Snow, Flood and lots in between!

Just two weeks ago we had plenty of snow for some sledding with Lindsey, Dennis, and Sophia's cousins Jaylin and DJ! We went sledding on the new dike 10 blocks north of our house... its' the perfect sledding hill! And is some pretty handy flood protection, too :) Snowball fight!

Snowball licking!

Playing in a hole in the snow!

I came across Sophia's old baby sling... we put her in it for fun and GUESS WHAT?! She still loves it!

Sweet, sweet mommy-practicing

GOOD FOOD!

Sophia's tastes are becoming so varied and unusual that I thought it would be fun to share some of her favorites. Her absolute favorite foods--above even the obvious ones like cake and candy-- are:

1. Homemade vegetable pot pie

2. Pesto on bread

Some other foods that she loves:

Lentils, kidney beans, black beans, tofu, edamame, brown rice, peanut butter on bananas or apples, raw fruit or vegetables dipped in applesauce (???!!!), sunflower seeds, oatmeal (with walnuts, craisins, raisin, brown sugar and maple syrup!), and salad, to name a few!

Sophia eating some homemade garlic bread... melted butter, chopped garlic and parsley slathered on a halved homemade (half wheat, half white) baguette, sprinkled with mozzarella and parmesan and baked... YUM!!!

Sophia's #1 favorite food! Homemade vegetable pot pie!

Salad... I make her salad with red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, sunflower seeds and balsalmic vinagrette... she eats every last bite!

Sophia "making her own bread"

Circus! Sophia's first cotton-candy experience! She warmed up to it VERY quickly!

Kitty lovin' :)

CRAFTS! CRAFTS! CRAFTS!

Sophia loves "arts and crafts" and we thought we'd share a few of our latest!

Necklaces!

Crowns! (Sophia came up with "Jelly fish!"

Sophia's art display :)

Our butterfly mobile!

Egg Carton Caterpillars!

Some more art :)

I had to take a picture of this... Sophia was trying to write a grocery list like mine. I love how she made her scribbles in lines! She was also "spelling out" words (saying "buh-buh-butter... B is for butter!" as she was writing, although obviously it's hard for her to actually write a B). She can always guess the first letter of words, and is getting better at guessing multiple consanant sounds in a word! Super exciting!

This week we've had some beautiful weather, and the flood really started ramping up. Today (Saturday) our flood is cresting at 39 ft... there's rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow so we're keeping our fingers crossed! We took these pics earlier this week.

This is the park that we were sledding in 2 weeks ago! See the basketball hoops around the center of the pic?!

One of the clay dikes

Normally the river runs close to the far edge of this building!

Yikes

I took this pic on Thursday... This is a house 2 blocks west of ours. The owners just left before the flood hit. :(

Sophia loves this tractor, at one of the new pumping stations a block west of our house.

We just took out her slide! She loves it!

Snuggling in her princess bed. :) I love how she sleeps with pink sheets in a princess bed and snuggles with toy cars and "Lightening McQueen" books... funny girl! I just love, love, love her personality! Each day is more interesting and lovely than the last! Which isn't to say that being a mother wasn't thrilling from the start but, well, most people know how I feel about babies :) I'm loving every minute with my big girl!

I really can't get enough of how Sophia plays... witnessing her creativity and make-believe is an incredible privilege! In the above pic she's snuggling with a bundled up dinosaur. She can be very maternal with just about anything; from dinosaurs and toy cars to my hand (which she pretends is a kitten or a spider).

Sophia painted this for her godfather, Brandon. I made Travis take a picture of it because it's the first time she's put legs on something (the big blue blob is a "monkey face" with two legs coming down from the bottom).

Sophia reading to her "friends." Ignore the fact that they're in a plastic bag. :)

More play!

Silly kid!

A couple of weeks ago Travis took Sophia to the air museum. Travis and I have been really focusing on Sophia's education (and the state of public education at large), and Travis has decided that she needs extra exposure to math, science, and the arts. Since then Sophia has been to the air museum, a kids lecture on the moon, some art museums, and the planetarium! And, of course, the usuals, like story time, the Celtic festival, etc. Next up? She's signed up for several spring and summer classes, including swimming and art class, and we're working on finding part-time preschool!

Sophia loved the air museum! She has a very strong interest in all sorts of vehicles; namely planes, trains, and cars.

Travis wanted me to post this with the caption "what Sophia's reading lately." Haha! She does enjoy flipping through all sorts of books and magazines... it's nice for some quiet time!

Two weeks ago we went to Grand Forks for DJ's birthday... Sophia spent the night with her Grandpa and Grandma... no mom and dad! Mom and dad went out to a really fancy restaurant and then played pool and had mucho pitchers of beer! :) She didn't cry and didn't want to leave! The next day I drove up and joined her for DJ's party, which was held at this awesome indoor play place. Sophia loved it!

Spiderman! :)

She just seems like such a big, independent girl!

Playing with her little 2nd cousin, Mairi!

Aw....

More daddy naps!

This weekend we went to Grand Forks again for Gabby's birthday... Sophia arrived just in time for cupcake decorating! Check out her super cute sweater vest that "Auntie Deb" (Deb Geehan) knitted for her!

I think she filled her annual sugar quota!

Our most exciting news: Laura passed on a Princess toddler bed for Sophia to use! Her very first night Sophia refused to sleep in it and begged for the crib and then, inexplicably, has since decided that cribs are for babies and she loves her new bed. She's sleeping in it right now! I can't believe how big she is!