Sophie Jane

new chapter

2011-03-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

With the addition of Quinn, our family is opening a new chapter. And with that, we move to a new blog:

sophandquinn.wordpress.com

See you there...

sweet charity

2011-03-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sophie wants to share the contents of her hippo bank with the people in Japan, which of course we are happy to encourage.

sisterly love

2011-03-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

Sophie's baby sister, Quinn, arrived on Monday.

operation butterfly liberation

2011-03-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Sophie brought her live butterfly garden to school to release them so the other kids could participate, too.

arsenal

2011-02-28T16:07:00.000-08:00

Daddy rues the day he instructed in the art of snowball creation.

amends

2011-02-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sophie was having trouble listening to her teachers at school and made some poor decisions. Apologies were in order.

inclusion

2011-02-21T18:23:00.000-08:00

We got snow at home this weekend, and since Mommy couldn't come out to play, Sophie thought she'd throw snowballs at the window.

I suppose it's nice to be included... despite the jarring sound and maniacal laughter that followed.

well wishes

2011-02-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

To help Mommy feel better after her big owie:

beachy

2011-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

new holiday?

2011-02-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

"Yesterday was Grandfathers' Day. If he saw his shadow, there are six more days of Christmas."

Hmmm. Guessing she wasn't completely paying attention while hearing about Groundhog Day...

pair

2011-01-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

Sophie has wasted no time bonding with our newest family member, Ace.
We only hope it goes as well when her baby sister arrives...

wintery shenanigans

2011-01-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

sibling harmony

2011-01-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

So far, so good.
(This came home from school.)

Of course, her "baby sister", as she calls her, is still in utero and not bothering her yet.

skaters

2011-01-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Sophie has been asking to go ice skating for a while now.

It was much harder than she thought it would be (I think she had visions of spinning and jumping), but she was a total trooper, with no fear and no desire to leave.

merry, merry

2010-12-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

it all makes sense now

2010-12-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

"Mommy ate curly fries when I was in her belly. That's why I have curly hair."

city kids

2010-12-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Nutcracker at the San Francisco Ballet with Linds and Stone. Divine.

ho ho ho

2010-12-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

Sophie visited with the chattiest Santa I've ever seen. This made for a long, sloooow line, but was worth it.

We had to seek him out deliberately, so as to avoid the Pajantas of Christmases Past.

garden exploration

2010-12-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

A break in the rainy weather and a rare off-season opportunity to explore Filoli's gardens (and work off a holiday lunch sugar high).

tree hunt

2010-12-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

thankful

2010-11-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

party like you're 4

2010-11-22T16:36:00.000-08:00

Stone turned 4 on Saturday and Sophie was on hand to help celebrate.

Amazing Thomas cake made by Charne.

Shyness was not the order of the day when cake cutting commenced. Sophie got right up next to the birthday boy to insure a prime cut.

Birthday boy.

Sophie knew the contents of the pinata and was not afraid to fight the rainbow beast for it.

competitive grieving

2010-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

Our family is grieving.
On Saturday, our dear sweet Rocky passed away unexpectedly. He was our muse, our playmate, our inspiration... A fixture in our daily life.

So we've been spending a fair amount of time talking with Sophie about it.

At first, her response was, "well, we still have Martha" and "now we have to get a new cat AND a new dog."

Hmmm. Not the response we were expecting.

As the days press forward, she is noting his absence more, finding his toys or an old dog bone, and watching Martha (and us) mope.

So I asked her, "do you miss Rocky?"
Her reply: "Yes, Mommy. I miss him more than you do."

fall color

2010-11-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

Sophie caught up with her cousins in Ashland, Oregon...

and got to see Daddy compete in the Lithia Loop trail marathon.

election day

2010-11-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Even though we live in a rural spot and have to vote by absentee, we still drop our ballots off at the closest polling place.

We just watched "You're [not] Elected, Charlie Brown" so Sophie is starting to get the concept of voting. But mostly she liked that she got a sticker that says "I voted."

trickle treat

2010-11-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

The anticipation of "trickle treating" (as Sophie calls it) with her cousins had to be mitigated by pumpkin carving and a viewing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Fortunately, the candy haul was no disappointment. In fact, Sophie's bucket was so heavy she couldn't carry it house to house by the end... This bodes well for Mommy, as the pilfering will be less obvious.

'ween warm-up

2010-10-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Sophie and her pal Natalia ham it up after the costume parade at their school.

Halloween art

2010-10-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

I think this is quite possibly my favorite art project Sophie has brought home from school.

a rainy Saturday well spent

2010-10-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

An afternoon at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The highlight for us was the planetarium, but we saw a bunch of other cool things, too.

Yes, these are real (and hilarious) penguins who would swim up to the glass to look at us like we were looking at them.

Feeling festive for Halloween?

Aquarium.

Amazing rain forest with butterflies and birds flying overhead.

And, of course, no trip to a museum is complete without some taxidermy.

pumpkin hunt

2010-10-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

mahalo for the memories...

