we came right away, they might be able to squeeze us in sooner. Who says we need health care reform in America?

Anyway, Tim ended up coming home from work to take her so that I could stay home with Noah, and they were back in nearly an hour. It ended up costing us $30 for a doctor to pull a piece of orange pepper out of my kid's nose!!! Really, it could have been so much worse, but how pathetically humerous was the whole event?

And Noah's version of the story? Well, he doesn't even know because he slept through the whole thing! So let's hope he didn't get any bad ideas from his sister-yet!

Minnesota Days

No matter how many days we spend in Minnesota, each trip seems to get shorter and shorter with never enough time to do everything we want to do. But we sure do have fun! We just got back yesterday, and I'm not sure whose more wiped out- me (Amy) or the kids. I can't believe how well the kids tolerated the constant activity while we were gone. It seemed like we just never stopped going. We were even so brave as to try our first day without any nap (and although it's amazing how well it went, it's still not something I recommend!). Has anyone every seen a toddler loopy from a lack of sleep? It's hilarious and pathetic all at once! In our handful of days in Minnesota, we packed in the park and splashing rocks in the river, the beach, the boat, and waterskiing, reliving our childhoods by digging out all the toys that were stored at my parents, a Twins game, church and a new nursery, the Children's Museum, and even a few games of Cornhole.

It was so fun to experience it all through Sophia's eyes. It's been a LONG time since I've found the joy in throwing rocks in the Mississippi, but I think Sophia could have spent hours collecting rocks and making them "pwash". I also had the thought that I'm sad we don't live near so many lakes. I would love to take Sophia to the beach more often to get her used to the water. She didn't seem to like her first boat ride too much, but the second time was much better because she was busy watching Uncle "Wya" wakeboard. She kept saying "bath" and when he would fall, she would say "all done." And for as hard as we've tried, I don't think Sophia's super thrilled with Twins games yet! She's been listening to them on the radio since way back to her "in utero" days, but she was more interested in the popcorn and snacks at the Dome than the actual game.

Overall, we had a great time. I always say I love living in Colorado, but each time we visit Minnesota during the summer, I think about moving back. There are so many great things about the summer months, not to mention being near family has it's perks, too!

Noah meets Opa- and seems to enjoy him quite a bit!

Where's the beach?

Posers!

Did I forget to mention we visited the Curious George exhibit at the Children's Museum in St. Paul? Noah wasn't all that thrilled with it, but I don't think Sophia has ever been so excited in her life! Every new display she saw was more exciting than the last. "OOOH, JUGE!!!" She would exclaim over and over.

This would be "pwash"ing rocks in the river. It took us awhile, but we finally figured out that "pwash" really means splash, which is actually a lot of fun! (And so much easier when your throws are so short you can pick up the same rocks over and over and over again!)

Single Parenting

So it seems I've (Amy) survived a week as a single parent- and I'm SO glad I don't have to do it all the time! The week has actually gone much faster than I thought it would, but I realized today that I'm thoroughly exhausted. (I had this thought while I was trying to unsuccessfully take a nap while both kids were telling me they didn't want to take naps this afternoon!) We've had a busy and productive week. Noah is now sleeping basically from 7pm to 7am, and Sophia wants to be outside every possible minute! We've been to the mall, the grocery store, on playdates, to church, to the library, and tomorrow we're headed to the pool. We went out for dinner tonight, and it was AWESOME to not have to clean up any dishes afterward! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures of our adventures.

Noah's version of the Lazy Boy

Smiley Boy!

Thank God for thumbs! Noah has finally found his, and this is what's allowed him (ie: me) to sleep through the night.

Sophia "rides" her "bite".

Summer Girl

Whee!!!

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