Hi!

We've started uploading our videos to Vimeo. You can check them out at http://vimeo.com/miratim/videos.

Here's Sophie saying hi to some folks:


sophia saying names from Tim Mir on Vimeo.

Christmas time at the grandparents

Tonight we went over to Papa and Gramma's house for christmas dinner and presents. They had a really cool tree with lots of neat decorations on it, and it also came with one live kitty at its base most of the night.



I immediately found the toys that papa and gramma keep for us grandkids and spread them out all over the floor.

I also got play with my cousin Miranda - she's really fun and likes to play chase and hide and seek. We chased each other around the house probably for about a bazillion hours, and we were both not ready for sleepy even though it was late!

This year was the first year I got to open presents all by myself - daddy would tell me to pull on the wrapping paper, and I got to tear it all off without getting in trouble! One of my presents was a cool jack in a box. You turn this thing and it plays music and then the lid pops open and then daddy gets scared. I'm not sure why it scared him so much - the clown looks very nice and friendly! The clown even told me that everything floats in the box, which sounds like lots of fun!

We all had a great time at my grandparents' house. After, we got to go home and celebrate the 5th night of hanukkah by lighting more candles, singing, and then opening even more presents!

Warm inside, cold outside

This weekend we got a pretty good dumping of snow: about 8 inches on Friday, and another inch on Saturday. We are expecting to get another 8 inches or so on Sunday!

I stayed inside all weekend. It was nice and warm in the house, especially when I sat on the gas furnace known as "a-boof":


Meanwhile, daddy labored away outside, keeping the roof clear of ice and the driveway clear of snow. Daddy is super happy about his new toy, a 26" 2-stage 8 horsepower snow thrower. It means he can spend more time inside with me when it's cold and snowy out! Although, I don't know what eight horsies have to do with this, because I certainly didn't see any outside when I watched Daddy cleaning up.

We were supposed to go visit a friend of Mommy and Daddy's that just had a little baby of their own. I love babies, although this one is too tiny for me to play with. Unfortunately the weather and daddy's stuffy nose kept us here at home because little babies don't like stuffy noses.

21 months and counting!

We have had a very busy few weeks despite the look of things. However, Mommy's brain is swiss-cheesed and she can't remember everything we did. Sophie has begun to talk a lot this week though. She can now say lots of two and three word sentence-like combinations, such as "where dada", "kila come", and, her favorite when at daycare and wanting to come home for a nap, "outside car go". We also got to see a Santa Claus this weekend. Mommy and Daddy took Sophie to a pet store to buy Hunter a gate for the car. Sophie met a real bearded Santa, but apparently this just made Sophie scared as she immediately started to hysterically cry. Luckily, Mommy found a Great Dane nearby and Sophie calmed down. Apparently, a 200 pound dog with a head the size of Sophie is less scary than 160 pound man with a white beard.

Please enjoy a brief rendition of "If you are happy and you know it" with sophie clapping and stomping and demonstrating how cute she is with her little cartoon pig-tails.

Visiting the grandparents

This weekend we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and had a lot of fun. We saw Eli, and tried to give him kisses, but he wasn't having any of it. They have lots of kitties and they are all very cute.

Overheard conversation at the dinner table

Sophie: "Hi Dada"
Daddy: "Hi Sophie! Can I get a what what?" (arms in the air)
Sophie: "No."

Week in Review

While Mommy and Sophie have been very busy this week, it was more of the same old, same old, so we've decided to instead post a new video for your entertainment. Daycare, Gymboree, Kindermusik, weekly playdates, open play gyms...nothing nearly as exciting as museum or the zoo...so enjoy this video of Sophie as she plays toss with Daddy and peek-a-boo.

Its Potty Time!

Sophie has had a keen interest in the potty and potty-related activities for months. So, Mommy bought Sophie a potty last week. Mommy also bought Sophie a booster seat, which she uses like a pro and now eats all her meals at it...she even throws food a lot less! However, Mommy expected Sophie to only play with her potty for the next few months. With that said, on a lark, Mommy put Sophie on the potty today without ANY pants on immediately after bathtime (she's practiced sitting on it like a chair this past week). Sophie sat for a while, reading a book with Mommy, and happily listening to her potty talk to her (she has a talking and singing potty, see pic below). After a few minutes, Sophie actually went potty. Mommy and Daddy are very, very proud and were very, very surprised! Yay Sophie! Here's hoping we can repeat after tomorrow's bath-time!

