As evidence of the previously mentioned parroting, here are a couple videos of Sophia going through the alphabet with me. She does get caught up in a couple places, like with "I" (eye! I know that one) and "U" (You! I know that one), and she had to take a couple runs at it, but things are always a little harder when there is a camera pointed at you (it was the 4th time she did it in a row by the time we thought to haul out the camera). Also, here is evidence that she says "'puter"for computer, even though it seems to apply to other technology like the camera.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Vocabulary
Sophia's vocabulary has been growing steadily, and the most exciting thing is that she is now parroting. She will repeat almost anything we say (although she still has trouble with some sounds). In addition, she still will occasionally launch into a string of what we like to call "Baby Swearing" although it is not always when she is angry, just when she has something to say. kind of "argalargaraglaphlaglarwarg." We haven't caught any of it on tape yet, but when we do we will post it.
She knows a lot of sign language and uses these signs correctly with regularity:
*Potty (letter "t" held up and shook)
*Please (hand on chest)
*Thank you (hand touches lip)
*Cheese (hands face-to-face and rub)
*More (fingertips of both hands touch)
*Milk (fists squeeze, as if milking)
*All done (hands wave in front, often violently)
*Bath (hands move up and down chest as if washing)
*Love (a hug)
*Tired/Sleep (hands folded on the side of the head)
*Hot (hand over mouth)
*Banana (Peeling a finger like a banana)
Many of these are now accompanied by the words themselves, since her word vocabulary has also exploded. For example, this morning she said "poo-poo", then "potty" and made the sign for potty, so I took her to the potty and she peed in the potty. Now that is an amazing accomplishment!
Here is an incomplete list of the words she uses correctly.
*eye, ear, mouth, teeth, tongue, nose, hair, chin, neck, elbow, knee, toe, feet, hand, finger, thumb, back, belly, button (for belly button) etc. She can point these out on herself, on another person, on her dolly and her rabbit, and on a picture as I draw it. She even pointed out what was missing today (I drew a face without a nose and she pointed to where the nose should be and said "nose") Now, to be fair, her word for "nose" is "no". which is the same as for "snow" and "no", but they are used consistently correctly, so we're giving it to her.
*sticky, dirty. said when interacting with maple syrup.
*stop
*walk
*ding ding; choo choo; ch-ch-ch. her kindermusic class is working on trains, and she loves all the sound effects
*William (her best friend)
*Haley (although the "L" is still giving her trouble. more like Hadeey)
*Mommy, Daddy
*Sophie (sounds more like "zoe" but it's really close and again used correctly)
*happy
*bye-bye
*Oh no, Oh dear, OK. she uses "OK" sometimes when she's done with an activity, and with a little exasperated sigh, you know like you do when you are talking to someone and the conversation is over and you say "Ok" or "Anyway". Very funny. Also "Oh Dear" is very funny when something happens to one of her toys.
*booger. This one is a little embarrassing, and we sometimes pretend it's "burger"
*poo-poo, potty, diaper (as described above)
*cookie, cake, cheese, egg, banana (more like nana but used with the appropriate sign)
*'puter (we may be spending too much time on the computer with her)
*hat, boots, snow
*hot (pointing at the oven, or the fireplace, or a candle)
And I'm sure there's more, but this is the collection over the course of about three days.
And, she has now uttered what we thing might be her first two-word original phrase: we were in the pantry and she looked at the dog treats and said "haley cookie" without prompting. Very cool.
She knows a lot of sign language and uses these signs correctly with regularity:
*Potty (letter "t" held up and shook)
*Please (hand on chest)
*Thank you (hand touches lip)
*Cheese (hands face-to-face and rub)
*More (fingertips of both hands touch)
*Milk (fists squeeze, as if milking)
*All done (hands wave in front, often violently)
*Bath (hands move up and down chest as if washing)
*Love (a hug)
*Tired/Sleep (hands folded on the side of the head)
*Hot (hand over mouth)
*Banana (Peeling a finger like a banana)
Many of these are now accompanied by the words themselves, since her word vocabulary has also exploded. For example, this morning she said "poo-poo", then "potty" and made the sign for potty, so I took her to the potty and she peed in the potty. Now that is an amazing accomplishment!
