Sonia's voice and more cute outfits

Sonia has been so vocal this month.... She smiles, she squeals, she coos, and she giggles. If babies were this fun right when they were born, those first three months would be so much easier on new parents. Sosi will turn 5 months old a week from today (the 13th), and I can't wait to see the changes that are in store for us. What a little goofball!

This child continues to wear clothes from her stacked wardrobe that, quite honestly, puts Andrew's and mine to shame. Charlotte handed Sonia down three HUGE bags of clothes when we saw her during the baptism weekend.... Even though Sosi is growing like a weed and outgrowing clothes right and left, she will definitely not be going naked any time soon!

Outfit handed down from Charbunkle with a kitty on it (yay!):


Here's another outfit with a cat on it! These might be some of the only ones in existence-- why aren't there more out there that feature kitties? Niki, Corey, and Charlotte bought this for Sonia even before she was born:


Positively fabulous shirt from Stephanie and Erik-- this also marked the first time Andrew ever attempted to put together an outfit for Sonia (you can't tell from the lighting in the picture, but the socks are yellow):


Onesie from Stephanie and Erik-- the pirate is saying "Eat yar peas and carrots!":


This might be my favorite hand-me-down from Charlittle: THE HAPPY CUPCAKE!!! This was the very first thing I ever bought for Charlotte (while Niki was still pregnant and before the ultrasound showing Charlotte was a girl).


Absolutely gorgeous dress from the Petrellis (there is also a hat, but I couldn't get Sosi to smile while wearing it!):


And my favorite-- blue eyes from her daddy and grandpa:

Sosi vs. Rice Cereal (round 3)

So, Sosi vs. Rice Cereal (round 1) didn't go so well (as previously chronicled on this blog). Round 2 a few days later was a dismal failure that involved some screaming (on Sonia's part, not mine). For both of those rounds, Sonia sat in her Bumbo. So, to switch things up a bit, I decided to bust out the cool high chair that Mary Ann, Sue, and Stephanie got us. I hadn't attempted to feed Sosi rice cereal in about a week and a half, and I thought it was high time to try again.

The stage was set:



I let her play for a while in her high chair to get familiar with her surroundings. She thought it was pretty cool!



She looked very skeptical at the mixture of rice cereal, water, and formula.



I was so hopeful! She was smiling and looking cute, so I really thought she might take a few bites....


Not so much. There are no pictures from this point forward for two reasons:

1) I was attempting to feed her by myself without Andrew to act as photographer, and

2) I was too busy comforting the baby who obviously thought I was trying to feed her poisonous goo, judging by her reaction.

So, we're putting the rice cereal away for another week. We may just have to wait until she's old enough to feed her veggies and fruit so we can mix the cereal (which is a great source of iron for babies) in with something she likes a little better. Even though the mixture tastes like formula (I tasted it to make sure), Sonia is simply not accepting this form of feeding! There is no real reason that we MUST feed her solid food at this point. It's bottle city for now.....

The Incident

Poor Andrew-- his daddy confidence was shaken just a tiny bit on Sunday. As I was carrying Sonia out of the Basilica in my arms, Andrew wheeled out the empty car seat/carrier thingy on top of its stroller attachment. Because Sonia wasn't in the carrier, it wasn't strapped completely to the stroller. When Andrew decided he didn't need any help getting the contraption down the three steps, the carseat went tumbling to the ground. All of our friends and relatives started laughing hysterically, and what made it even funnier is the shocked and horrified looks on the faces of some passersby.... They probably thought there was a baby in that carrier! Luckily, my mom caught the aftermath on camera.


Then, when Andrew was trying to get the carrier back onto the stroller, the stroller went crashing to the ground again because Sonia's diaper bag was clipped to the handle. Without the counterbalancing weight of the carrier, the stroller can't stay upright when the diaper bag is attached. What is a poor, frazzled daddy to do?!?

According to the time stamp on the files, these next two pictures were taken 3 minutes later, and awesomely enough, you can see Gonzo continuing to laugh at Andrew in the background over my left shoulder.

Sonia's baptism and first visit to ND

This past Sunday (September 27th), Sonia got baptized at Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It was such a beautiful ceremony in such a beautiful setting! Even the weather cooperated. Thank goodness, too, because the Murray kids and Charlotte had a blast playing outside before and after the ceremony!


Sonia's godparents are Mike "Gonzo" Gonzalez and Emily Buser-Gonzalez, two of our dearest friends. Father Joseph Carey, a longtime resident and rector of Dillon Hall (now living in Ryan Hall, the brand-new women's dorm), presided over the baptism. Other than calling Sonia by the wrong name ("Sophia") a couple of times and pouring the holy water in her eyes (!!), he was great.


My Aunt Janet (Sonia's great-aunt) sewed Sonia's gown, and it turned out truly exquisite. Thank you again, Aunt Janet! Sonia looked gorgeous in her gown.



There's nothing like a costume and diaper change on the lawn in front of the Dome! Jennifer Longworth crocheted this lovely white afghan to be Sosi's christening blanket.

Rubber Ducky, you're the one

You make bath time lots of fun
Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you.....

