Halloween Booty

We had a wonderful day today! Sophia had so much more fun than I hoped today. I expected to have a 2-year-old day today because of the candy and confining costume. The opposite was true, and I am so grateful!

When we first started the discussion of the costume before nap, Sophia had to put it on and go across the street to visit William and Casey.

Here's her first knock of the day.

When she got up from her nap, we headed to Daddy's office and cruised the downtown stores. She was definitely hesitant at first, saying that her bucket was full after two candies. As they all do, she got the hang of it quickly.

By the time the Chandlers arrived, Sophia was ready to break free with Blake and Madilyn.

Luckily for Sophia, Madilyn was there for support and encouragement when needed.

By the end of the downtown loop, Sophia was worn out. All of that speaking on command got to her, I guess.

Then we just headed home to cruise our neighborhood and see the boys in their costumes.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, and Sophia had a great day as a cat. And she also got tons of candy...

Feeling Loved

All this talk about love last week, had me thinking over the weekend. Since having Sophia, I have discovered that I feel most loved when I see people loving Sophia.

On Sunday, we went to visit Momo. She is my dad's mother, and we haven't been able to visit since we returned for Popo's funeral. We also got to visit with my Aunt Linda and her lovely husband Russ. We didn't get any good pictures because Sophia was literally a blur, since Momo always has m&m's on hand. During our visit, I had a reprise of a feeling that I've noticed cropping up before. Sophia is lovable and cute and smart, yada, yada. But right off the bat, Linda, Russ and Momo were loving on her so much! The result was that I felt very loved. (Russ loves Linda, who loves me - you get the point) It's a love chain. I couldn't help but feel that because of my relationship with them (faulty and lacking as it may be), they loved me enough to care deeply for my daughter. Anyway, I just really enjoy watching people reflect their love of me onto Sophia, even when she's not performing or chatting or necessarily being lovable.

Of course I notice this in my own interactions with other people's children or friends or whatever. If I care about someone deeply, I care about what they care about (within boundaries, without feeling their feelings). I'm just saying. Take a look around and see who matters to people who matter to you. Get it? Love chain.

Two Good Ones

In spite of the overall failure of our attempt to capture a "family moment," Casey did get a couple good ones in the mix. They just happen to both include me. What can I say? I do a lot for the quality of a photo.

In this one, Sophia actually looks like my child. Yep, those are some VanDyke eyes you're looking at.

In this one, we took advantage of Sophia's desire to be elsewhere...

Family Photos with a 2-year-old

On Saturday after the parade, we went to Rock Bridge State Park with David and Casey and the boys as we had done last year. It worked out perfectly last year because we each had someone handy to take a family photo and snap some shots that we each would have missed. This year, it was not so ideal.

It was our own fault to start out with. We told Sophia we were going to a park, and she had the entirely wrong idea about what that meant. There were no swings or slides, just rocks and trees. Not really to Sophia's liking. She kept saying, "Let's go to the park now!" Poor thing. She was distracted by a few things. Water:

A leaf lasted a couple seconds.

It was almost comical really. Any time I would get close for a picture, she would push me away or simply turn the other way or yell something unpleasant. That's always a good feeling. After a lengthy walk through the woods, maintaining the hope that we would round a corner on a new attitude, we decided to give it up. On the way out, Sophia was happy because she was riding Daddy's back. So this is the best family photo I could get. Even then, she didn't really want to smile. She just couldn't help it.

Once we neared the van, she - of course - didn't want to go. Erick tried to snap a shot of her "flying" around the grass, but for some reason the camera focused on the grass. I just love the look on her face in this one. So sweet. So deceptively sweet.

Monday Laugh

Just thought I'd share a chuckle with everyone on a Monday. Last week, while we were playing, Sophia fell down (as she does so often). This time, she decided to "call" her friend Ava and tell her about it.

"I slipped and tripped, Ava!"

Mizzou Homecoming, the parade

So we got up bright and early this morning to go to the Homecoming Parade. We went last year, but Sophia really wasn't old enough to enjoy it.

This year, she found a new appreciation for all the activity, people, floats and especially the marching bands. Here she is clapping for one of the marching bands that passed by.

Sophia was a big time Daddy's girl today, so she didn't get too involved in candy snatching or anything.

But once she saw the Mizzou Gymnastics team tumbling down the street, she was very interested. Here's a "Daddy, look at that!"

Mostly, she just ended up sitting on the ground after that, but it was at least an improvement in her involvement level. We had a lot of fun once she got into it. She started to try her own flips, and that got a little out of hand in the crowd, so we headed home halfway through the parade, but it was still a lot of fun for all of us! Go Tigers!

Mizzou Homecoming, Part I

Tonight was "House Decs" at Mizzou. A tradition where the Greek organizations on campus go all out to put on skits in front of their houses, complete with complicated sets, lighting and characters.

We were very excited to take Sophia to the first one that she would enjoy. So we bundled her up.

In my rush to bundle Sophia and pack all the necessities, I forgot to change out of my slippers. My friend Erica insisted they were fine, but they're red. I'm just saying. I look like the crazy old lady who wears slippers everywhere. No offense.

Sophia got a balloon, so all was well in her world.

And seeing her friend Ava was the icing on the cake! Obviously they're comparing balloons here. Fortunately, both purple.

Now we're excited for the parade and all the Homecoming glory of destroying the Colorado Buffaloes!