Pre-Halloween Festivities

In the week leading up to Halloween, Sophia wore her costume 4 times! The first of these was to the zoo. A week before Halloween, Sophia went to Boo at the Zoo with her friend Brady. We had so much fun walking around and looking at all the animals and decorations. Sophia even went on a merry go round for the first time!

Kitty cat Sophia


Checking out the flamingos


Sophia and her monkey friend


Holding hands!


Taking a break


On the merry go round with Mommy


That weekend we also went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin and take some pictures. Sophia loved walking around and checking out all the pumpkins and gourds. She also did some coloring and spin art with Mommy. Then we went to a little petting zoo down the street. Sophia loved looking at and touching all of the animals with Daddy.

I like this one!


Can I have all of these too?


Family picture


Silly scarecrows


Petting the bunny


Poking the chicken in the eye


She then wore her costume to music class for our last class of the session. Sophia had fun singing, dancing, and playing with instruments.

Checking out Colin in his clown costume


Yay! So excited for music to start!


Shaking her bells


Playing with sticks


Later in the week, we had a play date with Sophia's class at school and all the kids dressed up in their halloween costumes.

The Goldfish Gang: Sophia, Brady, Lacey, Levi, Jason


Sophia and her cousin Levi


Lacey, Brady, and Sophia

Dance dance dance

Sophia clearly takes after me, her father, when it comes to dancing skills. We're waiting for Dancing With the Stars to call after this goes viral....

Lots of play dates

Last weekend was a busy one for Sophia. She had not one, but two play dates! Saturday we met up with Sophia's friend Brady at the park next door. They loved climbing, sliding, swinging, and walking all around. A little girl even let them check out her bike! Then we went to Chinese for dinner where both of the kids chowed down!

Slide with Daddy


So much fun!


Where is Sophia?


Peek a boo!


Checking out the bike


Ready....set....go!


On Sunday we had a play date with Zachary and the other Brady (Sophia now has 3 Brady friends!). We ate some yummy brunch and had some fun play time. All of the kids loved Zachary's fire truck toy the best. But they also enjoyed playing with the toys in the playroom and rolling around on the floor together. Sophia and Zachary loved giving each other hugs all afternoon!

Sweet hugs


Being silly


Rolling around

Random cuteness

Just a few cute pictures that we wanted to share!

Loves the swing!


Wheee!


Messy hair! Reading a book


Chilling in her chair


So silly!

Botanical Gardens

Last week, Sophia and I went to the botanical gardens for the first time. It was a nice fall day and we met Sophia's friend Lacey there. We walked around looking at the flowers and scarecrows and let the girls walk around a little bit in the kids section. Then we went to a big grassy area to let the kids walk around and play with the pumpkins. We had so much fun and want to go back again in the spring!

Bye bye paci...hello pillow!

Jason and I have been talking about getting rid of Sophia's pacifier for a little while now, but kept coming up with reasons not to. First we wanted to wait until after Italy so we could use it in a new place and on the plane. Then we wanted her to get readjusted to this time zone, so we were going to wait a little longer. Then we had a busy weekend and school the next day that we wanted Sophia to be rested for. So we finally decided Monday at nap time the pacifier would be gone. We were just going to go cold turkey so we didn't have to go through the withdrawl symptoms twice. She's only had it in bed for quite a while now, so we figured that should make things easier. One of our friends told us their daughter started using a pillow right around this age, so we decided to do a swap. We hoped she would be excited about the new pillow and forget about the pacifier.

First nap with her new pillow

Well...it seems to have worked! She didn't even whine when I put her down and told her to put her head on the pillow, and she is still just as excited as ever to go "ni ni". She loves her pillow and will sit down in the middle of it, rest her head on it, and lay her whole body across it. And for naps and the first part of the night, she even keeps her head on it or close to it. Getting rid of the pacifier was a success and we are now a paci free home!