It’s sure been a long time since my last update. But I’ve got something cool to share now…

I love They Might Be Giants!

I’ve been a fan of theirs since I first heard and watched Here Come the ABCs a few years ago, and then I also checked out their other kids album No!, and the Bed Bed Bed book and CD, and I loved them, too. Then I started getting into their “grown-up” music, and then there was Here Come the 123s, and then I really started getting into the grown-up stuff after that. And then, wow, I got to see them in concert in April at The Egg in Albany. It was great! I want to see them again. And soon after that show, I got to see Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns, the documentary about them. I loved it so much, my parents bought me a copy, and I watched it every day for like a month. I think I have the whole movie memorized! I love They Might Be Giants. Especially John Linnell. My parents wonder what I’ll be like when I’m 15 if I’m like this now about a music group!

So when it came time to think about my 5th birthday party, it seemed like it would be fun to have one with a TMBG theme. Here’s a video of the party, and read on for details!

We started off with just some fun TMBG tunes and some playtime, and made sure to have gummy worms in honor of Dr. Worm. Then we moved onto the big craft, which was painting birdhouses — in your soul, of course! While we all painted, we listened to that great song, and also to Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth since it’s got birds in it, Meet James Ensor since it’s about a painter, and Pictures Of Pandas Painting since that was also about painting. I painted a few more birdhouses on my own the next day!

After some more tunes and playtime, it was time for a special treasure hunt. All the letters of the alphabet were on colorful squares, and they were all hidden around the area where the party was, so my friends and I had to track them all down — it was an Alphabet Lost and Found! Then, once we had them all, we all worked together to play Who Put The Alphabet In Alphabetical Order? Needless to say, we did it.

Then it was time for musical chairs — to the tune of Someone Keeps Moving My Chair, naturally! We also had Don’t Let’s Start and Ana Ng, because they just seemed to be really good songs for musical chairs. In our game, though, everyone who found themselves without a chair got to do something special. In the do-it-yourself spirit of the day, we were making our own ice cream to have with dessert, so when you had no chair, you got to go over and help turn the crank on the ice cream maker. And some of us even got to smash up the ice with a big hammer and put extra salt on the ice. Fun!

Then, for the last big game, it was something special. With our own homemade posters of the two Johns, we played Pin the Accordion on John Linnell and Pin the Guitar on John Flansburgh! We had a guitar and an accordion, and everybody got to pick which one they wanted to do. And as if that weren’t enough, we also got to pick what kind of blindfold to wear — a regular one, or a homemade mask with the face of William Allen White, that guy whose face is always showing up in TMBG concerts and videos and who knows where else! We had a cool song from the each of the guys for this game, too — Whistling In The Dark since it’s a Linnell song with some good accordion and reminded us of wearing blindfolds, and for Flansburgh, of course, we heard The Guitar.

After my friends sang Happy Birthday to me, we then played Older, because that’s one of my favorite TMBG songs, and totally appropriate for the occasion! We then got to make our own brownie sundaes with lots of toppings plus the ice cream we all helped make. Some fun TMBG eating songs to go with it — John Lee Supertaster, E Eats Everything, plus just a bunch of others I like, including, of course, High Five! since it was my fifth birthday party.

What a great time! It was a lot of fun to have TMBG as a theme for my party, since I just love that band so much! And it was also really great to do it ourselves and have my parents help out a lot. They had fun, too, making all the stuff and helping plan everything. Maybe next time we’ll do a three-legged race to Triops Has Three Eyes, or do a puppet show after we make our own puppets to the tune of Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head! And I wonder what other fun stuff my parents might come up with if they ever wanted to thrown a grown-ups only TMBG party. So many crazy songs, I bet they’d come up with something!

Welcome to Sophie’s blog! Please be patient with us as we try to get all her old photos up on this site.

