Grrribit!

Good thing that Daddy is full of hot air.


Wait.....what is the frog doing? It's spitting cold water at me. I'm not sure if I like this.


Wait.....maybe if I sit like a froggy....


.....and splash a little bit....


Ahhhh, look at that wonderful face. How could any girl not fall in love with a froggy swimming pool that spits water?

P.S. I know that apparently, technically, a frog says "ribit" but the Campbell girls have always heard that a frog says "gribit" and so "gribit" it will be. Some things just can't be changed.

Festival de la Familia

On Sunday, we went to the Festival de la Familia with Grandma and Grandpa. Unfortunately, after our big day the day before at Great America, Sofia didn't last quite as long as we would have liked. It was pretty hot as well but that didn't stop her from getting in some good dancing with the Aztec dance group and eating her fair share of quesadilla and beans.


Waiting at the front gate for Grandma and Grandpa.



Pretty girls in pretty hats.


Daddy in his pretty hat too!


Sofia had the best time listening to the Aztec dance group. As soon as the drums started playing she started dancing. She has this wonderful shoulder shimmy that is just hilarious. Unfortunately, it has been elusive for the video camera but I WILL get it on film one of these days.



Thanks for coming with us Grandma and Grandpa.

I know you are all sick of seeing videos of my daughter walking but this one was just too funny not to post. At Great America they have this attraction for kids where they can put a little boat in some rapids and then follow it's progress to the end. Well, Sofia put her boat in and then promptly lost interest in it. She did however have a great time walking down and back up the path. What makes this video particularly funny is the music that they were playing at the time we took it. I don't think John Williams could have scored this better. Turn your speakers up.

FUN, FUN, FUN!!

Today, Sofia and I joined Clyde and his ninth grade and jazz bands at their annual "Music in the Parks" Festival. The kids and Clyde left at 7:30 this morning on a bus and performed at the festival. Then, they were let loose at Great America for the day. Sofia and I joined them at the park for our first real whole day outing like this.

Last year at this time, we went on the same trip. We had not yet met Sofia but we did have her referral. We spent the day walking around the park scoping out the rides we thought she might go on, talking about what we thought she would be doing and dreaming about what this trip would be like the following year. I can tell you first off.....there's a whole lot more S**T you have to take with a 15 month old!!!! Here's how the rest of it went down......


Ahhhh yes, there's my girl. Taking her morning nap in the car, just as planned. A nice 1 hour, 10 minute nap and she should be good as gold.


But wait, a phone call just came in....gotta get it!! And this I don't get! Neither Clyde nor I are big phone talkers. The only person I ever spend any significant time on the phone with is my sister, and that usually occurs after Sofia has gone to bed so I am completely at a loss as to why this sudden interest in the telephone. Everything goes up to her ear, in this case, it was the shoe phone and she says, very emphatically a Sofia version of "Hello" (at least I think that is what she is saying....can't be too sure on this one).


I've got the map......I know where to go! Follow me everyone, I've got it sussed.


Look Daddy, over there. Can we go on that one, please, please, PLEASE?


Okay, I don't know who these turkeys are because Mum and Dad won't let me watch the telly, but I hear they are pretty big stuff in the toddler set. I guess I'll pose.


Dora, Dora, Dora!


It was a beatiful day today.......80's, sunny and warm. Perfect weather for sunnies and a sunhat.


Waiting in line.....a pro already.


And look at this.......you can't tell this is her very first ride at a theme park, can you? She may have been cool, calm and collected, but Mum and Dad were over the moon at finally having an excuse to ride Dora's Dune Buggies.


This was the theme of the whole day......"Thanks Mum, but I've got it." "Um, put me down Mum, I can walk now......I got it". "Mum, PUT ME DOWN!"


Another ride....the snails this time. Things were getting beyond the extreme factor in toddlerville by this point. It truely is amazing what we will submit ourselves to for our children, isn't it? Given my stomach's weak disposition for anything that goes in circles....yeah, well I'll leave out the gory details.


And ice cream.....you've gotta have ice cream. Sof still has a love / hate kind of thing going with ice cream but she had to keep going back for more just to try and figure out which side was winning.



I think I'll just lie my head down on this bench for a little breather.

