Halloween 2006

So, this was Sophie's second Halloween! We went to Tyler Arboretum's Fall Festival with Jen, Steven, and Lili for the third year in a row (it was Sophie's second time there). We got to go on a hayride, listen to music, eat bad-for-you food, see a bee hive, etc. It was a good time! Here are some pictures from the trip.....





Sophie checking out the pumpkins.



She kept taking all of the gourds out of the box and then putting them back in. Hours of endless entertainment, gourds are!




Bumping around on the hayride.



We also went to Pumpkinfest on Bodine Street, and Sophie got to wear her cute CUTE cow costume.




A cow says "moo moo".





Spencer and Sophie looking entirely too adorable. I mean cute! CUTE!

Sophie is now 14.5 months old

Today we took Sophie to the park since it was such a beautiful day out, and we had a really good time. She's really walking well now (bending her legs and everything!) She also loves to dance now, and to stomp hard when she walks on uncarpeted floors, because she loves to hear her shoes thump. It's hilarious.






Sophie playing on the slide, all wrapped up in her coat. She loves slides so much!




I really liked this picture of Mark and Sophie. They're so cute together.




Sophie's first encouter with a squirrel. She kept pointing at it and saying "dog" and "cat".




A nice warm bath after a tiring day.

Little Sophie Stocking Head

Sophie is full-on walking now! Over the weekend we went shoe shopping and got her her first real pair of walking shoes. It's just so crazy that she's turned into such a kid instead of a baby now! I tried to get a photo of her walking to post on the blog, but they all turned out looking like little Sophie blurs. I'll try to post one soon.

Yesterday I (Sue) was getting bored, so I decided to dress Sophie up. She's been dragging these leggings that I bought for her all around the house for days now, so I decided to put them to good use. Here are some pictures I took of her. In the second shot, I swear she's thinking "this lady's crazy.....what in the hell is she doing to me?? And how could anyone leave me alone with her?"






We visited Kim in Ephrata over the weekend, and had a really great time. Sophie's favorite parts of the trip seemed to be eating wood chips, eating grass, eating stones, and eating french fries. Here's a nice picture I took of Kim and Sophie while we were playing on the grass in Kim's backyard.

A Note From The Sophster

Sophie has been grumpy (which is really unusual for her!) because she has a whole bunch of teeth coming in at once. Her favorite thing right now is a frozen wet washcloth that she can gnaw on to get some relief. She's also taking what I call "B-movie zombie steps", where her arms stick out in from of her, and she shuffles along trying to walk but not really going anywhere. It's too cute!

Here are some recent pictures:



Sophie and Uncle Doug in a tacky, Hallmark movie pose.




Granddad with Sophie. Not sure what's going on in this one.



Kate made this beautiful box hat for Sophie. Oh man, this picture cracks me up! It looks like some kind of strange King Tut crown.



Sophie NEVER falls asleep in the stroller! Mark took this picture on the way home from a day of celebrating Lili's 3rd birthday. The party was a lot of fun, and Sophie was really worn out. We didn't realize for quite a while that A) Sophie was asleep, and B) that she was all slumped forward like a drunkard on the subway. Poor Sophie.

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You.....

So, on July 28, 2006 Sophie turned one year old! I can't really believe it! In some ways this past year has flown, and in another way, it seems so long since we took the trip to Florida to get her and bring her home. One thing is for certain....in that first year (I can't speak yet for the years to follow) kids change CONSTANTLY! You just get used to them being able to roll over and they're up and crawling. You baby proof the floor area for the crawler, and they pull up and grab everything off of the tables. You think they'll get up 3 times during the night for the rest of your life and you'll be sleep deprived and half deranged forever, and then suddenly you have that night where you wake up, the sun is up, and they slept all night long! It's been a great year, the best of my life, and I love that little girl with a fierceness that seems overwhelming sometimes. She's taught me so much already....about the capacity I have to love, how to live in the moment, how to have a sense of humor about the oddest situations you find yourself in, how to use a "snot sucker", how to change a "poo explosion diaper", and how to take care of myself while being a 24/7 caretaker of another human being's life.

So, anyway, enough mushy stuff. Here are some pictures of Sophie's first birthday.

Opening birthday gifts. She got so many cool gifts! She's having a field day playing with them now!