Hi everybody! Again, it’s been awhile since my last update, but it’s been busy. I continue to grow and thrive.
There’s a new man in my life. Gene Kelly. LOVE HIM. I was first introduced to him in “On The Town” (you may recall my “G*&damnit, those guys can dance!” remark) and since have seen at least 5 others. “Singing in the Rain” is my favorite. In fact, sometimes when I’m angry, I’ll borrow one of the lines from the movie “I never want to see you again, on or off the screen!” I even want to be Gene Kelly for Halloween.
Mom and I spent a week with Grammy and Grampy in Mystic. It was fun. I ended up having a good time with Uncle Wayne–he’s such a tease. I also went to Passover with 50% of my cousins– that was fun. We played “Elefun” and had a super good time with egg hunts.
I’m glad the weather is finally getting better. We’ve made the occassional pilgrimage to Holy Cow (local ice cream). It’s also hot dog season again. I am quite the carnivore.
My house is in the process of being painted — BLUE! Of course I had tremendous input in the final color choice. Not sure the neighbors are so thrilled, but me and Dad love it (it’s growing on Mom).
I love little kids. I hang out with Lilly, Baby Karena (who I still call Baby even tho she’s two), Olivia, and baby Justin (who is actually a baby). It works out well, I get my big sister fix in; helping the little ones on the playground and petting them, and then I get to go home and have MY stuff and MY parents all to MYself!
I continue to love school. I am finally ok with the fact that I will have different teachers next year (no Mrs Byrnes!!). My favorite part of school is bean bag fun. Once I told the teacher “excuse me, Mrs Cooper, but we haven’t played bean bag fun as of late!”
I think that’s about it. My mom had written down some of my quotes, but for some reason it didn’t save properly or something. Suffice it to say, I say at least one thing per day that makes my folks completely crack up.

Hello everyone. So sorry this has taken so darn long to update. The last five months have been a bit on the weird side when it comes to technology. Dad also decided that this website should be updated via “wordpress” which allegedly will make updating easier (hear that Mom??)

A quick recap:
We had some work done on the house. A guy named Jeff put some floor joists and subflooring in our attic. It’s all in preparation for the move upstairs—hopefully next year. The construction was not without its problems: Jeff’s helper fell though our kitchen ceiling! But he was ok. and Jeff had to come back and fix it. I love Jeff. I brought one of my little chairs into the dining room to watch him work. He used a lot of neat tools, just like Grampy. I sure love tools. I get very excited whenever there is a house project that needs to get done.

For Halloween, I was a Herbie car. My folks had bought this costume years before I was born and had been holding onto it until just the right time. It’s pretty fun. My parents got the original “Love Bug” movie from the library. I watched about a half hour of it but told them to shut it off because it was too scary: no one was wearing seatbelts!

I discovered something neat: scissors are not just for cutting paper. They can cut hair too. I first figured that out at school and accidentally hacked me up some bangs. Then later, I cut some more of my hair just for kicks. Mom’s not too keen on that.

I went to my first rock concert. I saw Ralph’s World at the Egg in Albany. Boy, was I star struck! I’d only ever seen him on a video. It was a great concert! He was such a nice guy. He came out to the lobby before and after the show. I kept wanting to stand in line to meet him. When we got to him, I’d get super shy and hide in Mom or Dad’s shoulder. I did enjoy the show. He invited all the kids to come down and dance in front of the stage, and at the end, on stage. I kept saying to Mommy: “I want to get closer to Ralph”. Mom and Dad weren’t really sure I liked the concert because I was so quiet the whole time. It was only afterwards when I was telling everyone all about it, that they realized I had a great time.

I continue to love school. Mom and Dad had a parent/teacher conference, and surprise, surprise, I’m a delight!

Thanksgiving was good. We went to cousin central (aka Ithaca) and it was a full on toddler fest! I had 7 helpings of turkey. We did some major playing and had a great time.

The Holidays were good. Once again we went to Grammy & Grampy’s and I had a great time with Uncle Mike and Aunt Suma (they even got frequent hugs from me–a big step!)

Mom and I got our very own laptop! It was getting a little crazy waiting for Dad to leave his computer so we could have a shot at it. I love the photo booth option on the Mac, and still enjoy computer games and watching videos of myself when I was little.

I have started to do a wee bit of reading–a word here or there. It’s hard for Mom and Dad to really tell since I have a really good memory of books (have since 18 months).

I think that’s about it. Since this new blog system is easy, I may be updating this more frequently (although ANYTHING is more frequent than what we’ve been doing.