From 1 year Month 8

Sophie eating in her booster seat enjoying her favorite meal - McDonald's chicken nuggest and french fries with BBQ sauce....we already know... we're horrible parents!

From 1 year month 9

Sophie's new potty. Normally, it is in her bedroom for her to play with, but it will be used occasionally in the bathroom (despite the horrible lack of space!).

On a completely unrelated note, here's some video of Sophie and Daddy playing from Thursday.

20 Months!

Sophie got to spend part of her 20 month birthday at the Franklin Park Zoo today. Although it was her second time at the zoo, it was Mommy's first, and so Mommy spent the whole time very excitedly snapping pictures. She was very proud of Sophie who "ooh'ed" and "ahh'ed" at lots of different animals...even showing an interested this time in the beautiful lowland gorillas. Daddy had to make Mommy and Sophie leave the exhibit so the other kids (and their parents) could see.

Mommy and sophie were especially proud of Daddy who willing went to look at kangaroos, ostriches, emus and camels, four of the many animals that haunt his dreams at night.

Sophie had such a good time at the zoo that she tuckered herself out. Here she is asleep in the car after our trip. What a tired cutie!

Boston Childrens' Museum

Today we went to the Children's museum. Oddly, this was the first time sophie took the T, and she enjoyed the sights and sounds.

Once we were there, there was lots of things to do. Sophie enjoyed being a construction worker:

She also found a fish tank, and as we all know, she LOVES fishies:

After a long morning and lunch time spent playing and exploring, Sophie found the Green Line made a great bedroom:

Kitchen, Witchin', and Metamorphin'!

Sophie received her first kitchen this weekend, and she spent all weekend cooking for us. She boiled lots of water, microwaves some stuff, and generally was irritated that she couldn't quite reach things in the top cabinet (just like mommy)!



We then got all dressed up as a tulip fairy and went trick or treating up and down the street. Sophie got to visit some of the neighbors who exclaimed on how big she's gotten since they saw her last. She also got to visit Norman and Deb down the street, and she finds them generally agreeable people to see.

We came home and had a small bit of chocolate candy from our proceeds:

We also went to the Butterfly Place, which Sophie totally dug. There is some talk in the household that she may become some kind of naturalist, because she loves examining wildlife, plants, and anything outdoors. She spent a lot of time squatting down to look at the small birds, and had a butterfly land on her shoulder at one point. She also walked around yelling "Hi Flies!" with much enthusiasm.

Some zoos and some boos

This weekend we had a really good time. First of all, our cousin Naomi came up to visit because one of our parents' friend is having a baby soon and they wanted to celebrate. It was lots of fun. We went to the Franklin Park Zoo and saw birdies, gorillas, ostriches (daddy hates those), but most importantly: turtles. We couldn't stop talking about turtles ALL weekend. It's our new favorite word.



We also went to our friends Evan and Lauren's Super Cool Halloween Party. It was super cool. I especially enjoyed making a frosted cookie, and then I eated it. It was yummy! Evan and Lauren's Mommy had some great decorations and things for us to do for halloween.

Boo At The Zoo

We went to the Stone Zoo on Saturday for their Boo at the Zoo day. We walked all around the zoo, got some candy on a creek trail, and enjoyed all the feline-related animals, calling them Kitty Kats! We dressed up as a tulip fairy, but everyone except mommy agreed that we looked more like a strawberry fairy!

Circus Time!

So, we went to the Barnum and Bailey circus today at the TDBankNorthBostonGarden (phew!), and had a great time. Sophie mostly enjoyed the popcorn. The humans didn't impress her too much, but she started yelling "hi kittykat!" when the ferocious tigers came out. She also liked the elephants that they had on the floor before the show.

Sophie was entirely uninterested by the climbing lady and climbing guy, but her parents thought it was very impressive and scary!

You can see the rest of the photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/miratim/1YearMonth8Circus

some video entertainment

This first video is of Sophie and Mommy playing a little hide-and-seek:




The second video demonstrates Sophie's on-going fascination with the household felines:

Apple picking time!