Going totally bananas

I have two banana-related recipes that are too good not to share..... Both recipes are from Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks, but one (the banana bread) is from the 1960's and one (the banana chocolate chip bars) is from the year 2000. Whenever we have a couple of bananas sitting around getting ripe, Andrew gets a gleam in his eye and starts subtly hinting that it might be acceptable if I use them to make some baked goods....

Banana Bread (like my mom still makes):

Ingredients:

1/3 cup shortening (buy the Crisco sticks of shortening-- they're the easiest!)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 2 medium or 3 small bananas)

1 and 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar together, and then add the eggs and mix well. Add the bananas and mix well. Sift together dry ingredients, then add to mixture and mix well. Bake 45-50 minutes in a 9x5x3" loaf pan (greased on bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides). Bread stores best (once it cools) in either foil or a zippered plastic bag.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars (perfect to bring to work-- they are always a big hit):

(The font looks wonky from here on forward because I copied and pasted this from an e-mail I had sent, and this dumb blog program makes it impossible to fix text issues unless you're good with html, which I am not....)

Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 25 minutes
Oven 350 degrees

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 6-ounce package (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1) Grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside.

2) In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat till combined. Beat in the egg, bananas, and vanilla till combined. Beat in flour till combined. Stir in chocolate chips and, if desired, nuts.

3) Spread in the prepared baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Nutrition facts per bar: 117 calories, 5 grams total fat (2 grams saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 92 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams fiber, 1 gram protein.

****

In other news, I was going through some clothes back in the deep dark recesses of my wardrobe while Sonia took an epic nap the other day, and I found some interesting items. First, I found work pants in 4 different sizes-- that's what happens when you lose 30 pounds, go through 9 months of pregnancy, re-shed those same 30 pounds, and then get pregnant again 3 months later. Second, I found my old t-shirt that says "I'm the Evil Twin"-- too bad it's horrible faded and misshapen (I donated it to the bag of rags we use for cleaning). Third, I found this:

When I was in 3rd grade, my maternal grandmother (aka Meem) crocheted matching sweaters for all of her grandkids who had been born so far (Niki, me, Jordan, Lindsay, Jake, and possibly Ben, but I can't remember if he had one or not). I am so excited to have Sonia wear this cardigan some day! It's a seriously awesome sweater-- there's a zipper and everything, and it's far superior to anything I have crocheted to date. I wonder if my siblings and cousins still have their sweaters....

Some more fun outfits

Sonia seriously has the coolest wardrobe.... I love to play dress-up with my little baby doll! These pictures contain just a small sampling of the adorable outfits this child has.

From the Richardsons (yes, that's the ND leprechaun!):

From the Nelsons:

From Auntie Niki, Uncle Corey, and Charlotte:

From the Hallfords:

Cousins

Sonia is so lucky to have 2 1/2 cousins! (The 1/2 is for little Peter-in-the-belly who is due to be born in mid-December.) Even though Nicholas (Andrew's sister's son) is only 4 weeks old, he and Sosi have already shared clothes with each other. We love these fabulous Little Stomper pajamas....

Sonia in May 2009 (1 week old):

Nicholas in September 2009 (3 weeks old):

Because they aren't the same gender, Nicholas and Sonia won't have too many more chances to share outfits, but Sonia will probably be a recipient of hand-me-downs from Charlotte for many years to come. Charbunkle has already shared a lot of clothes with The Great Sosini (thank you so much, Niki and Corey!). These overalls are just one example.

Charlotte in June 2008 (2 1/2 months old):

Sonia in August 2009 (3 months old):

Charlotte and Sonia are genetically like half-sisters, so they are starting to look a bit similar, too. Check out their cheeks! You might notice that in these two pictures, both girls are wearing brown with pink polka dots, but they aren't the same outfits.

Charlotte in July 2008 (4 months old):

Sonia in August 2009 (3 1/2 months old):

Sonia vs. Rice Cereal

Oh, my. Sonia tried "solid food" for the very first time today. Rice cereal was not an instant hit.... We'll try a few more times over the upcoming week, and if she's still not feeling it, we'll put it away for a while and come back to it. We're in no hurry! But it was still pretty fun to try.

She looks kind of excited at first....


Here comes the airplane into the hanger....


Not a fan!!!



Andrew took a video of Sonia's first few spoonfuls....

Mad skills!

Sonia finally agreed to show off her new rolling over skills for the Flip video camera. She only rolls over about once or twice a day so far, but she thinks it's hilarious every time! Margie Cat makes an appearance, of course, showing off her booty to the camera. Oh, Marge....



Speaking of Margie and mad skills, I also managed to capture a short video of the cats wrestling. No worries-- it's definitely just playing-- two minutes after I took this video, they were licking each other and acting like the best of friends.



In other news, Sonia will be trying rice cereal for the first time today. Gotta go get the duckie bath tub ready for the aftermath!

Also, Shakey the Octopus has suddenly and unexpectedly lost his mojo; he no longer makes her smile! She saves all of her smiles for people-- especially ones who make really silly faces and noises at her.