Some quotes:
Sophie: Daddy, I’ll push you on the swing.
Dad: Okay.
Sophie: How high do you want to go?
Dad: Oh, I don’t know, I don’t need to go so high, medium is fine.
Sophie: Well, we’re going high today. Today, we’re talking high.
–10/10/06

Dad, you steered me wrong. This is my jungle cup.
–11/2/06, after Dad told me he’d given me some juice in my dinosaur cup

And cows are animals. Farm animals, of course.
–11/3/06, while discussing the variety of animals with Dad

Goddamn it, those guys can dance! Look at them move!
–watching the Gene Kelly musical “On The Town”

Well, there is a long story as to why this update is so delayed. Our Mac computer busted, and we were without it for quite some time. Then, Mom’s camera broke. So, we have a new computer and a new camera, so we should be back to normal soon.

I started Funshine preschool. I was really apprehensive at first. I would cry and cry before going, and I hated when Mom and Dad dropped me off. I’m warming up to it now. I love Mrs. Byrnes, one of the teachers. We had an open house and I only wanted to be with Mrs. Byrnes.

We had Hardscrabble Day, which included “Kidscrabble Day,” which Mom coordinated. It was super fun. There was a free bouncy house!! I painted a pumpkin. The best part was the entertainment. Dad played some on his keyboard, and then he ran karaoke. I did “Hokey Pokey,” “ABC” and “Pop Goes the Weasel.” I was quite the diva, telling Daddy to get off the stage, and thanking everyone when I was done.

Here are some quotes. There aren’t as many as usual, which isn’t to say I haven’t been hysterical. Our Mac was gone for 2 months, which put a damper on recording the wonder of me. Make sure you read the July/August 2006 update below, too, since this one and that one just got posted at the same time, and there are lots more quotes there!

I spy something that’s light blue and follows us… I’ll give you a hint! It’s tall… [after Mom made many guesses and gave up]… It’s the sky.
–9/5/06

Oh, a robe. Someday, when I get to be a grown-up, I could wear one of those. I think I’d like a purple one.
–9/27/06, after Dad told me that the thing the sorcerer was wearing in Fantasia was a robe, not a nightgown like I’d thought

Hello, Everyone! Hope you all had a good summer. Mine was hot. I’ll be honest, I spent a lot of it inside naked. We did go to the pool a few times and that was great. I can stand in the Red Hook pool by myself!! Since we had to pay the guest fee, Mom always made sure we got plenty of hours in.

Some sad news: my great grandma Lillian died. Fortunately for me, I got to hang out with all my cousins while Dad and his sisters went to the funeral. I sure love my cousins!!

I turned three, which is now my favorite number (as opposed to two, my previous favorite number). My party was a blast. Oodles of people were there. It was a dance party theme. I LOVE dancing — I have my patented Sophie wiggle, and I raised the roof and partied down. We played musical instruments, too. The highlight was decorating our own cupcakes!

We went to Mystic for vacation in August. I did a few new things. I rode in Uncle Mike’s Jeep. I rode in a canoe. I swam in Grammy and Grampy’s beach. I built a birdhouse with Grampy. I went to Mystic Seaport again and had a pretty good time, until I got sick and had to come home. Other than that day, I really enjoyed myself at Mystic with all Mom’s extended family.

As always, I am a downright hoot. One of my new favorite things to do is play photographer. I’ll set Mom and Dad up and direct them: “put your nose on Mom’s nose…. Mom, put your hand on your hip” — then I’ll stand back and pretend to take a picture. Click! Then I’ll say, “no no no, that’s not right, now do this….” Mom and Dad think it’s pretty funny.

Speaking of funny, Mom created a new game. It’s called “Hazel” (ed note: from the old show with the maid Hazel). We get into our aprons and go around the house asking each other to clean up things, all the while calling each other Hazel. Wait a minute…. on closer inspection, this seems like just a ploy to get me to help with the housework…

Quotes:

If we didn’t have the fountains, the water wouldn’t move, and the water would get extremely yicky.
–7/9/06, after Dad told me that the fountains in the lake at Wilcox Park keep the water moving which helps keep the water clean

Someone’s coming in. They’re going to use the potty. I’m on the potty. My head’s not a toilet!
–7/9/06, hearing someone knock while I was inside a portapotty

Too many zrbts is enough.
–7/12/06, after Dad gave me lots of zrbts in a row

Hey, Kate, want to see something cool? [does something] Big kids can do that easily.
–7/12/06