Here is an incomplete list of the words she uses correctly.
*eye, ear, mouth, teeth, tongue, nose, hair, chin, neck, elbow, knee, toe, feet, hand, finger, thumb, back, belly, button (for belly button) etc. She can point these out on herself, on another person, on her dolly and her rabbit, and on a picture as I draw it. She even pointed out what was missing today (I drew a face without a nose and she pointed to where the nose should be and said "nose") Now, to be fair, her word for "nose" is "no". which is the same as for "snow" and "no", but they are used consistently correctly, so we're giving it to her.
*sticky, dirty. said when interacting with maple syrup.
*stop
*walk
*ding ding; choo choo; ch-ch-ch. her kindermusic class is working on trains, and she loves all the sound effects
*William (her best friend)
*Haley (although the "L" is still giving her trouble. more like Hadeey)
*Mommy, Daddy
*Sophie (sounds more like "zoe" but it's really close and again used correctly)
*happy
*bye-bye
*Oh no, Oh dear, OK. she uses "OK" sometimes when she's done with an activity, and with a little exasperated sigh, you know like you do when you are talking to someone and the conversation is over and you say "Ok" or "Anyway". Very funny. Also "Oh Dear" is very funny when something happens to one of her toys.
*booger. This one is a little embarrassing, and we sometimes pretend it's "burger"
*poo-poo, potty, diaper (as described above)
*cookie, cake, cheese, egg, banana (more like nana but used with the appropriate sign)
*'puter (we may be spending too much time on the computer with her)
*hat, boots, snow
*hot (pointing at the oven, or the fireplace, or a candle)
And I'm sure there's more, but this is the collection over the course of about three days.
And, she has now uttered what we thing might be her first two-word original phrase: we were in the pantry and she looked at the dog treats and said "haley cookie" without prompting. Very cool.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Buhton
Papa says if I press this my bum will fall off....
Actually, Sophia loves searching out her own belly button and other peoples' as well. Often, the other person has a look of surprise as Sophia decidedly pokes at their belly. It's too cute.... and it comes with the exclamation: Buhton!
Actually, Sophia loves searching out her own belly button and other peoples' as well. Often, the other person has a look of surprise as Sophia decidedly pokes at their belly. It's too cute.... and it comes with the exclamation: Buhton!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Christmas 2 -Winnipeg/Sioux Narrows
We just can't get enough of Christmas in our family. This year, seeing that Vancouver got Christmas day actual, Winnipeg got New Years. So, we packed up all of our goodies in Vancouver and trekked them over to Winnipeg, and eventually to the cottage. It was another wonderful holiday, and something entirely new for the Gerhard family. Christmas has never happened in all of its glory at the cottage.
One of the great things about being at the cottage was the DIY Christmas lot. Adam, Kristine, Arthur and David trekked out into the forest and found the perfect tree for our celebrations. Sophia was enthralled by the decoration process, and decided to start out by making sure that the waterproofing was good enough.
Later on, she worked at 'helping' Uncle Adam with picking ornaments to put on the branches. Sometimes she would "help" again by repositioning them.
It was a tough ordeal, don'tcha know???
One of the Christmas decorations that caught Sophia's eye and attention was a lovely snow globe. We don't have any of these at home, so she had yet to experience one. She loved it.
Woo hoo for Christmas morning...again, Sophia loved the paper.
Checking out the fancy new suitcase Auntie Kristine and Uncle Adam gave her. Now she can run away in style!
Post present recuperation.
Grandma gave Sophia foam tiles which have numbers that pop out of the middles. Grandma enjoyed building, Sophia enjoyed popping out the numbers and...
Destroying them!
Another favorite cottage past time of Sophia's, thatnks to some very patient family members!
