Mushing through January...

So January is always one of the hardest months... the holidays are over... there's still 8 weeks of hard winter left (I even have a countdown to March 1st going!)...winter seems endless! We've made it through several weeks of bitter weather to finally arrive at some decent temps--around 30 yesterday and today! However, it's difficult to enjoy nice weather with 2/3rds of the family fighting the flu. :( Sophia and I did manage to get in some good outdoor playtime yesterday, before the bug struck Sophia in the wee hours of the morning (Travis has been fighting it since Monday). I'm onto my 2nd toddler movie in a row at the moment, and decided to take a break and update the blog a bit! Send us healthy thoughts!

Toddler fashion... naked butt, pink socks, princess shirt over sweatshirt, cowgirl hat, and baby bib!
We've been doing a lot of baking during the super cold and sunny weeks... good bread-baking weather! Here's my first attempt at a traditional Swedish bread (Go Swedes!): a braided Cardamom loaf! Yum!

Sophia has been drinking lots of herbal tea and, her fave, hot chocolate!

Cocoa goatee!

A few words...

Here is a (very incomplete!) list of a few of the things that Sophia has said lately that gave me pause:

"Mommy, please may I go to the zoo?"

"I need coffee! Just like mommy and daddy!"

"Sophia feels frustrated."

"Soy Dora!" (Translation: "I'm Dora!")

"Don't call me Sophia! I'm Garlic!"

"Is there a whale under my bubbles?"

"He's a tramp, but I love him."

And a recent conversation:
Sophia: "Mommy, take it off?"
Me: "Take what off?"
Sophia: "My body? I don't want it."
Me: "But where will your heart live?"
Sophia: "On the beach."

That might have been one of the most thought-provoking conversations I've had in a long time! I'm still thinking it over!

Catching up!

Last week Sophia had her first bubble bath! Followed by her 2nd, 3rd, 4th... :)

Sophia consistently shares her meals with friends

Lots of cat-cuddling and loud proclamations of love for Suki and Dali lately!

Sophia finally has her very own slippers! She LOVES them!

Last weekend we zipped up to Grand Forks on Sunday to help celebrate Magdalene's birthday! (Magdalene on the far left). She turned 6!

Who's the biggest kid? :)

Mike had some leftover goodies from the New Year celebration at his bar, so the kids put them to good use! Gunner enjoyed the noisemakers!

Sophia and Gunner, making some noise!

If you're too young to read, it doesn't really matter what the tiara says :)

Gunner really enjoyed his cake!

Gunner and Sophia always end up playing with the trucks together...

And can share nicely MOST of the time!

Last week Sophia also got her first tattoo! It's a dinosaur, from a coloring book that Uncle Sky gave her for Christmas (thanks!). She LOVES her tattoo, especially because it's "just like mommy's and daddy's." And, yes, she picked out her clothes the day I took this picture. Even her socks were stripey!

One of Sophia's favorite things to do is to wrap a blanket/towel/rag/diaper cloth/whatever around herself and call it a "princess dress."

Our princess. :)

Snow! Snow! Snow!

The final December snow results are in! Amongst my friends and family (who are sane enough to live in more inhabitable regions!) I'm the snow winner! Now, if only we had mountains...
The Ford parked out on the street... if we get much more snow we won't be able to see it from the house any more!

Sophia standing in our driveway. Our snowblower broke down after the first blizzard. Ouch.

Dad introduced Sophia to an activity that was a favorite for me and my brothers when we were little: "rocketship." She couldn't get enough!

The rocket-landing :)