Dad: Would you like me to read you a story? Me: I’d be delighted.
–7/12/06, my last words before falling asleep a few minutes later, after I’d insisted for a while on reading a story to my Dad first

Me: Why don’t we have any other kids?
[Mom explains then asks if I want other kids in the house. I say yes, and Mom asks why.]
Me: Because I want a friend to live with me.
–7/25/06

Ok, let’s go inside and get some water for that hungry little fellow, Sophie.
–7/25/06

Look, it’s my friend Eva, dressed as a pumpkin. And her friend is dressed as a duck. It’s Halloween this morning.
–7/31/06, looking in a scrapbook at a photo of me and Eva when we were a few months old in our first Halloween costumes — Eva a pumpkin, me a duck

[While eating pizza:]
Me: Daddy, keep me company.
Dad: Ok. [sits down]
Me: Daddy, pretend I’m a big girl eating.
Dad: You are a big girl eating. Oh, am I supposed to pretend you’re somebody else?
Me: No, that’s not how the story goes. Pretend I’m a big girl eating and being silly.
Dad: Ok. Is it you?
Me: Mm-hmm.
–8/1/06

Me: Daddy, if you were a ball, I’d kick you!
Dad: If I were a ball, I think I’d be okay with that, because that would be one of the things I’d do.
Me: If you were a flamingo…. If you were a dolphin, you’d splash in the water!
Dad: I guess I would….
Me: Daddy, I have one more thing for you. If you were a bumblebee, you’d sting me!
–8/1/06

Samela’s not my friend — she wrote the word “duck.” She can’t write the word “duck!”
–8/1/06

Thank you for coming over to Grammy and Grampy’ s house. Thank you for the message: for helping me go to get ice cream. Good bye.
–8/5/06, an email Grammy helped me write to Mom and Dad about our trip to Mystic

Can I back away, because there’s a knife coming up?
–8/8/06, after my Mom said she was going to soon start preparing some raw chicken for dinner

Me: Here’s a message for you, Daddy.
[hands Dad paper with "writing"]
Dad: Thanks. What does it say?
Me: It says, “You’ve come so far, the end is near.”
Dad: Really!? What does that mean?
Me: It means, love everybody.
–8/9/06

Let me tell you about clams. Clams are very sensitive, so you have to pick them up and put them in the water so the birds don’t get them.
–8/9/06

My dad is a grown-up. And he can go to every which building he wants to go to.
–8/15/06

Dad, after you’re done doing something, can I wait and be patient on your lap?
–8/19/06

For nail filing, you have to lie down. For finger filing, you just have to sit up. But for toe filing, it’s tricky, you have to lie down.
–8/20/06

You’re eating with your fingers? What the Dickie!?, you don’t get chili with your fingers!
–8/29/06, upon seeing Dad sticking his fingers in to “clean” the chili pot

[Mom puts my shoes while I'm in the stroller.]
Me: Okay, I’m ready!
Mom: Ready for what?
Me: Ready to rock on!
–8/30/06

Happy Summer, everyone. Jeepers creepers, it’s hot. Gives me an excuse to run around the house and backyard stark naked.

Big news: I’m weaned. Wait a minute… I am??? How the heck did that happen?? You mean, it’s gone?? That’s it?? Seriously??? I think Mom pulled a fast one on me!

I also decided to hop back on the potty train for good. Right after coming back from Mystic after Memorial Day, I decided I wanted nothing to do with diapers or pull-ups (ed note: right after a big order from diapers.com!!) and I’ve been pretty successful! I think I got inspired by Paprika on Blue’s Clues. Hey, if a small spice jar can be potty trained, so can I. I have the occasional mishap, nothing in the super nasty category, but I have been out and about in all sorts of locations wearing the panties. Go, Me!

We went to NYC for Mother’s Day. Mom decided she wanted to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had lunch on the steps and then went inside. I really liked the museum — so many paintings and pretty colors. I think it’s mean to put all those beautiful things on display and then not let me touch them. I let people touch my paintings…who does this Van Gogh dude think he is? We also went to three different playgrounds in Central Park which was great fun for me.

May saw some fun times. Apple Blossom Day came and brought with it another bouncy house!! You may remember my love of bouncy houses from Apple Blossom Day last year.

