Now that fall scented candles are more appropriate for the weather, we have added blowing the lit candles out to our daily activities. Sophie will point at the lit candle (which is usually on a counter away from her reach) and say, “wish!” We sing an abbreviated “happy birthday” song and she makes her wish. (And repeat. Over and over.)

Note the drool on her bottom lip. I never said it was on the first try.

This last one was just before the heat from the flame became too much. “Hot!”

Not much better as far as photos. Who knows, maybe the baby won’t be here next Tuesday, and Anthony and I will both be able to go to get great shots.

We were the only ones on time, so we had the first ten minutes to ourselves. Behind the dinosaurs, you can see the balance beam. She really seemed to like the balance beam. She can actually put both of her tiny feet next to each other on it so it isn’t as challenging as it may be in a year or two when only one will fit.

At the end of each class, they get a stamp on their hand. Or both hands, like Soph prefers. This week, she got a bunny. Though it wore off closer to lunchtime, at dinner she was still exclaiming, “Bunny! Hop!”

(Yep. She took both Mira’s and Mia’s name tags. They didn’t come today. There was a new boy, though.)

Finally, who doesn’t love the elevator? (Besides me. I am so afraid she is going to hit the emergency button which directly dials the fire department and is conveniently located at her height.) Note that she covered her own name tag with Mia’s name. Sneaky, sneaky.

Yesterday, while I went to my doctor appointment, Sophie was lucky to hang out with Maddie, Annie, and Audrey. (Thanks, Ann!) When we arrived, one of their cats was meandering through the family room. Sophie loved him! She honestly reminded me of her Uncle Danny when he was little. I remember visiting Aunt Jan’s and Uncle Phil’s house and Danny running around their house (honestly- to the bathrooms, bedrooms, basement, everywhere) trying to pet the cats. Well, Maddie’s cat is no dummy. He went upstairs pretty quickly. Annie put the gate up to prevent little ones (mostly Sophie, Maddie didn’t seem as interested in the cat) from going up and down the stairs for the visit. (Look at Maddie watching Sophie. So cute! She was probably wondering why Sophia would think that cat would ever come to her.)

The cat is honestly lying about two steps further up then you can see in the photo. She really wanted to see (actually touch- think Elmyra) that cat. Clearly she comes from a dog house as she was far too interested in the cat for the cat to want to be anywhere near her.

Soph looks slightly creepy in this photo but I really have to hand it to Ann for capturing a head on shot that isn’t in motion. I don’t know if I have ever done that. Plus, Maddie looks so sweet sitting there smiling at Sophie while she’s all dazzled up with beads. How cute!) And actually Sophie’s little face looks pretty sweet, too. Maybe she was tired (or confused?). Who knows.

Maddie has quite an assortment of food for her kitchen. Sophie really enjoys kitchens and play food. (Her Grandma Lisa has a play kitchen she loves, too.) Apparently, Sophie tried to put a baby in the microwave while I was gone. Yikes!

Though I have no photos of Audrey, she’s really a trooper to put up with Sophie. Sophie loves her nearly as much as the cat, and Audrey isn’t able to create boundaries for herself yet. She’s gotta be one tough cookie to put up with Sophie.

Thanks ladies for a fun visit!

Sophie had her first day of gymnastics (with a parent). As the attending parent, I was relieved that it wasn’t as challenging as I was afraid it would be. (I was kind of nervous due to the 38+ weeks belly I’ve been sporting lately. Sometimes it offers me different challenges to my everyday life, and I really didn’t want to embarrass myself.) I wasn’t able to get a great shot of the classroom, and I have no shots of during class. I’ll try better next week.

A couple of shots from before class

She loved looking in that mirror and making faces at me.

And a shot from after class (not the best)

The teacher indulged her love for label stickers. Soph would have gladly used them all.

We could only be so lucky that Sophie’s love of the outdoors and gardening continues forever. We could use some serious help around our house.

As soon as I saw her tongue out, I knew what she was thinking. And look at how seriously she takes this job!