We had a great time today going out to Honey Pot Hills Farm today to do some apple picking. We loved eating a big apple straight off the tree, and taking a hayride around the whole farm. We went with our friends the Alibertis and a bunch of their friends. We also got to eat a delicious cider donut all by ourselves, and then we got to see a bunch of goats, pigs, roosters, and chickens. I especially liked the pigs and roosters. I tried to kiss the piggies but daddy wouldn't let me.

Mommy even went up into a tree to get more apples!

sophie walks for real!

Here's a super lengthy video of Sophie walking around the house. Beware of Cloverfield monster-like shakes.

new chair

I bought Sophie a new chair for the living room after it was evident that the arm chair her great grandma gave her was also loved by the cats...who are Destructors of Furniture, Inc. So, after a trial with a chair I knew the cats would hate, and it turned out Sophie did too, we made a second successful attempt with a Dora fold-out couch. Kila, as it turns out, actually had first dibs on the couch.

But, Sophie did get to sit in it and does seem to enjoy it.

With that said, here's a cute pic of Sophie immediately prior to kissing Kila on her side. For some reason, Kila actually puts up with the hours upon hours of Sophie screaming "Hi, kitty-cat!" and her going in for some rough petting and lots of kissies...two things any cat lover knows that cats generally hate. She's a good kitty even if she is a co-owner of Destructors of Furniture, Inc.

a wee bit of video

Sophie has had a pretty busy week...her Grams, Gramps and canine aunties (Layla, Mandy and Peppi) came to visit. She also had her weekly playdate with her friend, Alex, went to Gymboree and kindermusik (which she has really taken to) and saw Skippy. Of course, Mommy is a forgetful photographer, so instead of pictures of any of these things, there is a video of Sophie talking a wee bit, blowing a few kisses, and walking a tiny bit. Enjoy!

Dora?

Please compare this picture with Sophie's picture in the previous posting. Similar?

18 month birthday!

Sophie had her 18 month doctor's appointment yesterday. She got two shots (DTaP and Hep A) and was very, very brave! Mommy also got all sorts of new measurements on Sophie:

weight = 26 pounds (50th percentile)*
length = 32 in (50th-75th percentile)*
head circumference = 48 cm (90th-95th percentile)*

*percentiles were derived from the 2005 CDC infant growth charts

Sickie-poo and Walkies too

Sophie has had an interesting week. She started it off with a nasty fever and a sore throat. She did not sleep or eat for several days and made Mommy and Daddy sad and worried. But, she got better and will soon be her chirper self again.

With that said, Mommy took Sophie to see a large truck show in Burlington, MA on Sunday when Sophie kept complaining of boredom. Sophie had an OK time, but will probably have a great time when she goes back next year...especially because next year she might get to go with one of her boyfriends (Evan) who she missed out on this year because she was so sickie-poo in the early part of the day.

Sophie and Mommy have also started to occasionally go for walks down their street. Above is Sophie taking "baby" for a walk. She's such a good Mommy!

Sophie the Model

Ok, not the greatest pose, but it was the only pic from Friday where she was looking at the camera. For any interested parties about the information to be discussed below, Sophie wore a turquoise blue short-sleeved top, a skirt that was half khaki and half flouncy fabric with white, blue and khaki flowers, her infamous pink sneakers, and a white bow in her hair.

So...way back in March, Tim and I paid to have some shots done of Sophie, a la....

well, the pics were so nice and she had such a good time, that we decided to act on the urging of our friend Nel to try to get Sophie into modelling. So, Liz looked online, figured out how to find a good agent, took Sophie to an open casting call, and suddenly Sophie had an agent. That was back in April. Well, Thursday, Sophie got a call to go to her very first casting call. It was very exciting for Mommy and Daddy. Mommy picked up Sophie early from daycare on Friday and drove Sophie all the way into South Boston where Sophie waited with many, many, many other children to have her picture taken by a professional photographer. This shot will be used to determine if she or one of the many, many, many other kids at the call will be used in an advertisement for a major brand. How cool is that? Mommy was very proud of Sophie because she had to wait 45 minutes on a very hot and muggy day, and Sophie did not get her clothes dirty or even cry very much at all. Yay, Sophie! Mommy hopes this means Sophie will do well on future casting calls too.