Germantown Playgroup ended in May, but not before “Worm Day.” A woman from Cornell Cooperative Extension came and showed us her pet worms. We each got to touch one and lie on the ground and wiggle like worms. It was such a big day, Aurora and I crashed on the way home.

Aurora and I also went to Kids’ Kingdom which is a super fun indoor play area. The ball room was a lot of fun. We also went to the Mid Hudson Children’s Museum.

My babysitter Sally became super busy and can’t watch me anymore. But, because Mom and Dad have a dependent care account with money they have to use up, I get to go to preschool in the fall! It’s called Funshine, and it’s right down the street. We went to pick up some info and they invited me on in to play with them. They have a big playground in the back and some slides and tricycles in the gym. It is going to be fun!!

My mom bought a fun new toy for her birthday: a bike trailer. It was a bit daunting at first but I really like it now. Mom has to get used to riding a bike again!! It’s also a bit hard to drag a 32 pound kiddo in a 15 lb trailer. We figure it will be the best mode of transportation to get to and from preschool.

My invisible friends (Comba, Combi, Swahtee, and Ettianna) are still around, although Comba has definitely become a more active figure. I like to push them on the swings at the playground. We always have to make sure we have all the friends when we leave the playground. (ed note: sometimes we get her to leave the playground by saying Comba is already in the car waiting for us!)

I got my hair cut!! It was completely out of control! Curls are cute and all, but they can become a tangled mess. Rather than go have it professionally done, my mom chopped some off while I was taking a bath. It’s still curly and a bit tangly at times, but much more manageable than before. It’s super cute too!

I continue as always to be a hysterical little thing. I say so many funny things it’s hard for Mom and Dad to write them all down.

Sophie: I want my mommy to take me out. Grammy (making fun): I want my mommy to take me out. Sophie: You’re a grown up. You can get out of the car by yourself.
–5/4/06

Dad, I’m going to play you some music and blow your world.
–5/5/06

(Tumbling a baby doll) That’s a mighty fine summersault!
–5/10/06

Mom: What should we do first? Sophie: I want to see the slides.
–5/14/06, upon first entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Nasty, huh… Pretty funky in there.”
–5/20/06, commenting about the backwash I’d done earlier into Mom’s water glass

Wow, a lot of people are coming to Mystic today. Grammy, why are all these people coming to your house?
–Memorial Day week 2006, watching a lot of people come off the train at the station right near my Grammy and Grampy’s house, which I equate with “going to Mystic”

Sophie: Hey, Mark, hey, Mark, wait. I want to come downstairs. I need to ask you a question. Mark: Can’t you ask me your question here? Sophie: We’ll go downstairs. I’ll meet you there, and then I’ll have the conversation. [They go downstairs.] Sophie: Hey, Dad, I want to go in the swing. That was the conversation.
–6/5/06

Me: [some question or request I can't remember] Mom doesn’t answer. Me: I’ll take that as a yes.
–6/12/06

I’ll go get a red one. It will have ripe. There’ll be no pink at all. I’ll make sure.
–6/20/06, about to pick a strawberry from our garden

Everything’s comfortable! The ottoman, the chair…
–6/21/06, after Dad mentioned that the air in the basement is comfortable

I like blue clouds in the sky. Clouds don’t make noise.
–7/3/06, after discussing how I don’t like the noise made by fireworks

Are you making the bed with a monkey in it!?
–7/4/06, with Mom making the bed while I jumped around on it

Pictures: 5/6/06 Photos

Hello everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the warm weather as much as I am. I am determined to go out and get “fresh air.” Sometimes I’m so determined, I’ll open the screen door by myself and go outside. My folks have now had to take precautions. I also get to play on the hatch of the basement. I love to hang out there. We also go to the playground on Fridays and have potlucks with our friends. Mom likes to go to the playground too, as I pretty much can do everything by myself (except the swings) and she can hang out.

I kind of regressed a bit with the potty training. I’m still fairly consistent with #2, but #1, hey, I can’t be bothered. I’m a busy kid — places to go, people to see. I also like to sleep with my Mom. I go to sleep in my bed, but middle of the night, I’ll wake up and patter into bed with mom (Dad is a bit of a night owl and most of the time he’s not in there when I invade). As soon as my head hits Dad’s pillow, I’m out.

