Now that she’s officially mobile, Sophie is ALL OVER THE PLACE.
It’s like the house is one giant puzzle to solve. Oh! There’s a room here? I haven’t tasted this furniture yet. And what’s that? The dog bowl? Yum!
When she discovered the fridge, we moved all of Lily’s artwork out of reach and stuck a bunch of Sophie-friendly magnets on the bottom parts. She loves playing here. Until she sees my camera and comes crawling over. But the magnets always lure her back.
And the rest of us? We’re just following in her wake.
This is Sophie’s latest facial expression. She loves to suck on her upper lip, so you’ll often see her with that big ol’ lower lip sticking out. She laughs when I try to eat it off her face. Which happens, oh, about every five minutes.
And the eyelashes? They graze the tops of her cheeks.
I took these shots with my phone on one of our chilly walks last weekend. She and Lily are my training partners for the Bridge Run. Lily thinks it’s funny that I can’t keep up our conversation when I’m hoofing it up a hill. She tells me “it’s okay if you can’t talk Mommy … I’ll just talk to you.”
Smart kid.
When I saw this week’s You Capture theme — mornings — I had visions of dewy, sun-drenched shots of Lily with sleepy eyes and bed head or Sophie peeking through the bars of her crib.
But in the real world, our day begins when it’s still dark outside. And on work/school days, there’s hardly time to brush my teeth, much less photograph my children. So I figured I might not get to participate this week (because of course I’d waited until the very last minute).
But then yesterday morning, in the middle of all the chaos, this happened. And I grabbed my camera just in time. These girls … they make me laugh.
I struggled in the days leading up to Christmas. A new wave of anxiety, brought on by I don’t know what. I just couldn’t get my mind to the Christmas-y place I longed for it to be. Especially for my girls.
But after a few nights of early bedtime (Sophie STILL isn’t sleeping through), a hot bath or two, a glass of champagne (thanks to my friend Erin) and my fair share of chocolate, the vice-grip on my chest loosened up. Just in time for Christmas Eve. Thank goodness.
Snuggled on the couch with Marc that night for our yearly viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” gifts wrapped and under the tree, the final items crossed off my list, it hit me. Peace. I swear I could feel it in my toes.
And so began a truly magical Christmas.
Behold the plate of cookies Lily made for Santa. She was especially ecstatic to see the crumbs on Christmas morning.
And I quote: “He brought it!” “Santa brought it for me!” “Eeeeeeeeee!!!”
Sophie woke after Lily, and when Marc brought her into the living room, all rosy cheeks and Fraggle Rock hair, she dive-bombed into Lily’s pile of gifts and wrapping paper. A total free-for-all.
And she wanted to be wherever big sister was, doing whatever big sister was doing, every single minute.
Moments like this just stop me in my tracks. There is already so much love between these two. I know the fighting will come … but still … there will always be love.
Three cheers for the self-timer! I think this is my favorite family portrait so far.
I hope your holiday celebration was just lovely. Happy new year!
Spotted: Posy booth in the Motorco building (WHAT-WHAT) // lanterns at sunset // Laura’s gorgeous handiwork // local brews // Laura dazzling our customers // the cool ceiling in our little room // kick-butt DJ// my new favorite food truck // our littlest shopper, Lola, fast asleep with grilled cheese in hand // the Deputy and her posse
We had a blast.
Whew.
Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com
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Lily is getting to be such a big girl. Four years old in just a couple of months. And there are all sorts of new things that we get to do together as she grows.
Special little dates. Just the two of us.
The other night while Marc was out for some much-needed guy time and Sophie was sleeping, Lily and I made cupcakes and snuggled on the couch for a Christmas cartoon. Total bliss.
She especially enjoyed getting to frost her own cupcakes, which quickly turned into frost-lick-frost-lick. Rather than spread it around, she preferred to tower it high. And it’s safe to say that more sprinkles ended up on the floor than on her little creations. But aren’t they beautiful?
There is something so special about preparing food together. I’m not exactly a master chef (or baker) but I feel such a strong pull to teach her everything I know in the kitchen.
Collapsed later on the couch in a sugary haze, we snuggled tight and watched Yes, Virginia (which always brings tears to my eyes). I can’t get enough of squeezing this kid. I’ll probably be one of those embarrassing moms trying to snuggle her or hold her hand when she’s 16. Wait. I definitely will be.
In the meantime, I’m going to be sure that we continue this little holiday tradition, perhaps next year with a toddler licking the spoon too.
What sorts of special holiday traditions do you and your family have? What do you like to bake?
Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. #CleverDessert #spon
Here they are! The 2011 Christmas card outtakes.
This was such a hit on our Facebook page last year, I couldn’t resist sharing this year’s reel.
Out of about 200 frames, we got three shots to work with.
That’s pretty good, considering one of my subjects has the attention span of a flea and the other prefers to grimace rather than smile.
Besides, if it were easy, we wouldn’t have these gems …