Sofia did amazingly well today. She was a good sport given that she didn't get anywhere near her normal naps. She was pleasant and great fun. When we got home she spent a good 20 minutes telling Fugly all about it in bed. As for Clyde and I, as we walked out of the park we were already wondering what it will be like next year.

Round and round and round

You've gotta admit, Mum's video work is pretty damn good considering she was going round and round with the girl. Turning is not my stong point....it ususally results in nausea.

What can you say?

Hand Picked

Tonight, we got Sofia fed, bathed and in her jammie jims super quickly and had some time together for some serious goofing off before bed. She was in such a giggly mood and was having so much fun just seeing where her little legs would take her. Everything was funny tonight!!!

The Purple Purse

So we were cleaning out Sofia's closet over the weekend and came across this little purple shoe box with a ribbon handle. We put it on the chair with all the other stuff that needed to go out to the garage and that is where Sofia found it. She picked it up and has carted it about the house as her very own handbag ever since. A girl's gotta accesorize, right?

A milestone.......of sorts

Today our sweet Sofia is 15 months old. An odd age to make note of I know, but today marks the day when Sofia has been home with us for longer than she was in Guatemala. I don't know what kind of milestone this is, but it feels like one.

I will always be thankful that Sofia had such a wonderful and caring foster family for the first seven and half months of her life, but I worry about Marta and her family with all of the uproar in Guatemalan adoptions. She is supporting her mother and four sons with the money she makes from fostering babies and now, with adoptions winding down, her livlihood has most probably been taken away from her.

So today we are, as we are every day, so happy to have our Sofia home with us but we also spare an extra thought for the woman who cared and loved our baby girl so well.

Budding Aviator?

Grandpa Robin....this one's for you. Sofia feels it is her duty to point out every hairyplane and hotdoctor she hears whether or not she can actually see it. She appears to remember all that you taught her on the beach by LAX on the way home.

Toddling

It's official!! I am Mama to a toddler. Sofia's preferred method of transportation is now, more often than not, on two feet. Everything is suddenly in fast motion. She has free hands and so "stuff" is being moved left and right. And while she still hasn't perfected turning corners I am certain she will have that sorted by the time she wakes in the morning.

Twofer

This is Sofia getting ready to go out. She now, for sure, recognizes herself in the mirror and we always take a look to make sure we are up to scratch before we head out. This sequence of photos cracks me up. She was mugging and posing and generally letting herself know just how fabulous she is. And, I may be a bit biased here, but I couldn't agree with her more. Too bad we can't take the little girl out of the mirror. I'd take another one, just the same, in a heartbeat.

A little night music.

Sofia gave us a little concert before bed last night. Don't you just love how she uses the whole keyboard, at least as far as her little arms will reach.

Bath Monster

All Hail....

.....the magic milk warming machine.

Where's my pony daddy?

Check out the scrape down Sofia's nose. The first of many I am sure. It's tough being a big kid.

Mates!

How absolutely cute is this?

This is Sofia with one of her best mates, Peter, who lives across the street. They were pushing each other back and forth in Sofia's Radio Flyer up and down the footpath.




Whoops....lost focus for a minute.


Peter's turn. Sof is thrilled. Peter pushes her way faster than Daddy does. Look at her face.....I definately think she has a taste for speed. I hope Peter isn't allowed a motorcycle when he grows up - he's a wild man!

Hangin' with the big kids!

Today when I dropped the Sofster off at school, Miss Wendy asked her "When are we going to see you walk, Sofia?". Sof is the youngest kid at school and is the only one still crawling. She has consistantly been taking two, maybe three steps and falling flat on her face, which by the way, she finds extremely funny, but nothing more than that.

Well, something clicked with her today.

Maybe it was all the big kids at school but apparently she walked all over the place today, and it didn't stop when she came home. In fact, she was so determined to keep up with the big kids that she got a nice scrape all down her nose from going down the slide face first into the ground. She's a pretty tough kid though and it didn't keep her down for long.

GO SOF GO!

New duds

The mailman delivered Sofia a package today from her Aunt, Uncle and cousins in New Zealand full of wonderful summer clothes. One of the few, in fact, probably the only advantage of living in different hemispheres, is that it is possible to buy clothes for the others season at really good sale prices. So, Sof got new, super cute Pumpkin Patch clothes.
Unfortunately, the model was only up for one showing so you will have to wait and see the other ensembles in action. Thanks Wilsons!!