I discovered a new show — Blue’s Clues. (Mom was sick of all the Sesame Street reruns.) I really like Steve (editor’s note: one of the hosts) and am not that crazy about Joe (editor’s note, the other host).

My neighbor across the street has a new dog named Gretchen. It’s the smallest dog I’ve ever seen. Whenever the two of us see each other, we get immediately excited and jumpy. “I love to see my little Gretchie!”

My friend Eva has a baby brother. He’s very little, I like to look at him.

Mom and I took another trip to Boston with Dad. Grammy and Grampy also came. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the “little pool” (hot tub) at the hotel.

I am also totally into swimming at the Bard gym. I usually want to stay in there longer than my folks do. I have discovered showers there. I’d spend hours in there if Mom let me.

I also love to watch videos of myself and my cousins. I’ll ask Mom and Dad to show them to me over and over. I’ll even reenact them, especially ones that make me laugh!

The weather getting better means my storyhour and playgroup will be ending soon. It will be up to me and Mom to figure out how to use our time. We enjoy taking walks. Mom will be spending a lot of time weeding our garden, and I have some little garden tools to “help her out.”

Some quotes:

Sophie (on the potty): I peed!
Jen: I didn’t hear anything.
Sophie claps.
Sophie: Now you did.
–3/14/06

“Mommy, Daddy and I have to have a conversation about balloons. Mommy, go away.”
Jen goes, Mark comes in.
“Now, Daddy, what do you like best about balloons?”
–3/14/06

I don’t like regular bears. I sure like critter bears.
–3/27/06

Hey, Mommy, I’ve got to tell you something. You make a cool noise when you sleep. It sounds like a bugle.
–4/17/06

Sophie (with a concerned and puzzled look, to Mark, who is reading Unconditional Parenting): Why are you reading that book?
Mark: Because it has things I want to learn about.
Sophie: What do you want to learn from this book?
Mark: How to be a good dad.
Sophie (with a look of utter seriousness): You are.
–4/23/06

Pictures: 3/4/06 Photos

Happy New Year, everybody! I can’t wait for this winter thing to end. I really want to get back to being outside, so I can draw with chalk and use my tricycle. I couldn’t quite reach the pedals in the fall, but during a warm day in February I tried it, and I think by springtime I will be good to go!

Mom and I yearn for nice weather, too. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve kept ourselves busy, but it will be so nice to play outside and go to the playground. I did find an indoor playground in Kingston which was pretty nice. We also found a great playgroup about 10 miles north. It’s set up like a preschool, and it has a lot more activities for kids my age, like a kitchen set and a rice table. They have an organized craft and a snack time. Mom likes it because it’s free and has better coffee than the one we used to go to.

I continue the children’s museum world tour. I went to Stepping Stones in CT with Uncle Mike and Aunt Suma, and the Sciencenter in Ithaca with, well, everybody else.

I love my Uncle Mike. Oh boy, I am so smitten. He likes trains too. I can play coy, but then I’ll get him involved in some serious hide and go seek.

Mom and I visited Ithaca (a.k.a. Cousin Central) for a long weekend. It was pretty intense. All five of us grandkids had a blast playing with each other and dancing. It took me a little while to get back to normal.

I’ve discovered some new music, a “group” (really just one guy) called Ralph’s World. Mom got it from the library and I love to dance to it. I also have taken a few pictures with Mom’s digital camera: you’ll see some of my work on the photo site.

I’ve started using my imagination a lot. I have some “friends” I call Swahdi, Comba and Combi, and they live on the ceiling. I also need to grab balloons off the ceiling from time to time. I will frequently tell tales of going to school with my sister.

I will be honest here: I am two, and boy do I show it. I can be quite the little pain in the tushie from time to time, and I am a master at pushing my folk’s buttons. They created a little “quiet place” for me in my bedroom closet. It’s actually quite cozy: my old crib mattress fits in there perfectly, and there are some throw pillows and stickers on the walls.

Oh, big news, I’m pretty much potty trained. We still have the occasional accident from time to time (some nastier than others), but I have Elmo and butterfly underpants that I love.

In the next two months, my friend Eva will become a big sister. That should be quite a trip! See you soon!

