Wow - has it been two weeks already?

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. Time flies when you're having fun. Or incredibly busy. Or sick. Again. I have a horrible cold for the third time in six weeks and another eye infection. Sophie just finished her 2nd course of stronger antibiotics and is still coughing and dripping like a faucet. EJ, thankfully, has only missed one day of school in all of this, but did lose her voice for another day or two. And Sunday night, K came down with it too. Miserable. But we're sharing it like a good family should, I guess.

Okay, on to what's happened in the last few weeks.

EJ had a presentation at school last week about Native Americans. Her group covered the Northwest Indians:

I celebrated my 38th birthday (again, and again...and well, maybe some more). Honestly, the cake had a 38 on it! Of course, that was because EJ couldn't find the "4" candle anywhere, so she used 38 and then added a few. She and Sophie got me a lovely tea-themed gift (a new mug, some tea, and teacup ornaments for the Christmas tree) that she went shopping for with dad.

For Turkey Day, we traveled to my brother's family's house north of Philadelphia. Thanks, bro, for hosting! Hope none of you are sick this week. Everything was yummy! On Friday, we took a drive into the city. EJ has wanted to see the Liberty Bell for years, but usually we're there in passing and never have a few extra hours to make it into the city, so we made sure we got there this year. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's grave, Betsy Ross' house, and Elfreth Alley. And, we had a great cheesesteak for lunch with soft pretzels for an afternoon snack. Other than the frigid wind, it was a great day. EJ commented on the way back to my brother's, "That was even more fun than I thought it would be!" The girl loves history! I guess I owe a big shout out to the American Girl company for helping with that.

We drive back to New England on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Sophie decided to read the newspaper.

EJ is taking art lessons this year with an artist here in town who teaches group classes. Here is a picture of Sophie she sketched in the back seat of the van on the way home:

And this was the project in class she most recently finished. I think it's pretty darn good! This week, she started a drawing of giraffes.

Sophie Can Walk!!!

Last night, while dinner was cooking, K was in on the family room floor playing with Sophie. She was standing up on her own and she looked like she wanted to take a step in the worst way, but just stood there and smiled at him. A little while later, I went in and stood her up, held onto her mid-section to get her balanced a bit, and then scooted back and reached out for her. She took three little steps toward me! We all saw it and we made such a big deal out of it that she sat there and clapped for herself and laughed for several minutes. Very cute.

So, we stood her up to do it again, and again, and again. And she got quicker each time to the point where she just started to fall forward into my arms and laugh without even taking a step. And when I would stand her back up and try to steady her before letting go, she would push my arms out of the way...she didn't want any help, I guess! We did catch it on video and will try to get a clip loaded in the next few days.

A very touching side story is that EJ was SO excited to see her little sis walk for the first time. After Sophie was able to repeat it a few times, EJ looked at us and said, "I'm so excited for her I could cry!" and her eyes were all misty. How sweet is that? They just love each other so much.

Of course, it won't be all sweet and lovey at all when Sophie can walk over and mess up all of EJ's stuff.

Misc

A few random items:

Yesterday was a wonderful day. We had a travel reunion with all of our China travelmates and Sophie got to visit with all of her "China sisters" (girls who were adopted on the same trip)! We had a fantastic time...it was so good to see each other after 5 months or so of being home with the girls. We all met for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We had folks traveling from all over New England to be there, and it was wonderful. We attempted to recreate the famous Red Couch photo from the White Swan (click here for the original), but these cuties are too darn mobile now to corral them all:

Here is my favorite photo from the day--Sophie wtih Lillian, the owner/director of China Adoption With Love, our agency. I'm so glad she could come and meet the babies! Sophie went right into her arms, which says a lot, because Sophie is very shy until she warms up to you...apparently, she sensed how special Lillian is in our lives!

Let's see...it's been a while since we've had an EJ fashion posting, so here's an outfit from her fall collection:

And finally, Sophie discovered the magic that is mint chocolate chip ice cream:

Tea for Two

EJ decided to have a tea party with Sophie on Sunday evening. EJ set up everything, "poured the tea" into Sophie's cup, and then sat back to enjoy, but all Sophie wanted to do was bang the cups together:

Strike a Pose

I thought I would take EJ's picture the other night. She had on a skirt that Grandma H had sent her for the start of school and a new sweater that I bought her from Land's End in the spring. Here are the results of the photo shoot:

I swear she just gets sillier by the hour...