Visiting Uncle

As much as I love spring on the prairies, I have to say that spring in Vancouver is just as wonderful. Sophia and I made a spontaneous trip (okay, unplanned until the night before) to Vancouver to offer some healing baby love to Uncle Todd. Todd fell off a ladder the previous week, collapsed a lung and spent several days in hospital. So what would be better for a guy recovering from a chest tube and very sore body than an eight month old and her giggly smiles? It turns out that it was a good choice, as living with Sophie made him move more than he probably would have had he just been hanging out at Mom and Dad's. There was a lot of crawling around on knees (Todd's not Sophia's) as she discovered that her Uncle was more than happy to walk her around the house. Once that weakness was figured out, Sophia had her uncle wrapped around her little finger... or her little fingers wrapped around Todd's big ones. All in all, we had a wonderful visit, and Uncle Todd got a really good dose of his niece.



Looking for a Deal
Seems that Sophia has developed my love of flyers. Okay, sometimes, when the days get long at home, I get a little too excited about the flyers arriving... but what else can you do on -30 days? Maybe it's a Mantel trait, as my family seems to spend a lot of time looking at flyers as well. No matter who's to blame for this strange penchant, Sophia loves her flyers. The colours, the noise, the taste of ink. She would make Todd walk her over to them and then she would quickly plant her diapered bottom on the ground so that she could take a closer look. We do have to watch pretty closely though, as those little sharp teeth of hers tears paper off quite well. When she gets a piece she tends to stick the wet gob in her cheek, much like a squirrel storing nuts. Ever try to pry wet slimy paper out of an insistent infants mouth?


So many to choose from and they all look so tasty!

Oh, the deals, oh the sales! Did you check this one out??

The best way to see the world
This is Sophia's favorite way to play... standing on the edge of the table, banging toys or coasters, making noise and drooling all over the place. She also quite enjoys trying to see under the table, which leads to great body contortions and the occasional bumped head. The girl has a head like concrete. She is also practicing standing on one foot. For some one just learning the full range of motion of her legs, she has fantastic balance. She must get that from her father....




Auntie Ciara
We got to visit with Ciara! We haven't had a good visit with her since October, which is a very long time ago. The girls (Tanya, Ciara and I) went for dinner without the babies (!) and had a lovely time chatting and laughing. What a treat to have dinner while it was still warm and without wrestling with a child. After dinner we bid farewell to Tanya and Ciara headed back to my place to play with Sophia a little more. Mom has managed to keep the toys that Todd and I played with back in our younger days, and stores them in a big tupperware for Sophia. Well, Ciara and I were remembering the "good old days" and dragged out every toy and showed them each in turn to Sophia. Well, she didn't care about the cool toys, she wanted into the container. So, she happily stood and watched as Ciara and I played with all the toys!

Auntie Ciara showing Sophia what to do