Who is this guy?

And WHY are you making me sit on his lap?!?!?!?


For comparison purposes, here is last year's picture (when Sosini had a lot less stranger-danger anxiety):


I think it might be the same dude in the Santa suit! I did get the picture taken at the same place as last year. Or maybe this is the real Santa....

At least this year I put a dress on her that was long enough to hide her nether regions. (Thanks for the cute black jumper, Grandma and Grandpa Malahowski!)

Thanksgiving in Arlington

Sonia, Andrew, and I had a lovely time in Arlington, TX over Thanksgiving weekend. Sure, the Great Sosini had a little trouble in the sleeping department (that poor girl is as bad a traveler as her mother), but she really enjoyed hanging out with her grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin.

Grandpa assisted Sonia and Nicholas with their duet:


The way to Sonia's heart is a rousing game of peekaboo, and Aunt Ali is a peekaboo master.


Sonia thinks Uncle Daniel is a lot of fun!


Andrew cooked us a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner, and Ali made wonderful pumpkin pies for dessert. The next day, we took the kids to the Dallas Children's Museum. As usual, hilarity ensued....




Saturday's weather was beautiful, so we took Sonia and Nicholas to the park.







On Sunday morning, before we left to fly back home, we dressed the kids up in new clothes from Grandma Jenni and took pictures.



Thank you for a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sonia's very first craft project (thanks, Melissa!!):

Invasion of the Stringers!

Sonia and I just had the most awesome weekend.... Niki, Charlotte, and Peter drove in the big red van all the way to Lisle (hello, is Niki Super Mom or what?!?) to play with us for a few days! Poor Andrew was quarantined on the second floor of the house because he had either a bad cold or the flu, so he didn't get to partake in much of the fun. The three kids had a fantastic time playing together, terrorizing the cats, running around screwy-louie, and generally being big cuckoo birds.

Uh oh.... Sonia hears some suspicious noises coming from the mushroom tent....


Run for your lives! It's Peter and Charlotte!!!


Hee hee! Charlotte gives awfully good pushcart rides.


I'm mad this picture is blurry, because it captures the Saturday lunchtime wackiness perfectly. Sosini and Charbunkle were giggling like goofballs, holding hands, and dancing. Silly girls!


Petey thought Charlotte & Sonia's antics were hilarious.


Help! It's a monkey ballerina, and she's after me! Well, she'll be after me if she ever straightens her mask enough so that she can see out the eye holes.


Peter made a break for it in the Mini.


Wackiness in the igloo tent


The little red piano was a big hit with the Stringer kids.... They're definitely going to be musical just like their parents!


Sonia and Charlotte had a wacky tea party at Sonia's new play table.


I love seeing Peter wearing sock monkey pajamas that both Charlotte and Sonia have worn!


Thank you for coming to visit, Niki, Peter, & Charlotte! We love you and we had a great time!

Sonia at 18 months: by the numbers

Age: 18 months, two days

Height: 32.5 inches (70th percentile)

Weight: 26 pounds 12 ounces (80th percentile)

Shoe size: 6


% of time she sleeps through the night: about 80%

Average nap length: 1.5 hours (once a day)

Average nighttime sleep length: 10-11 hours

# of times a day she lays down and says "Ni-night!" (and then giggles): 35


# of books read per day: at least 20

# of words in vocabulary: roughly 75

# of body parts she can point out: around 15


# of times she says "Bobo" or "Mow-mow" (Margie) per day: 50

# of times she says "Mama" per day: 1,000

# of times she says "Mama, may I please clean my room and go to sleep now?": 0


# of teeth fully erupted: 11

# of teeth partially erupted: 1

# of teeth about to bust through any day now: 4


# of times a day I hug my fabulous little girl: a million!

Sonia and Sara

Sonia and I are devastated to be losing our two fantastic friends and kindred spirits to the west coast in about 36 hours. Since we met Maritza and her daughter, Sara, in January of this year, we have shared a ton of food, laughs, long car drives with sleeping babies in the backseat, more laughs, plenty of toddler tantrums, and even more laughs. I'm not even going to try to put into words how sad Sosini and I will be when we don't get to see Maritza and Sarita on an almost-daily basis. Here are a few of the pictures that Sonia and I will look at when we miss our Jones ladies (taken during the last week):




Sad sad sad. We're excited to hear about all of their fun new adventures, but we're very sad. Good luck, Joneses!