Sophie in her tacky, designed to embarrass her when she's 15, "birthday princess" tiara. I couldn't resist. She hated it. It stayed on for about 30 seconds. Long enough to snap a couple pictures, though, and that's what matters!

Eating her first slice of birthday cake. She was much neater and daintier than I thought she would be with it. What a cutie. I think she liked it.

So I think she enjoyed her first birthday, although really she had no clue why she was getting so much attention and so many gifts. It meant a lot to me to celebrate having her in our lives. I think maybe that's what first birthdays are all about.

Brown Family Reunion

We returned this past week from Sophie's first Brown reunion, which was in Highlands, North Carolina this year. It was out in the mountains, very rustic, and we stayed in individual cabins in this nice resort. Sophie was awful in the plane on the way there, but we had a great time once we got there. She got to meet approx. 65 Browns from around the country, and everyone was so glad to meet her. She was passed from person to person the whole time. We mostly hung out at the resort and caught up with relatives. We skipped the white water rafting and "bust your butt falls", which is a waterfall you jump off of into a pool of water far below. From the bruises people had after these experiences, we were very glad we skipped them. Here are some pictures from the trip.
This is Sophie and her new second cousin Allison. Allison is just a few months younger than Sophie, so next year we suspect that they'll be chasing each other around at the reunion. Next year's location....Lancaster, PA. No flying for us!!
Some of the Browns hanging around in the common central area of the resort. You can see the cabin we stayed in in the background, with the red rental car parked to its left.
Debbie, who works at a daycare, organized games for the younger kids. Here they are playing with a parachute. Somehow, they all ended up winning "prizes". Sophie got a glow in the dark mini frisbee that she lost almost right away. And then she somehow ended up with some other kids' rubber ducky. That's the way kids are :)
Here's an organized picture of some of the immediate Brown family members. There was one that included all 65 Browns, but since we were in it, we didn't get a picture of it.

We really had a good time, and it was so great to see everyone! Next year Sophie will be 2. That's a crazy thought.

Lots of new Sophie pics

It's been a long time since I've put an update up, so here are a bunch of pictures of Sophie from over the last couple of months. She's going to be a year old on July 28, you know. How time flies!!

Sophie in a moonbounce for the first time with Aunt Karen. She's looking pretty stunned by the whole thing!! Also, this was Sophie's first Kabobfest! She had a great time!

Sophie with Aunts Tracy and Mia at their baby shower.

Kicking back in the stroller at Tyler Park. She has this way of peaking out of the side of the stroller that is just too cute!

Oh, I love you, Giraffe!! I have to have you with me constantly!

Sophie enjoys a push in the swing with Daddy. You can't tell from the picture, but I'm pretty sure she had fun.

Sophie in the Tubbie

Sophie's first bath in the "big girl" tub, which is really an inflatable tub that fits inside the big tub.










Sophie hanging out with a friend on the floor in playgroup.










The other day in playgroup the kids "swam" in their own individual tubs together. So cute!! Sophie's the second from the left.

Spring Chicken

Spring is finally here, and we're so happy! Sophie's thrilled because now we can take walks more often, and she doesn't have to get bundled up, which she hates. So here are some new photos of the wee one that we've taken over the last few weeks.

Sophie really likes to sleep like this, with her legs up under her and her butt sticking up in the air.










Karen holding Sophie and Spencer. God....does it get much cuter than this? Spencer is about 2 months old now, but he's a little younger in this picture.







Zonked out after a full day of socializing. I don't think anything would have woken her up just then.










Sophie in her frou frou "Spring Celebration" dress (aka Easter dress for those of us that celebrate Easter). She's in Grandma Brown's lap for this picture. Unfortunately, Grandma Brown was not smiling. Doesn't Sophie look thrilled to be forced to be in a girly-girl dress???

Big Girl in a Big Stroller

Sophie is 8 months old already! Here are some wayyyy overdue pictures.
Just a cute picture of Soph.
Sophie looking giant next to her adorable, tiny, new cousin Spencer. Did I mention he's adorable??I'm such a BIG girl sitting up in my BIG GIRL stroller!
Sophie's adoption finalization! The dude in the picture with us is the notary that did it for us.

First Christmas and New Year

Sophie all wrapped up to watch the Mummers, and dad making rabbit ears over her head
Sophie and Mark and a Mummer
Our first Christmas as a family