2010-10-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

A week in Hawaii can cure what ails you. Or at lease rejuvenate you.

After watching Daddy compete in Ironman Hawaii, we clocked some relaxing beach time.

Sophie made her stage debut at a luau, doing the hula (lower right corner, blue dress).

Stophie, reunited

2010-10-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

Stone and Sophie didn't miss a beat when we met up for park adventures this weekend.

happiness on a stick

2010-09-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Despite a diagnosis of an ear infection, Sophie was all smiles this morning at the doctor's office. The reason: lollipops, naturally.

be still my heart

2010-09-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

S: Mommy, I know what a crush is.
M: Oh, really...
S: Yes, it's when you like a boy.
M: [stunned] Is there someone you have a crush on?
S: Yes.
M: [with trepidation] ...who?
S: Daddy.

party animals

2010-09-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sophie's birthday went off without a hitch (thank god).
And by that I mean there were no injuries, mommy remembered the goody bags, and the kids were exercised into oblivion with minimal crying.

Sophie and Natalia check out the trampoline.

Stone gives the grin of a seasoned party-goer.

A game of princess-princess-unicorn (ala duck-duck-goose).

Cousin love.

Sophie holds court.

golditooth

2010-09-09T14:49:00.001-07:00

Sophie has told me twice in as many days that she "want[s] a gold tooth" to replace the one that was pulled. I have no idea where this idea came from (afraid to ask), but I have decided to believe it's modeled on the hippo George of the George & Martha books, as opposed to somewhere more untoward.

operation tooth extraction

2010-09-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sophie's tooth abscessed recently, a result of chipping her tooth last year.

Though she requested to have it pulled ON her birthday, we opted for the day after. She was incredibly brave. No fuss.

Wearing the "elephant nose", pre-extraction.

Leaving the office.

All smiles when we got home...

four

2010-09-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Sophie had a great 4th birthday yesterday. Next up? Surviving, I mean ENJOYING (ahem) her birthday party next week...

Giving Mommy a taste of her own medicine...

tete-a-tete

2010-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

trouble

2010-08-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

mermaid

2010-08-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

Even under water Sophie's hair is curly.

high flyers

2010-08-12T17:21:00.001-07:00

Sophie joined cousins Maia and Casey for some bungee/trampoline jumping at Squaw Valley.

school photo

2010-08-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

dressed for dinner

2010-08-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

A perfectly sensible outfit for dinner at home on a Tuesday night.

dress up

2010-07-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

At Sophie's friend Natalia's birthday party, where all the girls put on fancy dresses, tiaras, make up (gulp...) and had their hair done so they could walk the "red carpet."

(more fairy princess than Jon Benet Ramsey...)

oh happy day

2010-07-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

A visit to Happy Hollow, or as Sophie aptly calls it "Happy Holler."

fossil exploration

2010-07-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

Sophie loves dinosaurs so naturally we made a visit to the American Museum of Natural History while we were in NYC.

She thought this one was pretty scary up close. She was surprised at how big the teeth were.

Sophie occasionally likens herself a theropod ("three toed feet and sharp teeth for eating meat!"), so she was interested in this foot. There was a lot of toe counting (hers and the dinosaur's).

We were fascinated by this decomposing dinosaur (yes, real). It was found inside the belly of another dinosaur. Whenever Sophie hears that something/someone died, her first question is, "did their bones come out?" So this was a cool way for her to see how the bones DO start to come out... Creepy? Yes. Interesting? Very.

new kid on the block

2010-07-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

We had a short visit in Maryland with Sophie's newest cousin Milo this past week. He's pure perfection.

Of course, cousin Jonas was no wallflower, easily charming us despite the presence of a new baby in our midst.

Oregonian getaway

2010-07-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

A weekend in central Oregon a couple weeks ago, catching up with family and friends.

Cousin Maia

Cousin Casey

Friend Cerridwen on the move

Sharing a laugh with Casey

Awaiting Daddy's transition during the Pacific Crest half-ironman triathlon with Nana and Papa

Go, Daddy, GO!

independence day antics

2010-07-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

A fun 4th spent in Santa Barbara. Parades (yes, plural), old friends and old glory. What better way to celebrate?

Friends Luke, Isabelle and Grace join in the mad scramble for candy being hurled from cars.
It's amazing we had no injuries.

With Isabelle's puppy, Penny, post-parade. Sophie did not want to give her back. Do you blame her?

double duty

2010-06-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

Double owies. But nothing that unicorn band-aids couldn't cure.

daddy love

2010-06-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day

portrait artist

2010-06-17T17:42:00.002-07:00

Sophie's portrait of Daddy (he added the hat and eyebrows).
The best feature: the goatee.

sensible shoes

2010-06-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sophie's new slippers.

aspiring virtuoso

2010-06-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

What is particularly amusing about this is that Sophie dressed herself (okay, I zipped it), wandered out to the living room, climbed up on the piano bench and started playing. Though this appears staged, we were purely observers.

sprite

2010-05-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

trike-a-thon

2010-05-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sophie participated in the St. Jude's Trike-A-Thon.