18 months old: a state of the baby address

I'm not sure if I can continue to refer to Sonia as a baby.... She's mobile, verbal, and is developing a sense of humor. This munchkin is such a fun little girl! Sure, Sosini has the typical toddler problem of having more emotions than self-control, and teething is still a thorn in our sides (before the fourth molar has completely erupted, those darn eye teeth are starting to poke out), but her infectious giggles and smiles make up for everything.

Sonia is really into dancing. She doesn't even need music-- just mention the word "dance" and she starts shaking her booty, wiggling her shoulders, and running in place. Girlfriend has got some MOVES! I think she learned most of them from watching her daddy dance during their nightly dancing sessions, and the rest she learned from watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Sonia happily showed off a lot of her moves in this short video I shot the other day:




We continue to be very active with our playgroup, having more fun than the law should allow. Sonia and a few of her buddies went on a "discovery trek" at the Morton Arboretum yesterday, and we attempted a group picture.


At the end of the day, I have a really hard time handing her over to Andrew (he puts Sosinini down to sleep most nights) because Sonia is the happiest and cuddliest while engaging in her pre-bedtime shenanigans. Speaking of shenanigans....


Sosini is still a pretty good eater. I really need to be more vigilant in re-offering her foods that she has snubbed, though. Andrew has been taking it upon himself to give Sonia occasional "spice education" sessions.... He sits her on the counter and goes through our jam-packed spice cupboard, unscrewing spice jars and waving them under Sonia's nose. Sosini thinks all the different smells are very interesting, but she inevitably sneezes after each session! Sadly, Sonia has stopped eating scrambled eggs (her former favorite food), but she did enjoy the blue M&M that she ate the other day (Sami had one, too):


"My name is Sonia, and I am a macaroni & cheese addict."


Sosini's 18 month doctor appointment is on Monday, so stats to follow!

Visitors!

I'm woefully behind in posting about Sonia's adventures.... But I'm trying to catch up! Two weekends ago (Halloween weekend, that is), Andrew's parents came to visit us here in Lisle. Sonia had a wonderful time with Grandpa Dick and Grandma Jenni! She warmed up to her visitors very quickly and had a great time giggling and showing off.

Playing with Grandpa Dick and Margie Cat on Saturday morning:


Playing "night-night" with Daddy after a yummy lunch at Portillo's (at which we ran into the Vosdoganeses!):


3 Generations of Malahowskis watching "The Wonder Pets" save an animal in trouble:


Cleaning out a pumpkin on Halloween-- not to carve it, but to roast the yummiest pumpkin seeds I've ever tasted:


We had a great time! Andrew, Sonia, and I can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving!

Learning or just splashing?

Last week, we visited the DuPage Children's Museum with our playgroup. Sonia started out having a perfectly lovely time exploring the various exhibits, watching kids, running all over the place....




...and then we found the room with all of the water exhibits in it. Predictably, Sonia went nuts. Girlfriend LOVES water. I knew about the water exhibits (we went to the museum way back in January or February), but did I think ahead and pack an extra outfit for Sonia? Nope. The museum provides waterproof smocks for the kids, but they don't protect sleeves and pants. Sonia got SOAKED. But she had a fabulous time!




Playing in the wind/air exhibits afterward did little to help dry out Sonia's shirt....


Thanks to Evan for lending Sonia his emergency backup shirt for the drive home!