PLAY-DOH

Baby: Play-Doh, Play-Doh!

Daddy: Promise you won't eat the Play-Doh?

Baby: Ummmmmmm. NO!

Daddy: Promise you won't eat the Play-Doh?

Baby: Ummmmm. Promise!

LA LAH LA LAH - LA LAH LA LAH... SOPHIA'S WORLD (months 10 & 11)

Once upon a time there was a little baby named Sophia whose father was such a procrastinator that he waited almost all the way to her first birthday party before posting a blog about her tenth and eleventh months. But busy and exciting months they were… and well worth the wait to read about.

Sophia cheered so hard the Browns won ten games and made it all the way to the playoffs. Almost.

She made her first ever trip to the Gulf of Mexico...



vacationed in Florida with Grandad...



and Memaw...



and made it home just in time for Santa's arrival.

And then...

started the new year off in her very own play palace...

in her very own room...

in her very own house on Clifford Street.

ONE FOR ME... ONE FOR YOU... (9 months)

it's official... 9 months IN the belly... 9 months OUT of the belly.

one for me... one for you...

(she's already multi-tasking... just like her mom)

this little piggy went to the BROWNS game... this little piggy went to see CHEAP TRICK... this little piggy went to the new BATMAN movie... this little piggy had BUD (in a can!!!)... and THIS little piggy... well, you know how it ends.

BABY PLEASE DON’T GO (months 7 & 8)

Tonight Sophia and the Bookish Girl climbed aboard a big metal bird and flew to the “windy city” for the annual Beaver Reunion. Don’t ask. (I would like to briefly point out that while Chicago is known as the windy city, it is only about the tenth windiest city in the country. The windiest city? Boston. Or a suburb thereof. You can look it up if you don’t believe me. But trust me… I’ve stood shivering on sidewalks of the financial district -completely lost- in forty below wind-chills trying to figure out which freakin street that fluttering street sign that’s fixing to fly right off its post is pointing to. Someday, Boston, I will get my revenge.)

Anyway. This will be Sophia’s first Beaver Reunion. In fact, there were numerous firsts during months 7 and 8. First apples. First black beans (not again… at least not soon). First tofu. First pears… aw, never mind… let’s get to the good stuff:

First car, complete with hotrod flames.

(that Grandma is one wicked garage sale-hunting maniac)

And first (and second) Browns game. And I swear to you… I SWEAR I am NOT making this up: at the end of the Raiders game, Sophia spit out a mouthful of Cheerios and shouted “We wuz robbed, bitches!!!” okay, so I did make that part up. But she DOES look good in orange.

Hence, her first pumpkin patch experience.

Tonight as I saw Sophia and the Bookish Girl off at airport security, I got that sick, hole in my stomach feeling I used to get at Logan Airport when the Bookish Girl and I dated long-distance for a year. Only 8 million times worse. Hurry home baby girl. I can’t hardly stand it.

IT'S YOUR HALF BIRTHDAY... GET BUSY!!!

Sophia Christine (aka: little cricket) turned six months old last thursday.

she celebrated with BANANAS (her FIRST solid, non-boob food)!!!

YAY!!!

(video coming soon)

then she attended a garden party adorned in her half-birthday party dress...

and partied into the weekend with her first trip to the swimming pool.

and would you believe... the managing editor of sports illustrated happened to be doing a few laps... and voila... her first cover at six months.

the girl is on her way!

THE INCREDIBLY-WACKY MONTH FIVE ADVENTURES OF SOPHIA

Month 5 was a busy one for Sophia.

She moved from Boston to Rochester...

and arrived at the gloaming with a rainbow arching directly over her new home.

She made a cute face.

Then she helped her dad and grandpa put a blue door on a green car (her knowledge of wrenches and torque overshadowed only by her intuitive grasp of when to go standard... and when to go metric).

Then she tried to eat her foot.

Then she went in search of Sasquatch (also known as the Yeti or the Yowie). She only LOOKS freaked-out... she's really not.

Not finding him... she made another cute face.

She got hugs and kisses from mom (oh yeah, and lots of milk, too)...

saw a deer in the neighbor's yard...

tried to pull Futureman's tail off...

and made a cute face.

Then the green car with a blue door turned 200,000 miles...

and Sophia celebrated with her first beer.

Only being able to drink about 9 ounces or so... she gave the rest to Rya.

Then she went on a reconnaissance mission and snuck into the Bills training camp disguised as a "fan." She took notes and photos and over-nighted them to Romeo Crennel.

Then she went for a stroll in her ORANGE stroller and made a cute, yet contemplative... almost stoic face.

AND THEN 2… AND THEN 3… AND THEN 4…

There’s a film-making technique that has to do with zooming the opposite direction that the camera is moving. Let’s say you’re physically moving the camera forward while simultaneously zooming OUT. It’s pretty trippy and leaves you with just a touch of vertigo. Anyway… whatever this technique is called… it’s the perfect analogy for the past four months.

While one sleepless night and one long lethargic day at work seemingly takes forever to complete… Sophia herself seems to be blooming like a flower in one of those sped-up National Geographic films.

Anyway, watching a flower bloom or a sun set or the map of the night-time stars swiftly rotate behind a cactus within a matter of seconds while feeling like you’re barely moving yourself is extremely difficult to describe. I’m guessing by now, though, you get the idea.

Sophia turned 4 months old on Saturday.

New photos are up… as well as The Adventures of Sophia: Episode 3.

Enjoy!