Comparison

Sophia in the hat at 5 months old, and now at 16 months old, what a change. Too fast!

The hat

Putting the hat on by herself


with help, she looks ready to take on the world


We were going out in the morning and it was a little cool, so I kept her in her warm clothes. The shoes in this pic are fake crocs, they are her house shoes because they are getting small. They are the only pair she can put on all by herself and she loves to do it, so we just keep them inside.


Here she is in the kitchen while I work, she only tried to get up once (there are tons of interesting 'no touches' she likes), and when I told her to stay on her bottom she scooted right back. Good girl!

vegetables and butt time

So, the other day I decided to give Sophia some 'butt time,' this is time without a diaper, I am not consistent with this and need to really start working on it. This first time was right before her bath, I let her walk around naked for a little bit, a few minutes later I see her squatting, looking up at me smiling and wiping her hands all in the puddle of pee she had just made...:)

Our next feat was trying to get her to eat plain vegetables, we have been traveling so much that the point is usually just to get her to eat a good meal. And she is a good eater. But she refused my carrots and green beans (boiled and bland). We were not backing down. She went without lunch, without afternoon snack, and refused. But then I realized that veg is veg and it really is okay if I add a little oil salt and pepper (aka, chinese style: stir fry). China has the best veg in the world and they make it taste so good. We ordered out for dinner and got stir fry veg, we added her carrots and green beans to the other veg and she ate it all like a champ. David says this is caving, and it probably is, but we live in China, why not eat China style? The Chinese diet, with all its oil and salt, is still far better than the average American diet. We are sticking with the stir fry veg! Sophia eat your heart out!


Sophia prancing around in her new 'Thai' outfit, the elastic was a little tight on her chunky arms


Sophia's 'shopping' bag, when I tell her what it is she repeats: 'hopping' (shopping)
she is repeating so much these days.


Probably one of her favorites was this purchase from Singapore, her own little stroller to push around, she LOVES it.

Happy Birthday Bro Trav

Julie, Travis, and Sophia (June 2008)


Yes, this month this blog will be all about birthdays. Since this is my first year having a blog and these people are very special to me, I will post a little shout out on their bdays this year! Our bro, Travis has a birthday today (Nov 5). We love and miss you and wish we could have participated in your party!!!

Incidentally these pictures were taken by Kristin Cook of Poiema photography, she took pictures of our family and the Williams in June before we left! They were great! Thanks so much Kristin!

A village day

we went to visit some friends in a village about 20 minutes away. At lunch, Sophia sat at the table with us and munched away for the first time on Pak Zuo, which is one of our favorite local dishes. It kind of tastes like collard greens. They made this bowl not too spicy and she loved it. We couldn't believe it!

we visited about four different homes and finally ended up hitching a ride on a tractor going by to get back to our host's home.


Sophia lucked out in this village home---a keyboard, she was occupied for quite a while


And every child's favorite: bubbles.
We had a great few hours out with our friends, we came home right after lunch and Sophia is now snoozing away.

Heather

Happy Birthday Heather!!!
One of my dearest friends in the whole world is this chick, Heather (center, above). Here we are with Jewels (Julie), my sister, my other dearest friend in the whole world. This is what we usually do when we are together--Laugh!
Seriously, Heather is the type of friend that is once in a blue moon sort of thing. She keeps me laughing, but she keeps me sharp too, meaning, she is not afraid to be serious, to question things, to really seek the face of God. She challenges me to do this too. She is incredibly loyal but not blindly so. She doesn't compromise. She is one of the smartest people I know, and one of the greatest servants I have ever seen. I still have so much to learn from her. And yes, I hope to keep doing it from a thousand miles away. Thanks Heather, for being a sweet, precious, very real friend. Happy Birthday!!!

David's 31st birthday (oct 25)

The family at the Hard Rock Cafe, Singapore. Food was good, service was lousy. But we had fun, and Sophia loved the balloons and chicken tenders with honey mustard.


everywhere we went had crayons and things for Sophia to do while waiting for food, what a blessing.


The man of the hour, David, born October 25, 1977.
Later that night a friend came over to watch Sophia at her bedtime so we could go on a date.


heart to heart with daddy on his birthday.
Thankful for the amazing husband, father, leader, friend, that David is.