She sort of gets that it was to raise money for kids, but mostly I think she thought it was fun to ride her bike at school with the other kids.

busy bee

2010-05-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

While Mommy was out of town for the weekend, SJ and Daddy emailed her photos of their adventures:

Watching the band Left Coasting at Kings Canyon Brewery (with her horse, Nutley).

Dog walking at Stanford.

Visiting the face-painting booth while gearing up to watch the John Butler Trio and Melissa Etheridge (and fireworks!) in SF.

Visiting the big trees in Big Basin.

This girl needs a social secretary.

zoology lesson

2010-05-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Sophie is particularly interested in unicorns these days. This morning's commentary:

"When unicorns hatch from their eggs, they look like horses. They grow up to be unicorns. After they grow their corn."

She then grabbed her stuffed Unicorn-Formerly-Known-as-Halloween and went to school.

pet parade

2010-05-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves a parade, especially Sophie, and the fact that it was a Pet Parade made it hard to beat...

That is, it was hard to beat until we ran into Stoney in the ice cream line.

Bay to Breakers

2010-05-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

Sophie checks out the fabulous sea of humanity at the SF Bay to Breakers race.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

Daddy made breakfast (Sophie supervised, sort of) and we later went to the Dutch Goose for beer and deviled eggs, at Mommy's request.

Life is good.

peek-a-boo

2010-05-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

hey, red!

2010-05-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

The next Flying Tomato?

attention to detail

2010-05-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sophie changed the horse she and Daddy were coloring the other day into a unicorn by, as she put it, "adding one corn."

coastal escape

2010-05-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Daddy's birthday weekend was spent cheering him on at the Big Sur marathon (his second marathon in 6 days) and playing at the beach in Carmel.

As Sophie likes to say, "Go, Daddy, GO!"

underwater exploration

2010-04-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Monterey Bay Aquarium.

happy earth day

2010-04-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

wave runner

2010-04-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

More like wave dodger.
Or rock scavenger.

pals

2010-04-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

purplicious

2010-04-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

like father, like daughter

2010-04-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

big girl

2010-04-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

dressy

2010-04-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Easter

2010-04-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

reunion

2010-04-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Cannon Beach, OR for a family reunion. A few highlights:

in the land of fairies

2010-03-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

A visit to Fairyland with cousins Ryann and Cameron.

spring fever

2010-03-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

We've had 27.5 inches of rain since November at our house.
This weekend's sunny weather was relished.

peas

2010-03-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

two in a pod.

Stophie, by definition:
Lots of love, some arguing, lots of laughter.

spring anticipation

2010-03-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

put your feet up

2010-03-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

Soph and Stone cool their heels after a solid playdate with minimal injuries...

batter up

2010-02-25T18:17:00.000-08:00

piggies

2010-02-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

These little piggies went to the circus...

stone skipper

2010-02-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

subject matter expert

2010-02-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Sophie explains the nuances of animal compassion while reading mommy's book, in which she appears with her dogs and cats.

valentine

2010-02-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

buying time

2010-02-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

Sophie uses the word "because" to buy time, much like other people use "um" or "like" or "you know".

us: Sophie, please go put the books in your room.
SJ: no, because.... someone might want to read them.

us: Sophie, please finish your dinner.
SJ: no, because.... I won't be hungry for a 'zert. (dessert)

us: Sophie, did you just empty my jewelry box?
SJ: yes, because.... I need a necklace for my mermaid kingdom.

You get the idea.

runs with accessories

2010-02-01T12:33:00.000-08:00

What? Doesn't everyone go for a run wearing polka dot rainboots, beads and a tiara?

puppy love

2010-01-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

A trip to Eugene, Oregon last weekend resulted in lots of dog hair (to which we are no strangers) and puppy licks, as Sophie communed with her grandparents' various new puppies.

Can you say, "heaven"?

Go, Daddy, GO!

2010-01-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

We met Daddy at mile 21 of the Woodside Trail Marathon, on his way to winning the race!

spelunking

2010-01-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

With Tinkerbell flashlight in hand, Sophie is ready for cave exploration.

tooting her own horn

2010-01-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

"faster!"

2010-01-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

stopping to smell the roses...

2010-01-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

Cheering on Mommy & Daddy's alma mater in the Rose Bowl.

day at the beach

2009-12-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

with cousins Ryann and Cameron

having ourselves a merry little christmas

2009-12-26T12:01:00.000-08:00

advent

2009-12-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Return of the Pajanta

2009-12-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Mommy was extremely disappointed to see that our Santa again this year forgot to get dressed.

Sophie, to her credit, refused to sit on his lap, but did proceed to tell him what she wanted (candy).

winter respite

2009-12-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

A short trip to Hawaii to root Daddy on at the Xterra World Championship.

holiday party

2009-12-11T22:58:00.001-08:00