Finally!

Big furniture news around here, guys. Not only is Sody finally sleeping in a real crib but she has her very own room now! It's quite exciting. Previously, our second bedroom had been half Sody's room and half Joe's office. It contained all Sody's stuff but she still actually slept in the Pack n Play in our room. But last week Joe moved his office into our bedroom, put together the crib, and voila - instant baby room! I am so used to the three of us happily squished together in one spot that it feels pretty luxurious for her to have her own room. It's lovely and I am getting to do all the nesting stuff again - arranging and cleaning out and making it her own little space. The only thing left is getting more stuff and art on the walls, but I am being conservative in that respect after our last move. I put so much up and so many nails in the walls of our old apartment that Joe the saint spent hours spackling and repainting when we moved out. Who says I can't learn a lesson?

And yes, the first night or two of her sleeping in her own room was slightly traumatic for me ("Joe, she feels SO far away!") but she had no problems whatsoever...save for the occasional dropping of the pacifier outside the crib, or getting the leg stuck between the rails.

What Happens When Mama Accidentally Leaves a Pen on the Ground

The Many Faces of Isota

Sody's goofy, happy, punchy little personality is really coming out these days. She is a total crack up...cracks us up and cracks herself up and is just pretty damn happy in general. Like, ALL the time. Every single day I look at this sweet little lady and think "How did I get this awesome kid?!" She is so busy making new faces and rolling all over and exploring so much (most of it right into her mouth, natch) and the result is a lot of silly, happy pictures.

First "Real" Photo Session

I took Sody to the local portrait studio the other day 'cause you know...seven months, it's time to get some real shots taken, right? Also, I had a coupon and I will do anything if I have a coupon. I am my father's daughter, what can I say? I dressed her in an outfit that used to be mine, which means it is very old and very polyester and probably not very comfortable in the middle of a Sacramento summer. But of course she was a trooper and did great and we got this amazing shot:


I know everybody thinks their own kid is the cutest, but seriously...this IS the cutest, right? RIGHT?!?

Family Portrait

Now We Are 7 Months

Sody Lou marked her 7 month "birthday" not with cake but with a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory in beautiful Fairfield, CA. If any of you happen to be on your way between Sacramento and SF as we seem to be every other weekend, I highly recommend you stop at Jelly Belly for the tour. And the free samples. And the huge gift shop. (pencil cases with the Jelly Belly logo, anyone? slippers shaped like giant jelly beans, maybe?) We tried some new bean flavors there, too: baby wipes (ok, tastes faintly sweet, the way baby powder smells), black pepper (intense! truly pepperlike!), and moldy cheese (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY STAY AWAY FROM THIS FLAVOR. Truly, truly vile. It was ok until I smelled the thing and then almost vomited. Which is yet another flavor of Jelly Belly, oddly and disturbingly enough).

Speaking of vomit - and i apologize for this post being so disgusting - here is a fun fact: the powers-that-be at Jelly Belly were trying to create the flavor of pepperoni pizza but it wasn't quite working so that is how they got their vomit flavor. See, the tour is EDUCATIONAL!

At the Homestead

It's been a semi-quiet couple of weeks at the homestead but we've had a few adventures: my dad's surprise birthday party, trying out some new foods (avocado was most decidedly NOT a hit), and a solo trip to San Francisco with mom - we had to go check out a big ol' crafty craft fair where our friend Norah was peddling her wares. Speaking of which, if you need some adorably rad baby goods like onesies and bibs, you should check her stuff out at sheriffpeanut.com. It is adorable and rad, like I said.

Sody is starting to scoot backwards now. She has managed to get herself a little stuck under a couple pieces of furniture. And she has two bottom teeth coming in! Cute but sharp. I need to watch out, eh?

New Jersey, Part 3: The Messy

The last thing I want to tell you about our trip to NJ was that we gave Isota her first real vegetable while we were there: baby food carrots. Messy as predicted and she seemed to really like them. Since then, she has added to her repertoire: green beans (thumbs up), zucchini (she gave me "gag face"), sweet potatoes (she warmed up to it) and frozen grapes and frozen peaches in her mesh feeder (VERY popular). She is pretty good at the eating thing so far, except that she seems to enjoy chewing on the spoon more than anything. I am having a hard time waiting a few days between introducing a new food because I want to puree everything in sight now. Fun times!

I know some people get grossed out with messy baby food pics but I can't resist posting these. Welcome to the mess, folks.

New Jersey, Part 2: The Bad

Ok, so there was one bad thing that happened on our trip, and it was all my fault: I TRIPPED and FELL while carrying Sody. Waaaaah!!!! You can imagine my horror and tears at the situation. We were at the zoo, having fun, and I had Sody in the baby carrier strapped to my front so she could see the animals. Walked down a small set of stairs and missed the last one or something (I still can't figure out what happened) and all of the sudden - splat! We were on the ground. (Note to self: steps + Dansko clogs + 18 lbs of baby attached to you = bad combo) My knees thankfully took the brunt of it but she did bonk her head at some point of the mess because we found a pink mark on her head. She cried for a couple of minutes, got over it, was acting like her normal happy self...but since head bonking and six month olds and nervous mothers don't mix, we headed to the emergency room to get her checked out. She's fine! We all survived the first fall and first emergency room visit and I would be perfectly ecstatic if that was the last one too.

