Shuffle shuffle

Sonia is almost certainly going to be cursed with large feet-- both her mommy and daddy's families are quite gifted in the shoe size department. So, she decided to practice walking in women's size 9 1/2 shoes to get a jump on things.

Rough rough rough

Nothing could have prepared us for the horror that was Sonia's first stomach virus (it hit like a freight train on Wednesday night).... And then she passed it along to me, landing me in the ER in the wee hours of the morning today. We're on the mend, but poor Andrew worked his fingers to the bone taking care of us this weekend. Thank you, you fantastic husband/daddy, you!!

Sosi and Kieran

On Monday, Sonia and I got to play with Kieran (my godson) all afternoon. I can't even call it babysitting because we had such a fun time.... It's nice that Sonia is old enough that watching someone else's child is more like a playdate. Plus, we love the whole Murray family, so it's always a great time when we get to hang out with them! Sosinini and Kieran both took great naps (80 minutes and 2 hours, respectively), kept the toy-stealing to minimum, enjoyed a yummy snack together, and kept me cracking up constantly. It was just as wonderful an afternoon as the last time we watched Kieran. I am the luckiest godmother in the world!









Kieran, you are way too handsome!!

Our second home

The printing on my membership card for the Morton Arboretum is wearing off because I use it so much.... We just can't stay away-- especially when the weather is ridiculously beautiful like it was on Saturday. Andrew, Sonia, and I met up with Scott & Michelle to enjoy the fall colors at the arboretum's Lake Marmo, Zach's tree, and Big Rock.

17 months old: a state of the baby address

Today, The Great Sosini is 17 months old. She is such a goofball! Even though her molars are FINALLY popping through (this time I'm sure-- three of her molars are about halfway up), she still manages to be in a good mood for most of the day. Sosi has been sleeping well at night (knock wood!) and the first thing she does in the morning is grab a book and start madly reading like her life depends on it. Total cuckoo bird.

Right now, her favorite two things to do are drink water from a dixie cup (onlookers need raincoats) and "wonder" where Bobo is. Sosi holds her hands up near her shoulders with her palms up, gets a concerned (yet gleeful) look on her face, and says, "Bobo? Mow? Hoo hoo!" The "hoo hoo" is Sonia imitating us whistling-- she thinks it's positively hilarious when we whistle.


We've been enjoying the cooler & drier weather so much! The leaves started turning beautiful colors, creating many fabulous photo ops.


Sonia loves being outdoors, no matter what we're doing. I took her to the park one morning when it was a bit too cold; a slippery coat of dew made the playground equipment unusable. Instead of freaking out and throwing a fit, Sonia happily ran all over the park with me and tried to catch squirrels. I love watching how happy she is to be in the great outdoors, but it makes me dread winter even more.

Our friend, Maritza, captured this great picture of Sosini on her film camera. Sosi's Auntie Niki thinks it looks like a goldfish cracker advertisement.


Our playgroup went to the Brookfield Zoo yesterday, and I spent the entire day enjoying the reactions that Sonia had to all of the animals. I think she said "ooh ooh ooh" about 50 times while we were admiring the monkeys and gorillas, and her fascination with the dolphins was so sweet. Andrew and I are looking forward to taking her to the zoo many, many more times in the future. This picture of her at the zoo provides a good look at her little baby mullet.... Hair is growing in!


We love you, Sosinini!

Fall Festival at the Morton Arboretum

This past weekend, we braved the crowds and met some friends at the arboretum for the fall festival. The trees are just starting to change color, and the weather was fantastic. We had a great time! Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying the heck out of themselves:





(Notice the change in outfit for The Great Sosini-- she SOAKED herself while playing in the water. Thank you for letting Sosi borrow Ike's emergency backup shirt, Emma!)

