Sophie's new 'do

I couldn't take it anymore. Sophie's hair was a bit scraggly in the back. The bangs aren't growing too quickly at all, but the back was getting long and hot on her neck. We decided it was time for her very first haircut! We had it trimmed up short in the back so that it can start to grow into a bob. I'm going to try to let the bangs grow in and clip them back as they come in.

Miss Sophie wasn't exactly sure about the fabulous Miss S, who cuts both EJ's and my hair. She would NOT sit in the kiddy chair by herself, so they outfitted me with a cape (do I look stunning in zebra stripes or what?) and Sophie sat on my lap. She was a bit nervous at first, but then we kept her busy looking at photos of Miss S's dog, Lola.

The finished product, taken in the mirror:

Bye Bye Manny

I'll miss his goofy smiles and antics, but I won't miss the prima donna attitude. Bye Manny.

Sophie earns a sticker

When I got to daycare today to pick up Sophie and EJ, Sophie was playing with a sticker that she had stuck to her toes. The teacher asked Sophie to "Tell Mommy why you have a sticker," and she answered "Potty!" Apparently, several of the kids in her room are in training, and Sophie's been watching them. When they went to change her diaper, it was dry and the teacher asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She said yes, and as luck would have it, it was successful! Woohoo!!!! We have the little potties out at home so she starts to get familiar with them, so perhaps it's about that time.

K trained EJ using the Potty Training in a Day book. It was more like a weekend (a weekend when I happened to be out of town with friends!), and it was such a treat to have all the training done in just a few days...and only a few accidents over the next six months or so. Let's hope we're that lucky with Sophie!

Friends in the right places...

We had a busy weekend. It started a bit early on Friday afternoon, when we went to K's company's summer outing - a nice pool party and barbecue at the house of a co-worker. EJ had the best time in the pool and chasing down wildlife - tree frogs and salamanders. She found this cute red one and brought him home. Unfortunately, he (she?) didn't really like our home that much and appeared to be a bit "stiff" when EJ let him loose on Saturday morning.




On Saturday morning, we headed for Rhode Island, the only New England state we haven't spent any time in! Actually, we did get re-routed to the Providence airport once and had to rent a car to get home. And we had intentions of visiting Newport just before EJ was born, but then I was put on bed rest and it never happened.

Anyway, one of K's good friends from growing up just took a job in Newport and is living in Jamestown. We went down and spent the day (and night) with L and her daughter G (Dad, D, will be arriving in a few weeks after getting their old house on the market). I didn't realize it until I looked at the map the other night that they live on an island! (See little red dot, bottom center - just west of Newport.)




It's really a pretty easy drive for us to get there. We arrived around lunchtime on Saturday and walked down to the village to have a nice outdoor lunch. EJ and G rode their bikes all over the island (well, really, just within about a 1/2 mile radius, but it made EJ feel like an adventurer). After lunch, we walked back to the house and got little Sophie down for a much-needed late nap. While she was snoozing, L and I took the girls to a local beach on a cove. I could not believe just how WARM the water was! I mean, here in upper New England, the water is lucky to hit 65 in the late summer, but this water had to be at least 75! EJ and G had fun boogie-boarding (despite the seaweed that ended up in EJ's suit, and hair, and...). After some much-needed showering, we picked up some lobsters and introduced G to this fine New England delicacy.

Sophie had a great time playing with G:

We finished off the evening with a drive south to the tip of the island to a place called Beavertail park, where we watched the surf on the rocks and saw the lighthouse. It was a beautiful evening.

I gotta tell ya...I haven't spent a whole lot of time on the cape, but I'd take this little coastal RI town on an island any day over the traffic and congestion of the cape. It reminded me very much of Maine, but without as much coastal traffic on this beautiful summer weekend. Ahhh...it's good to have great friends in great places! We can't wait for G to visit us and to introduce her to some of our favorite sites in Boston. Hopefully, we'll be able to arrange schedules to visit each other often.

T minus 17: Olympics preparations continue

The Boston Globe had this nice photo collection today of the Olympic preparations in Beijing.

And, for all you Name That Tune fans...what's "na na na na, ooo moo ick me"? That's how Sophie sings "You are the Music in Me" from High School Musical 2. It's one of the songs I sing to her when she's not happy and we're rocking in her room. She's started singing along. Poor baby. I used to sing Billy Joel to EJ, and now I've resorted to singing tweeny bopper songs. Sigh. I'm sure the HSM3 soundtrack will be out in another month or two since they've started playing at least one song from it on Radio Disney.

This weekend, we're heading to Rhode Island to visit one of K's friends, L and her daughter G. L just took a job there and they are now official New Englanders!!! Hubby D is still back in the 'burgh wrapping up the house-selling list, so we're going down to hang out for the weekend. EJ is so excited, as she and G usually have a good time together.

T minus 18: Reunion and American Idol

Yesterday, we had a fabulous time at a travel reunion for the families who traveled to China with us. We had a cookout at one of the family's house. It was so nice to see all the girls together! We had a group photo, but whew - it's tough getting a bunch of girls in the 24 month age range to sit still, even when their big brothers and sisters are holding onto them!

Tonight, EJ participated in the local Idol competition at the town library. This is the 3rd year for it...she didn't sing last year, but jumped back in this year. She sang "Seven Things" by none other than Miley Cyrus. (I'm sure you're shocked by that...and thanks to a weekend of listening to the song, I now know all the words too!) Miley/Hannah Montana was almost a theme this year with most of the older girls singing her selections. EJ did a great job, although in the videotape, you'll probably just hear Sophie saying her sister's name over and over again!

T minus 19: Heat wave

It has been SO hot here the last few days. Guess that's normal for this time of year. In fact on the day we were married 20 years ago, it was 105 degrees in southwestern PA and the church was very small, very packed, and had NO air conditioning! That's why we look like we're ready to melt in the photo!

EJ has been having a good summer - lots of swimming at day camp. She goes there three days a week and then stays home two days each week on days when K is working from home. Yesterday, he took a break at lunch and went and picked up one of her friends to come over for the afternoon while he worked. The girls had a great time.

On Saturday evening, Miss S, one of the summer teachers at daycare, came over to babysit so that K and I could have a belated anniversary dinner. We did go out to dinner on Wednesday with the girls in tow, but we decided to have a nice dinner in the North End of Boston last night. We knew we were in good hands when Sophie spied Miss S coming in the door and went running over to give her a big hug. Ten minutes later, she was waving bye-bye to us with a big smile on her face...a definite clue that we don't get out enough! EJ was the same way when she was younger - one night she even ran to the closet to get our coats for us!

Anyway, K and I decided to just wander around the North End to find a restaurant...not a problem since there are a dozen in each block. We were torn between an old favorite and something new. We opted for the something new, a wonderful little spot called Trattoria di Monica on Prince Street. This "cozy" little place only had seating for 28 and the waitresses have to wait to clear a path to get to the tables, but the food was great. K had gnocchis in a tomato sauce with a splash of cream (gnocchis are his way of measuring Italian restaurants), and I had shrimp in a wine butter sauce over the finest angel hair pasta I've ever eaten. It was delicious!

After that, we walked over to Cafe Vittoria, our favorite coffee and dessert place in the North End. It was a bit warm for coffee, but we enjoyed some gelato there. Unfortunately, the A/Cs in all these places, while running, could not keep up with the opening of the door and the crowds of people. After dessert we walked around a bit. By the time we got back to the car, we were roasting. The temp display on the car said it was still 88 degrees out! Blech.

Speaking of cooling down, check out this story about the busiest Chinese pool!

Today, we're going to a picnic to see some of our adoption travelmates!