Feel free to send me any dropping-your-baby stories because it makes me feel better to hear I am not the only one!

New Jersey, Part 1: The Good

Our trip was fantastic and already feels too long ago. Highlights: Sody doing great on the plane flights (mostly sleeping), veggie strombolis almost as big as the tray they sat on, going to the shore, amazing weather, getting coffee at the Wawa, many custard stand trips, Philly, Sody's 6 month birthday, soccer games, swimming, Joe falling in love with a Wii, watching movies, taking walks around the neighborhood, talking and debating and hanging out around the house, and most importantly: just being with family. We miss you guys terribly.

Pictures below: 1) on the plane, 2) with Cousin Ryan and Pop Pop, 3) Mom Mom, 4) Uncle Jason, 5) Aunt Courtney and her boyfriend Kevin, 6) going swimmin' - she actually had so much fun in the water but this face cracks me up, 7) her 6 month birthday cake - she was already in bed when we celebrated so we sang happy birthday to a cell phone picture Pop Pop put by the cake, 8) record shopping in Philly.

Fun with Uncle Cory

First of all, we are back! New Jersey was fantastic and fun and busy and there is so much to say that I am going to have to write it all up in installments to catch you up. I have been behind on the updating because as soon as we got back, Joe's bro Cory came to stay with us for a visit. Lots of fun and tennis and Risk and mini golf and pizza eating and Baby/Uncle time. Come back soon, Cory!

Father's Day

Joe celebrated his first Father's Day by getting a cold. What a gift. (I didn't give him that one.) We also went out to a lovely brunch with my parents - yummy food, yummy company, and a yummy (if I do say so myself) raspberry cream pie I made for dessert. Unfortunately what I didn't do was bring my camera to record the special day. Oddly enough, this happened on Mother's Day, too...funny how I take a zillion pictures most days but on the actual significant holidays, I forget to snap pics.

On a similar note, I also managed to forget to bring diapers to brunch. DIAPERS! The one essential element to the diaper bag! So essential they named the diaper bag after it! Unbelievable. Normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal but of course the day I forget to bring diapers is the day Sody has a major blowout that leaks through her cute pink panties that match her cute little Father's Day sundress. Ick, I know. Luckily my mom saved the day by rushing to the store in the middle of the meal and all was well again.

Lastly, Baby Sody Headquarters is headed out on a summer break to go visit Joe's family in New Jersey. Baby's first plane trip! Wish us (and the other passengers) luck. We won't be updating this while we are gone but I promise lots of pictures from the East Coast when we get back. Here are some recent pics of Miss Cutie-Patoots to tide you over while we are gone. Happy summer, y'all!

I Might Eat This Kid

OMG COULD SHE BE ANY FATTER AND CUTER?! The beer belly, the sausage arms, the big doughy cheeks...everything about her screams "food" and I wanna take a bite. I LOVE IT! My retinas are going to explode from the cuteness one of these days.

Social Butterflies

Ok, so, our social calendar isn't exactly raging these days. Not complaining, just stating fact. Playing with sock monkeys and plastic rattles takes precedence at the moment, and I love it. But life is admittedly a little slower these days. So it was a very big deal to have not one but TWO sets of friends from Oakland visit us two days in a row this weekend. Both were spur of the moment trips...don't you love when you have nothing planned for the weekend but it suddenly turns into Something? Both couples have sons too, so we are already stockpiling boyfriends for Isota when she grows up (if she likes boys, of course). Thanks to Dan and Alice and Lenny and Jeff and Thea and Remy for all making the trip over here! It was a treat to see you all.

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood

We started rice cereal this week! Really runny of course, but she is a pro so far. Most of it goes in her mouth so she is obviously a genius.

What's Up, Doc?

Cold peeled carrot as teething device. I think she dug it.

Two Birthdays

Last Tuesday marked both Joe's 34th birthday as well as Sody's 5 month birthday. Since her idea of a good time pretty much revolves around breastfeeding and perfecting the art of sitting up, we let Joe pick the activity for the special day. And he chose to do what any normal, red-blooded, 34-year-old man would want to do: head straight to Chuck E. Cheese. So we got the babe and my parents and did just that. The place was near empty, the pizza was greasy, the tokens were a-plenty. We hit a lot of the games and took far too many pictures, as per usual. Sody Lou got her first taste of skee-ball when I packed her in the sling when I played. In a word, it was Awesome. Joe and I wanted to stay longer and play but Isota needed a nap. Wouldn't you know, the kid had to leave Chuck E. Cheese and the parents cried for more...

Oh, My Darlin'...

How awesome is my husband? I did not expect that last post and it made me swoon. And cry. I looked like this (minus the abject terror Sody is displaying here):