Crossing lines

Sonia loves to hang out with all of her little buddies, and the interaction mostly consists of parallel play (playing near but not with each other). That, of course, is very typical for toddlers. The times when the play strays from parallel usually includes toy stealing and tears. But this past week, I witnessed one of the first instances of The Great Sosini actually playing WITH one of her friends, Sara! It was so adorable that I whipped out the camera and took close to 100 pictures (don't worry, I deleted most of them).

The play date started out with toy stealing and tears, but then we went upstairs to play in Sosi's room and the fun commenced. Sonia was digging through her books when she noticed that Sara had discovered the purple bin filled with stuffed animals. She watched carefully as Sara tore a lot of the animals out and climbed in the bin herself.


Sosi thought that was hilarious, so she gave it a try.


Sara: "Will you get a load of Sonia? She's pretending this was all her idea...." (eye roll)


Sara proceeded to pile all of the stuffed animals back in the bin on top of Sonia. As soon as all of the animals were in, she and Sonia would throw them all back out again. They repeated this process about 10 times in a row, giggling and jibber-jabbering the whole time. Sara tried to throw a couple of toys over the crib railing, but she couldn't quite reach.


Several times, both girls were sitting in the toy bin, but then they wouldn't be able to reach the toys on the ground, so Sara would dutifully climb out to make sure no toy was left behind.


After a while, Sara started bringing Sonia books to read.


Sara can't resist a good book, so she finally climbed in and joined the read-a-thon.


What a couple of cuckoo birds! It's fun to get little glimpses of the future.

Pumpkins and Lady Bugs

Our playgroup visited Johansen Farms' pumpkin farm in Bolingbrook this week, and the kids (and the parents) had a blast! The farm has a great picture area, so we decided to dress the kids up in their costumes as a dry run for Halloween. After we got the kids suited up, we headed in to eat cider donuts (YUM!!!!!) and other snacks.


Sonia seemed to really like her lady bug costume (or, at least, she didn't mind it). It is a sleeveless, legless, poofy hooded outfit that Sonia put over a black long-sleeved shirt and black tights. It looks pretty comfy to me, actually!


We re-grouped in the photo area and attempted to herd cats (um, I mean get a bunch of toddlers to pose nicely). In this first picture, it looks like Sosi is saying "C'mon, you ornery kids-- sit still!". That could not be farther from the truth-- I think Sonia was the LEAST cooperative of all the kids.... She was having way too much fun running around checking out the hay bales and other decorations.


Even though we had about 8 cameras going and every mom was cajoling her child to smile prettily, these are pretty typical pictures that we were able to get:



(Note Sonia wandering away and looking everywhere BUT the camera. The other kids were posing fairly well, actually....)

Sosini noticed that Sami the Zebra was feeling a bit out of sorts that morning, so she gave her a bunch of hugs and kisses (while Sara the Duck looked on).


After we gave up on getting the perfect picture, we headed to the pumpkins. Even though they're not smiling in this picture, I think Sara and Sosi look like they're having a great time!


Uh-oh.... Sonia's sinking in pumpkin quicksand!


Phwew-- the ladybug escaped!


After we were done admiring the pumpkins, we took the kids to the petting zoo. I fed some corn to a couple of hungry sheep, and Sosini got a bit freaked out.


Sonia was very skeptical of the baby chicks-- when I held one out to her, she refused to pet it. Ohhhhhh, Sonia....


After lunch, it was time for the kids to head home for naps. I hope we get to stay longer next year, because that place is so cool!

With apologies to Peter Gabriel and John Cusack

"Mommy, can I puh-leeeeeeeeese swing? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"



There's something very "In Your Eyes"/"Say Anything" about this picture.

All bundled up

It was 55 degrees today, but the wind made the temperature feel much colder. Sonia and I bundled ourselves up and went to the park anyway! We were able to withstand the cold for about 45 minutes before we admitted defeat. Sosini loves her purple fall coat and pink hat. The pink hat came with matching mittens, but I forgot to bring them (Mommy fail!). After our chilly park outing today, I realized that I need to find The Great Sosini a winter coat sooner rather than later. Winter is sneaking up on us....