Easter, baby

You pick up the egg out of the basket...

Open the egg...
And eat the Cheerios inside!

And you manage to do all this while wearing a big, puffy and pink dress. Now that's talent!

Thanks for the dress, Granny. And thanks to Aunt Phyllis and Grandma Sallie for the Easter bunnies.

Dumped

Yesterday our daycare provider unceremoniously and without warning dumped us. She said Sophie had been having trouble taking naps due to the all the commotion of the other kids and had therefore been pretty fussy and unhappy for the past couple of weeks. She then "let us go". She gave us no warning and no time to find another daycare provider. This announcement came completely out of the blue (especially since she has without fail told me how great Sophie's been from day one) and felt pretty much like being dumped by my boyfriend in the eighth grade. I went the following stages:

1) Shock. I had no idea she'd been unhappy in the relationship.
2) Sadness. I really thought we had a good thing going.
3) Anger. It is really unprofessional to withdraw services without due notice, after all.
4) If only. If only I had known sooner, I could have helpfully suggested ways to help Sophie nap at daycare. She naps very well at home, you know.
5) The other woman. Apparently, the daycare provider had another older, easier child waiting in the wings to replace Sophie.
6) And back to anger.

It took me about a week to get over my eighth grade boyfriend. I'm hoping to get over this one in a weekend and move on to someone better by Tuesday. Cause anybody who can reject this:

Clearly doesn't know a good thing when she's got it!

11 Months

Dear Sophie,

The past two months have all been about greater mobility for you. You've gone from sitting in place for the majority of time, occasionally rolling towards an interesting flash of color that has captured your eye, to constant on-the-go movement. You are a master crawler and climber, and you scamper out of your room whenever we leave your door open. You are very interested in the bathroom, perhaps because we don't let you explore that territory very often. You're also very keen on the piles of electrical cords coiled underneath the computer desk. You seem to think there is no greater pleasure than picking up an extension cord with your grubby little hands, placing it in your mouth and biting down.

Speaking of biting, you have sprouted a mouthful of teeth almost overnight. Eight new teeth to be exact. Teething has been a little painful but you haven't let it slow you down. In fact, you've grown into a champion eater, which is pretty funny because you remain in the tenth percentile on the baby growth chart. You have been known on occasion to down two pancakes, half a banana, peas and corn puffs all in one sitting. If your speedy metabolism keeps up, you will be one lucky girl indeed!

You are beginning to communicate and interact with people with a little more intention. You love to pull Daddy's glasses off of his face, then return them to him when he asks. You pause whenever Mommy says "no" sternly, although you generally return to the forbidden activity immediately afterwards. You're starting to lift your arms upwards when you want to be picked up, which isn't very often, because you'd much rather be off exploring the world by yourself.

Your favorite thing to do at the moment is to pull yourself upright into a standing position. You do this on the porch.

On the bookshelf in your room.

On the window ledge.

You'll stand there as long as you can, grinning our way whenever we come near, so proud of yourself.
And although babies have been pulling themselves up since the dawn of time, we're pretty darn proud of you too.