First Birthday Party with Friends

Sunday morning was Sophia's second party! This one was for all of Sophia's friends to come and play. Sophia was ready in her pretty new bathing suit when her friends arrived. Once her friends got here, we went into the back yard for some water play! Everyone started out in the pool playing with toys and splashing around. We also had the water table out for everyone to play with. Some of Sophia's friends even played on her new swing set!

Colin, Lacey and Sophia in the pool


Brady joined the group!


Water table play with Olivia


Cousins Levi and Sophia


After everyone got changed, we went inside for lunch and cake. Sophia loved being the center of attention (again), and was smiling ear to ear as her friends sang Happy Birthday to her. She got a little bit messier than the day before with her cake, but still didn't smash into the cake and make a big mess. Sophia loves all of her friends and had so much fun playing with everyone!

Cake made to look like her invitation


So excited for her cake!


Delicious


Messy face


Playing with friends


Olivia helping Sophia with her water

First Birthday Party with Family

Sophia had a busy weekend filled with birthday parties...and she was the guest of honor! On Saturday night we had family over for a birthday cookout. Sophia had a great time playing in the playroom with all of her cousins. She loved crawling around and checking everyone out, and got very excited when someone would take her to get a little snack.

Cupcake centerpiece made by Mommy


Cake pop party favors


Sophia with cousins Ava and Madelyn


Family picture


Daddy cooked burgers on the grill and we had yummy fruit salad, potato salad, cous cous, and chips too. After dinner it was time for cake! She got very excited as we were setting up the cakes, and loved being the center of attention when we sang Happy Birthday. With one hand, she pinched a bite of icing and tasted it. Sophia doesn't like to get very dirty, and was very lady like as she ate her cake.

The birthday cake!


Sophia's smash cake


Digging in!


Eating the icing off the top


All done!


When the party was over, Sophia opened up her presents. She likes playing with the wrapping paper as much, if not more than the presents themselves! Sophia had so much fun at her party and we were so happy to have family here to celebrate with us!

Opening presents

1st birthday

Sophia had so much fun on her first birthday. The day started off with both Mommy AND Daddy coming in her room to get her. We brought the camera and video camera with us, and sang Happy Birthday to a smiling baby. She thought it was such a treat to have both of us there.

Hey, what are y'all doing here??


Cool! You're singing to me!


This is so exciting! It's my birthday!


I'm so big! I'm 1 today!


We had fun playing in the morning and after her nap Aunt Jennifer came over and we went swimming at the neighborhood pool. Sophia splashed in the baby pool, floated in her float, jumped off the side, and enjoyed watching all of the big kids play.

In the float with Aunt Jennifer


Standing in the baby pool


In the afternoon, Sophia got to open lots of presents! She loves her new ball popper and her musical instruments. For dinner, Nana and Aunt Jennifer joined us for yummy burgers at a restaurant nearby. After dinner, they came back over and watched Sophia dig in to her very own cupcake! She loved eating it, but didn't really like how the cake stuck to her hands.




Shaking the tambourine


Everyone is singing to me again!


Mmmm....cake


What a mess!


We can't wait to celebrate Sophia's first birthday with all of our family and friends this weekend!

1 year old!

Sophia is 1 year old! Wow, this last year has flown by. Sophia has grown and changed so much in the past year, and is becoming more of a little person than the baby we still want to see her as.

She still loves to eat, and now that she is 1 she can have anything except for nuts and shellfish. And she has really tried just about everything at this point! Last month a few of the new foods she tried were strawberries, grapefruit, egg whites, jackfruit, raspberries, ice cream and salmon. And she loved them all. Sophia has also gotten very good at taking bites of food by herself. We will cut a long piece of watermelon or cheese toast and she can pick it up to take bites. We are officially transitioning her from formula to milk, but are taking it slowly to make sure her tummy can handle it.

Eating with chopsticks


Sophia is now a pro at crawling on her knees. She is super fast now, and crawls from the family room to the playroom, and will quickly crawl out of her room and down the hall if we leave the door open. She started pointing this month, and loves to point at anything and everything. But she has now learned that she can point to tell me that she wants something. The funniest is when she is finished with her meal, she will point to where the cookies (teething biscuits) are hidden on the table to let me know that she wants one! About halfway through the month, she started pulling herself up on things. At first she had to put a lot of her weight onto the furniture to get up. But now she can pull up on things above her head. She is always standing up in her crib, but then gets upset because she can't figure out how to sit back down most of the time!

Getting the mail


Sophia still doesn't say any words, but can understand many things in English and Italian. When I sternly tell her no, she understands not to do something, and will sometimes even shake her head no. She also likes to shake her head no at random because she knows we think it is funny. Sophia is definitely an entertainer, and loves to be the center of attention.

Checking out the firetruck


Her official 1 year stats are:
21 lbs 14 oz (65%)
30 inches (79%)

Outside fun

Sophia's birthday isn't until next week, but she was lucky to get a few of her birthday gifts early! Last weekend, Daddy put together her new cozy coupe from Nana and Pop. It's been too hot to play outside during the day, but she has been enjoying some after dinner car rides around the cul de sac.





This week, Sophia's new play set was also installed! Grandma gave Sophia the coolest play set ever! For now, she is having fun swinging, but she can't wait until she's big enough to play in the house, go on the slide, and climb all of the walls. We are excited for Sophia's cousins to get to play on it at her birthday dinner. Thanks Grandma!

Eww!

"Eww, you farted!"

Sophia the speed demon!

In the last week or so Sophia has finally transitioned to a full time crawl instead of doing the "dolphin" as we call it. She's gotten awful fast! The funniest is when she is crawling so fast that her legs push her body forward faster than her hands can keep up, and ends up doing a face-plant. Hilarious..

Sliding

Last night we went to dinner with Sophia's bff Olivia. After dinner, they came over to play for a little while. This was the first time that the two girls really tried to play together! Olivia was having a blast going down the slide, and Sophia loved to watch her! Every time Olivia would start to climb up, Sophia would crawl over to the side so she could watch. When Olivia made it to the bottom, they'd both squeal! Sophia had a few turns on the slide too and loved it. We can't wait for her play set to arrive!

Ready to watch Olivia go


Peek a boo!


Sophia's turn!


Daddy with the girls

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

For Memorial Day weekend, we finally made a trip up to Connecticut and New York to visit Zio Gioel and his family. We were all excited to visit everyone, but were especially excited to meet Sophia's new cousin, baby Max! For the first couple of days, we went to their beautiful house in Connecticut. We ate lots of yummy food prepared by Zio Gioel and Sophia had a lot of time to play with her cousins.

Cousin hugs!


Cheese!


Baby Max has big feet!


Mmmm...steak


On our way back to New York, we stopped at Jason's Aunt Celia's house for Pa's birthday party! Sophia got to meet many of Daddy's aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time, and got to see Grandma and Pa too. Cousin Simone took Sophia swimming in the pool and she had a blast!

Mommy snuggles


In spalla


Swimming with cousin Simone


Floating on the raft with cousin Luca


Aunt Ronni and baby Max


Grandma and Pa


Blowing out the candles!


Sophia eating her new favorite food


For the last 2 days of our trip, we stayed in New York City. Sophia had a lot more play time with her cousins, and by the end of the trip, was a pro at crawling on her knees. She got to go eat some yummy New York pizza, and had fun taking a bath with her cousins too!

About to eat some NY Pizza


Bath time with the cousins!


Luca wetting Sophia's hair


Thanks so much for having us Zio Gioel and Aunt Ronni! We had a blast!