Thanksgiving 2013

For Thanksgiving this year we drove up to Idaho with Natalie and Brodie to visit my sister and her family. They recently bought a house there and were nice enough to share it with us for the holidays. My parents and Jobe, their dog, also drove down from Washington so we were all together except for my brother Derek, who comes home from his mission in Brazil in just a couple weeks - hooray!

Over the break we saw Catching Fire (and loved it!), went bowling, played lots of games, and enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving feast. At this time of year we are thankful for many things, but are especially thankful for our awesome families. We are grateful that we got to see the Lamberts this week, and are now counting down the days until our trip to Texas to see the Howes. We love you all!!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Post-Thanksgiving Nap

While there, my sister took some pictures of our little family. We were out there for only 2 minutes, but she got some good ones, including one we can use for our Christmas card. 

Cousin time in the tub

Failed attempt at a jammie picture on the couch

The second one didn't get any better...

Sophie at 8 Months - Take Two

So photo attempt two didn't go any better than the first time around. Oh well.

Sophie is developing a strong, yet sweet personality. She is so happy and seems to just love life. Dave and I are both impressed and a bit worried by how determined she is to get around. She pushes herself to the limit and seems to be learning a new skill every day. Sophie is also quite the chatterbox and is usually only quiet when she's up to no good. This month she learned how to say "mama", and  I love to hear her go "mom mom mom mom mom" as she crawls around the house. She is such a joy!!

Sophie at 8 Months

• Weighs 18.5 pounds and is 27.5 inches tall
• Has 5 teeth - 2 on top and 3 on the bottom
• Is go, go, go all day long. This girl can crawl across the room in seconds and pulls up on everything.
• Favorite activities include playing on the dishwasher door, Skyping with grandparents, sticking her fingers in the VCR, peek-a-boo, bath time, mealtime, and being naked.
• LOVES to eat! I am pretty sure she is a bottomless pit. I still nurse about 4 times a day and she eats 3-4 jars of baby food and a big bowl of oatmeal before bed. She also likes the food to come fast. If we wait too long between bites she will start to eat her bib or her fingers and then smear it in her hair. 
• Enjoys reading books with us and will turn the pages if we help lift them up a little bit. 
• Still very attached to her binky. On the upside, she has learned how to put it in her mouth by herself - hallelujah!! On the downside she has learned how to throw it out of her crib, which leads to lots of sadness during nap or in the night. 
• Hates putting on anything with long sleeves and acts like we are torturing her when it's time to get dressed. It's going to be a long winter....

My cutie pie - love those chubby cheeks!

Sophie at 8 Months - Take One

Sophie turned 8 months today, but decided that she didn't want to have her picture taken. Apparently sitting is for babies and she thinks she is a big girl now and wants to stand. She was not very happy when I tried to convince her otherwise. We'll try again tomorrow...

All she wants is her two front teeth

Sophie has so far been a pretty cheerful teether. She got her two bottom teeth around 4 months without any fuss, and then a third bottom tooth appeared out of nowhere a couple weeks ago. Now the top two are coming in, and although she's puts on a good face, I can tell her poor little gums are hurting this time.

Most of the time she is still her normal happy self...

But sometimes she feels like this...

So until those teeth are fully in, she'll be putting those teething rings to the test - nom, nom, nom!

Nothin' much happening around our house...

Free time has been pretty scarce in the Howe house lately, as Dave and I have both been very busy with school and work. Even now I am blogging not because I have time, but because I don't feel like doing the work that I really should be doing. Sigh...

Sophie, on the other hand, has had plenty of time to explore and show us every part of our house that is not baby proofed. She is a crawling master and pulls up on everything. Today she started standing up in the bath tub, crawled behind the toilet while I was showering (gross), discovered the kitchen garbage can and pulled out a few paper towels to munch on, and found the stairs (I knew they couldn't hide forever). I am trying to figure out the right balance between letting her explore and stopping her from cracking her head open. Oh this baby....

Helping me with some laundry

Playing with the dishwasher is always a favorite activity, especially if silverware is within reach

Shoving her burp cloth into the VCR (sorry, bad iPad pic) - can you tell Dave "combed" her hair?

Wishing she could go outside to play

Reading in her room - she is starting to discover that books are better for looking at than eating