Some notable quotables:

“I want to tell you a story. One day when I was in school, I was surprised. And that’s it!”
–1/1/06

“Actually, Daddy, could you read me this story better than Mommy?”
–1/15/06, while Jen was in the middle of reading a book to Sophie

Jen (as Sophie goes up the basement stairs): Where are you going?
Sophie: I’m going somewhere that has M&Ms.
–1/27/06

“How does the mama corn take care of the baby corn?
–2/1/06, after being told that baby corn was one of the ingredients in the Chinese food she was eating

“Come on, let’s play ring around the rosie. Ring around the rosie won’t make your whole self dizzy, just a little bit.”
–2/3/06

“Wow, you’re pounding it, Dad!”
–2/10/06, watching Dad eat some pizza

“Guys, guys! Settle down. We have a problem with all of you.”
–2/12/06, listening to Mom and Dad have a spirited discussion

“Tell Daddy I love him. I would like to tell him that I love slides. And tell him that I love Mommy. I would like to tell him that I love to hug you and Daddy, and you and Daddy love to hug me!”
–2/17/06, while Mom and I were in Ithaca and I told Mom what to email to Dad

“When I’m all done with two, then I’ll be three.”
–2/23/06

Pictures: 1/4/06 Photos

Happy New Year!

Much has happened since I last updated. My mom is now “retired” and is now watching me ALL THE TIME. It’s taking a little while for us to adjust. We try to do something everyday. We’ve found some good playgroups in the area, and some story hours.

For the holidays, Grandma and Grandpa got us a great gift — a membership to the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum. The best part is the reciprocal membership program that gets us in to a bunch of other children’s museums. So far, I’ve been to the Children’s Museum in Manhattan, a children’s museum in Niantic, CT, Kidcity in Middletown, CT, the Ecotarium in Worcester, MA, and two museums in Boston. It’s so much fun. I like being able to play with all sorts of different things.

Mom being off working gave us the opportunity to go with Dad on a business trip to Boston. Grammy and Grampy took the train from Mystic and met us there. We went to the Boston Children’s Museum, and the Museum of Science, which was a frequent trip for my mom when she was little. I had a good time. It was stimulation overload though — it took me a few days to get back to normal.

I love cooking. I like to play “Rachael Ray.” I will even say things like “in the time it takes you to watch this program, I’ll have made a delicious and healthy meal from start to finish,” and “welcome back” (from commercial break). Mom and I made some cookies for the holiday. I initially had an issue with Mom’s KitchenAid mixer. She took out a bunch of ingredients, and I was so excited to make cookies. I even had my apron on. She then took out the mixer, and I said “I have to take a little break now” and ran into my room and shut the door. Once she explained how the mixer makes noise, like a car or train, I understood, and my mixer phobia is over. I am quite the little helper in the kitchen. I always make sure things are “good enough to eat!!”

Eva and I made cookies together the day of the first snow storm. They were M&M cookies. Eva had never had an M&M and assumed they were yucky. She decorated the cookies. I, on the other had, could not understand why someone would waste perfectly good M&Ms on cookies, so I ate them plain. Eva reprimanded me, until I convinced her to try one. She finally understood the appeal.

I also love trains. I rode on Amtrak to NYC, and on the subway in NYC and Boston. Whenever I hear the train at Grammy and Grampy’s house in Mystic, I get super excited.

I have a little crush on my Uncle Mike. I saw him and Aunt Suma at Thanksgiving and Christmas. He played trains with me over the holiday.

Some notable quotables:

Jen: Sophie, you are a character.
Sophie: No, I’m not a character, Grover’s a character.

“[running to the door] She’s here! She’s here! Grammy’s here!…. [running back from the door] I’m wrong.”
–11/13/05, after it was mentioned that Sophie’s Grammy would be visiting the next day

Grammy: “Don’t break your collarbone.”
Sophie: “No, I won’t break my California bone.”
–11/22/05

“You have me. And you have me. Everybody not that bee!”
–The first song Sophie ever wrote, 12/17/05

“P starts with [extremely explosive P sound]!”
–12/21/05

“Actually, ice cream is for spoons.”
–12/24/05, after using a fork to eat a piece of cake with ice cream

Sophie: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Ready or not here I come!
Grammy: Sophie, you’re not giving him enough time! What comes after 10?
Sophie: Ready or not here I come.
–12/26/05, while playing hide and seek with Uncle Mike

I am just an absolute crack up. There’s really no other way to describe me!!!