Pumpkin Patch 2008

On Sunday, after NOT getting the extra hour of back to standard time sleep (can't wait until the kids are old enough to teach them about that!) we went to North Run Farm. We had so much fun picking our own pumpkins directly from the patch- they give you one for free after Halloween- yay! Sophie loved seeing the animals, climbing on the hay stacks, and playing in the big tires. Here are some pics- sorry there are so many, there were just too many good ones to choose from:


Family pic in the patch:


My belly doesn't look very big in this pic (maybe because of what I was wearing), but you get the effect:


Mommy and Sophie:


Daddy and Sophie:


Sophie:


Being "corny":


Our family:

Giant Shout-Out

I have to give props to Giant. Grocery shopping with an almost 2 year old is a challenge. Firstly, from the minute we turn into the parking lot, Sophie starts asking for APPLES APPLES APPLES! And what is the first thing we see when we walk into the store? The produce section. Now, unlike crackers or cookies or a box of raisins, which you can open in the store, enjoy whilst shopping, and pay for later, produce is something which must be weighed by the cashier before buying. So those apples taunt Sophie the entire time we are in the store. Second, expecting Sophie to sit in a shopping cart for ANY amount of time is futile. I usually let her walk between me and the cart, "pushing" the cart with me. Thankfully she is a pretty good kid, so she will do this happily. For a while. But expecting her to do this for 30 minutes or more can be unrealistic. Even if she does, by the time we get to the (usually long) check out line she has had it.

Today's shopping experience, however, was almost a pleasure. I decided to let Sophie sit in one of those carts that has the cars attached in front. She loved it. She really thought she was "driving" us around the store, and only tried to get out a couple of times. We made it to the check out line, which was really long. I let Sophie get out and stand in front of the cart with me, preparing for a long wait. Just then, a Giant employee pushed my cart for me to a new line and proceeded to place my groceries on the belt. I looked up and noticed that this check out line had a sign that said "family friendly aisle." After I got over my shock, I thanked her profusely. The cashier then gave Sophie a bunch of stickers and Dora and SpongeBob activity sheets to play with. Sophie got back into the car part of the cart and happily played with the stickers and activity sheets.

So, THANK YOU, GIANT! I am almost looking forward to grocery shopping again next week!

Back to School!

On Thurday Sophie and I started "school" together! It is the Little Me/February 2's class at Beth Tfiloh. It's a great program that starts out as a "Mommy and Me" and then transitions to a regular 2 year old preschool class. We go together on Thursdays from 9-10:30, then in February I'll drop Sophie off on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30. I am so excited- this is the smooth transition we both needed. We had a great time! We already knew all of the other kids in the class because they were in "camp" with us over the summer. The teachers are really warm and energetic. Sophie loved doing her art project, hearing the stories, singing, playing with the other kids, and jumping in the fall leaves! One of the teachers took pictures and emailed them to the parents that night!

Growing!

Sophie is growing up so fast! She is really a little person now! I am really enjoying her personality and just hanging out with her. She has become so much more independent. She can feed herself with a spoon and fork pretty well. If I ask her to go do something or get something, she can do it with no problems. She brushes her own hair and teeth everyday. She can even dress herself as long as we are going somewhere where it is perfectly acceptable to be naked with all of her clothes worn on her head.

And Sophie isn't the only one growing- so is our family! We will G-d willing be welcoming another baby in late March! Sophie is very excited to be a big sister :)

Bananas, please!

As parents it is easy to focus on our weaknesses and the areas where we think we can improve. It's nice every once in a while to have a moment where I think I am actually doing a good job! I just had that moment a few minutes ago. Sophie pointed to the kitchen counter. I asked, "would you like a banana?" She said, "yes please." I handed her one. She said, "thank you." I thought, woohoo, I am doing something right here! I realized that I'm also doing something right when out of everything in the kitchen she chooses fruit as her snack. And when someone hands her a lollipop and she looks at them like they're crazy as if to say, "what am I supposed to do with this?" I know that won't last forever and one day some kid with bad eating habits (raised by parents with bad eating habits) will corrupt my child's idea of food that tastes good. But for now I am proud of her food choices and the polite way in which she asks for them!

What We've Been Up To

Time for an update of sorts!

Shimmy and I went to Rehoboth Beach for Labor Day and left Sophie for her first extended stay at Nana and Poppa's without us. Even though we missed each other we all had a great time! I got to sleep 12 hours straight for the first time in 2 years! The R&R was awesome.



Sophie and I are back into the swing of things with activities. We are still doing Music Together and Beth Tfiloh Little Me resumes after the holidays. We are enjoying playdates and other activities at the JCC. Last week Sophie made a shofar and a honey dish at a Rosh HaShana activity hour, which she loved!

She also recently went to the zoo with her BFF Hadar. They decided to hold hands unpromted!





This past weekend we visited Aunt Deena, Uncle Raffy, and cousins Shalva, Shlomo, and Shmuely in Cleveland. Sophie had a blast running around with her cousins.



We can't wait to celebrate the holidays with friends and family!

ROAD TRIP!

On Sunday, August 17, Avery, Sophie and I drove down to Charleston, SC to visit all of the relatives. It was a long drive- Sophie and I started out at 8:30am and drove down to Silver Spring. Avery drove us 99% of the way down and we arrived at 8:30pm. Sophie was pretty good in the car, considering. We took her to South of the Border for the first time (of many, I'm sure)! While we were in Charleston we mostly visited all of our family. We also manged to go to the beach, the Battery, Waterfront Park, and the Market. Sophie had a great time! Here are some pictures:



Avery and Sophie at South of the Border:
Sophie and I at the beach:
Avery and Sophie at the beach:
Sophie at the Battery, overlooking Charleston Harbor:
Sophie and her second-cousin Ava:

Sophie playing in the water of the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park:
A "Family" Picture taken by Uncle Arthur: Mr. Kitty, Avery, Sophie, Me
And when we got home I had the biggest, best surprise waiting for me, a brand new Volvo XC90, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!