About a month ago we took Sophie to the mall on an afternoon when it was raining and she had a blast playing on the mall playground. I think Dave had a lot of fun too!












She is so going to drive a truck when she gets older.














If you pay $1 you can get a grown man in a conductor's outfit to drive you around the mall. I love this town!

Sophie's absolute FAVORITE weekend activity is mowing the lawn with David!










I just said to dave today that it was nice that for a couple of months she was a "momma's girl" because there is no doubt now that she is a "daddy's girl"

Sophie made fingerpaint thank you cards (with a little bit of help from me) for the kids in the playgroup who gave her gifts!

Sophie says "I turned 1!"














She was a little hesitant to go right in for the cake until she realized that she was allowed to!









She didn't even use her hands at first - she just went face first! I made her the cream cheese frosting that she has already tasted from her father's favorite carrot cake.

Sophie had a little playdate with her friend Jenna while she was getting over her ear infection. They love to give hugs and kisses to each other, but half of the time they end up knocking each other over!






They are too cute!

Sophie has finally learned how to use her sippy cup all by herself. Who would have known that all you have to do is put some watered down O.J. in it?

Sophie kissing a cute baby at Ida Lee Rec center.

Joshua stealing food from Sophie.

These are the kids eating lunch at playgroup! Sophie was stealing food from Joshua.

This afternoon Sophie and I went over to Susan and Emi's for a playdate and Susan pulled the girls around the house in Emi's Wagon.


















Susan said that she usually puts some music on and gives Emi about 1/2 hour in this wagon every day!

This morning Sophie "rode" her winnie the pooh airplane backwards over to her toy box. She was so proud of herself for being able to get on this all by herself!

This morning I took Sophie to the pool with 2 other moms and their girls. Amelia was a little unsure about the water, but Sophie was giving her a reassuring pat on the back!

I was in the kitchen with Sophie and turned around to find her inside the legs of her highchair!















It took a little skill to get out, getting in seemed to be a lot easier for her!














Who needs a jungle gym when you've got one of these??

Sophie and Emi were sharing Emi's snacks today at playgroup. You can hardly make it out in this picture, but Emi wears a cute little neclace that she loves. She is one of Sophie's favorite play pals. In the background with the white blonde hair is Amelia, she is adorable too!

This afternoon Dave and I took Sophie to Ida Lee Recreation center which is just up the road from us. We thought she might like to take a dip in the pool. This is her checking out the other children swimming and splashing.
















Their children's pool is set up to gradually get deeper, like a beach, so she was able to wade right in slowly!











She loved to stomp and splash!


















It was very warm in the pool but her little lips were purple and her teeth were chattering. She still was happy to just watch the other kids swim and play. I think she wanted to play with them!

We got to NY on Friday night and this is Dave bright and early on Saturday morning!! Doesn't he look great? I tell ya I am so proud of him!!

Sophie fell in love at the aquarium with the baby that follows her around in all of the mirrors!

Sophie took a nap while we kept looking! This is in the 'Australia' section.

It's hard to get across how cute she was at this moment, but she was dancing to the music playing at the exhibit. She was really getting her little hips going!

Daddy and Sophie in the Rain forest. Sophie wanted to get down and walk to try to find the sloth, but we didn't think it was a good idea.

Sophie petting the turtle swimming right under her hand!

Dave, Sophie and I spent Mother's Day at the aquarium in Baltimore. We had a wonderful time. It was a great first Mother's Day for me!

It's official! She's a mobile unit! This is Sophie at the picnic on Saturday. I have met a lot of moms here and we always get together, but we thought it would be nice if our husbands met, so we had a picnic with the papas!















Sophie wanted to wear her party dress!


















Look at the clodhopper shoes she has! We went on Friday and got them at striderite. (double wides!)

Sophie loves the weekends when Daddy is home!

Sophie loves tractors and wanted to sit on the ones at frying pan park. After sitting on the small one, she pointed that she wanted to try the larger one!

















"This is sooo much better! I can get my crops tended in half the time with this baby!"

Dave had fun playing with the auto timer on the camera while Sophie ate lunch!

Part of being a mom, I'm learning, is that even though they can't talk...they have subtle ways of letting you know what they are thinking. Like for instance in this picture - you might not recognize it, but as her mother I can sense that she does NOT WANT ANY MORE PEACHES!!

After watching the horses for a little while, Sophie had a picnic lunch!



















I want to hold the washcloth!!

Sophie loves her Daddy!

Last weekend we went to frying pan park and they were having a steeplechase competition. (I think that is what it is called when the horses and riders jump all of those little fences) Sophie and Daddy were enthralled!

Sophie loves cats and dogs and she got some quality time bonding with Nicole and Nolan's cat during playgroup.

Mom and I took Sophie to "frying pan park" to see the baby animals there and to have a picnic. By far, Sophie enjoyed pushing her little cart on the grass much more than anything else we did that day. She was having so much fun that she even kept on her "hello kitty!" hat that my mother bought her (for 5 minutes at least).

This is Sophie giving her "sign" for bird at the park. I pinch my fingers in front of my nose like a beak when we hear or see birds, but all she does is point at her nose. Unfortunately, once she has her finger there she usually just starts exploring and so whenever she hears or sees a bird she starts picking her nose!

Grandma came to visit and Sophie had so much fun playing with her! She loves to walk, walk, walk! You can see the big fat frog that grandma bought Sophie in the second picture. Sophie loves to poke it in the eyes before she gives it a hug.