The Boots (con't)

I mentioned in the last post how much Sam loves her new boots. I think that she has worn them every single day since she received them. And I am pretty sure that she would sleep in them if we would let her!

She is pretty cute in them:

Boot Scootin' Cutie

Steve came home from Mexico for the weekend on Friday. Sam was SO excited to see him, especially because he brought her something special -- her first pair of cowgirl boots!

Trying them on:

All decked out and looking so cute:

Sophia was pretty happy too that her Daddy came for a couple of days:

Sophia and Her Food

Sophia loves food! There isn't a single food that I have made for her that she won't eat, and she has become such an expert at eating with a spoon. We had to work with her, at first, to keep her fingers out of her mouth while we were feeding her. Now, she is a pro and often cries when I give her the sign that we are "all done!" We still keep a cloth handy, but she makes very little mess now and the clean-up is minimal.

Sometimes, I have a "helper, and while I am grateful for the assistance, I don't always enjoy cleaning up more messes!

As a snack to keep Sophia occupied while I am preparing her food, I often give her some "puffs." My "helper" will usually help her sister with them, but just recently, Sophia has started doing it by herself!

So far, she has had apples, peaches, pears, peas, sweet potatoes, bananas, plums, avocados and a taste of strawberries. I will begin with carrots this week.

I am continuing to make all of the baby food by myself and it is completely organic. While I realize that it won't always be possible to feed her organic foods as she starts to get older, it is important to me that her first tastes of solid food are completely chemical-free. When she starts with cow's milk (at one year of age), that will ALWAYS be organic; this is just something that I feel very strongly about. I did the same thing with Samantha and do not have one single regret; I love knowing that all of the food that she eats is being prepared fresh, without preservatives, and with all of the nutrients that she can possibly get. It is one of the best gifts that I can give her.

My Sister's Birthday

Saturday was my sister's birthday and Sam had been excited all week to celebrate with her. I would dial Aunt Minnie's phone number and Sam would leave voice mail messages for her, reminding her how many days she had until her birthday.

Sam picked out the birthday plates and napkins for her (she chose Hello Kitty), and we decorated with balloons before Aunt Minnie came over to our house. But perhaps the most special thing for Sam was that she found a cheap, plastic microphone at the store the day before Aunt Minnie's birthday, and was INSISTENT that I needed to buy it for her so that she could sing "happy birthday" to Aunt Minnie with it. How could I resist??!!


Posing before the party (and yet another picture of Sophia just staring at her sister in awe):

A birthday kiss for the birthday girl (and yes, we made her wear the princess crown):

Singing "happy birthday" with the infamous microphone:

Blowing out the candles (I love the look on Sophia's face):

Priceless:

Happy birthday, Aunt Minnie!

Random Pics

Whew -- time seems to be flying by lately. For that reason, it has been difficult for me to sit down and work on a new post. In the meantime, I found a few random pictures that were taken last week that I wanted to share.


This picture was taken right after the girls had gotten up in the morning. Sophia loves to just stare at her sister:

Sam has been working on her "balance beam skills:"

Taken the day before she got her ears pierced:

Sam's first ride on an escalator:

Sophia's Ear Piercing

Today, we took Sophia to get her ears pierced. Samantha got her ears pierced when she was 6 months old, so we wanted to do the same with Sophia. Sam got to watch the whole procedure, and I think that Sophia did really well ... she cried for a few seconds (like when she gets her shots at the doctor's office), and then she was happy again.


Before shots of both girls (Sam wanted to be included):

Waiting for the earrings to be loaded into the gun (I chose small, 14 carat gold balls):

Just finishing up:

It's all over:

Content with Mommy:

I was nervous when I got Sam's ears done that she would pull on them and try to play with them. But, surprisingly, she left them alone and they never seemed to bother her or get infected. For that reason, I am confident that Sophia will also have a good experience with this. While the earrings look a little big now, she will grow into them, and she looks so "girly" and so adorable!

Sophia and Her Sippee

I mentioned in Sophia's "Six Month" post that I gave her a sippee cup to play with a few weeks ago. While she doesn't always have the strength to hold it up completely by herself (when it has liquid in it), she totally understands the concept. In another month or so, I think that she will have it completely mastered! (Sam was using sippee cups exclusively by the time that she was nine months old).