Strawberry Shortcake

Today was first day Sophie used a spoon on her own. Making that step of giving her control and knowing that you'll end up with not only a messy table, messy chair, messy floor (if you don't have dogs) but also a very messy child. But it had to be done.

We started with our afternoon snack of Greek yoghurt, strawberries and crushed graham crackers (delicious, I might say). So we got everything prepared - vinyl tablecloth (easy clean up) and de-clothed the child.

I was quite impressed with her ability to hold the spoon and get the food into her mouth. I would dip it in and give it to her since she hasn't quite gotten that figured out yet.... That is until she decided that using her hand was much, much faster.



It was a step in the right direction- letting go of the spoon and letting Sophie take control. I wish I could post her scent after snack because she smelled like a Strawberry Shortcake doll. (And looked like one too!)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Chrismas in Malaysia.


Decorating the tree was so much easier this year than it was last year without the extra person inside of me!)

Playing with Molly

I've been teaching Sophie which toys are hers and which ones belong to the dogs. She's pretty good at giving them their toys and will even do so when we tell her to "give to Molly/Max."

Molly is a very interesting dog- quite protective and selfish- she wants her toys and she doesn't know how to share that well. So it was very surprising when I saw Sophie and Molly playing with the bone yesterday. S gave it to M, M dropped it, S picked up and gave to M, etc. then it was tug of war - Molly won, of course but it was sweet.

Floatie love

While we were in Melbourne, we bought Sophie two new floaties - an inner tube and some arm floaties. We keep the pool bag, packed and ready to go, by the front door- you never know when you'll get a chance to hit the pool in tropical weather.

She was playing up in the front room when she decided to use her floatation device as a seat. Since that day, she's been lounging in it as if she were floating down the river.

Makin' a break for it

We usually keep the front grill open during the day to let the dogs wonder in and out- we don't use the A/C. This is a perfect example of "I thought you were watching the baby..." I was in the kitchen cooking Turkey dinner and Thomas was making a Christmas playlist on itunes - clearly, his was way more important! Then all of a sudden he asked if Sophie was with me- "no- I'm cooking, you're watching her." Then we found her - here - sitting in front of the gate with Molly holding a leaf.




The grill is closed more often now!

Fantastic Friday

Since living abroad, there are 2 things that we never get to do on time. Eat Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day and watch the annual UT-A&M game.

Every once in a while we're able to watch the game- well, actually 2 times in the past 6 years, 3 if you count the time we were in States for Turkey day.

This year, Thomas had Black Friday off - not because the Malaysian government wants us to go out shopping but because it was Hari Raya. We won't get into what they do on that day because the mere thought of it makes me very very sad. So anyway, back to the day at the Petersens.

Thomas and I woke up first and threw on our Texas gear then woke Sophie up and put her Texas gear on (thanks to the ever thoughtful Terry & Leslie Sims). She looked so cute. We decided they only way to celebrate being able to watch the game - LIVE- was to eat a proper Texan breakfast- big yummy breakfast burritos and a lush touch of mimosas. Then it was game time. Sophie had slept in a bit longer than normal (I think in preparation to watch the full game- she was excited about it), so there was no morning nap for her and we all watched as the Longhorns beat the Aggies. It was a great game with some close calls but we came through.



Next on the agenda- cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We did a few dishes the day before so it wasn't too much to do but still time consuming. Four hours later, James came over, Sophie woke up and we sat down to Turkey dinner. As you can see - baby's first thanksgiving was successful - she brought her appetite! That's my hand in the picture - the only part of me you'll see in Thanksgiving '09. Thomas was told the following day after I looked at the pictures. I thought he had taken one of me and Sophie. Not so much. Anyway, 2 plates of food later and apple crumble, ice cream and coffee... we rolled James out to his car and took our full bellies to bed.





Today officially kicks off the holiday season.. Woohoo!!!

Chill-axing with the dogs

If only there was a better view...