Happy Birthday Sophia! (part 2)

Our party was wonderful and we loved celebrating Sophia's life with all of our friends and family. But Sophia's real birthday was on a Wednesday. I just couldn't send her to school and be apart from her. That day was so special to our family. We also needed some intimate family time. So Andy and I both took off work on Wednesday and we had a special birthday celebration- just the three of us. It started with breakfast- a number 1 pancake with some raspberry maple syrup. She LOVED it! As you can see, she couldn't wait to take a picture before devouring. :)

After a little morning nap, it was off to the zoo! Andy and I didn't know quite what to expect. Would Sophia be interested in the animals? Would she even notice them? To our surprise, she did notice the animals and was somewhat interested in most of them. The bigger they were or the more they moved, the more we found her staring and at times laughing at what they would do. The gorillas, elephants, monkeys, and sea otters were her favorites!

Notice how many pictures Sophia's Bebe is in- she has become a constant companion!

a quick break for lunch- it was a gorgeous day!

very intrigued by the colorful fish and yikes! a shark!

exploring a pretend bat cave with Mama

As Sophia has gotten older and entered toddlerhood, she is less and less apt to sit and cuddle. She wants to be on the go go go a lot of the time. Daddy took advantage of the Baby Bjorn to sneak in a little love time.

We have loved our Baby Bjorn, but as Andy walked around with Sophia, we decided she's gotten a bit heavy to carry around in it. When we took it off her, she had these dark red marks on her arms where it was pinching her. So Sophia thinks she's too big for it as well, and our Baby Bjorn days are officially over!

I was really excited to go into the reptile museum of living art. I don't love reptiles and insects, or like them at all. But every time I'm there I think of the scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. And I thought Sophia would get a kick out of "walking" around looking into the glass and seeing the animals so close up. Turns out she did love walking and crawling all over, but never really noticed that there was anything going on on the other side of the glass. Still, she looks cute doing it, doesn't she? What a doll!



We came home and all took a great nap and enjoyed a leisurely evening together- it was a great day! Happy Birthday Sophia! We love you sweet girl; this year with you has been the best of our lives!