Braving the cold to stand proudly with the new cottage sign we created. It actually was a nice day, and Sophia enjoyed being pulled along in her sled. And the weather held out pretty well, with only a couple of days being too cold.
She eats with a big person fork (okay a desert fork) and most of the time she gets it into her mouth rather than her nose.
When staying at the cottage, Sophia usually sleeps in the play pen. It's getting a little squishy for her, she just keeps growing. So we decided to try her out sleeping on the bed by herself. She seemed to do okay. Doesn't she look peaceful?
Both Grandpa and Nana (when Sophia was in Van) discovered that Sophia loves looking at the Where Waldo? Books. Both adults spent lots of time pointing out different things in the pictures and Sophia just soaked in the attention.
Happy breakfast face!
Adding Sophia's measurements to the cottage wall. David and Adam still have their marks, so it seemed fitting to add the next generation!
Explaining what it all means.
Bags packed and ready to go! She actually pulled this through the airport with her...it was too cute! And she was so proud.
One of the great things about being at the cottage was the DIY Christmas lot. Adam, Kristine, Arthur and David trekked out into the forest and found the perfect tree for our celebrations. Sophia was enthralled by the decoration process, and decided to start out by making sure that the waterproofing was good enough.
Later on, she worked at 'helping' Uncle Adam with picking ornaments to put on the branches. Sometimes she would "help" again by repositioning them.
It was a tough ordeal, don'tcha know???
One of the Christmas decorations that caught Sophia's eye and attention was a lovely snow globe. We don't have any of these at home, so she had yet to experience one. She loved it. 
Woo hoo for Christmas morning...again, Sophia loved the paper.
Checking out the fancy new suitcase Auntie Kristine and Uncle Adam gave her. Now she can run away in style!
Post present recuperation.
Grandma gave Sophia foam tiles which have numbers that pop out of the middles. Grandma enjoyed building, Sophia enjoyed popping out the numbers and...
Destroying them!
Another favorite cottage past time of Sophia's, thatnks to some very patient family members!
Braving the cold to stand proudly with the new cottage sign we created. It actually was a nice day, and Sophia enjoyed being pulled along in her sled. And the weather held out pretty well, with only a couple of days being too cold.
She eats with a big person fork (okay a desert fork) and most of the time she gets it into her mouth rather than her nose.
When staying at the cottage, Sophia usually sleeps in the play pen. It's getting a little squishy for her, she just keeps growing. So we decided to try her out sleeping on the bed by herself. She seemed to do okay. Doesn't she look peaceful?
Both Grandpa and Nana (when Sophia was in Van) discovered that Sophia loves looking at the Where Waldo? Books. Both adults spent lots of time pointing out different things in the pictures and Sophia just soaked in the attention.
Happy breakfast face!
Adding Sophia's measurements to the cottage wall. David and Adam still have their marks, so it seemed fitting to add the next generation!
Explaining what it all means.
Bags packed and ready to go! She actually pulled this through the airport with her...it was too cute! And she was so proud.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Christmas 1 -Vancouver
This year we decided to split the family celebrations into Vancouver and Winnipeg/Sioux Narrows gatherings. My mom (Nana) wasn't working Christmas this year (she's a nurse, you know) so we spent the first part of our holidays with the Mantels. It was a whirlwind adventure, from December 19th to 26th. We saw friends (Ciara, Tanya, Muniz, Sheliza, Jacquie, Jen E) and family (Nana, Papa, Uncle Todd and Dea, Heather, Bob, Gary, Andrea, John, and Baba Libby). We wish we had more time there, as each visit was just too short. It was a wonderful visit, regardless. It is visits like this that remind us of how truly blessed we are by the people in our lives!
On with the pictures:
Sophia was having a great time waiting for the plane./ Thankfully the designers of the Regina airport had the forethought to include play structures for travelling kids. Makes a difference, especially when the power in teh airport shuts down, and you have a little bit of a wait. Too bad they didn't have anything for kids while we waited to board the plane --because the power was out they couldn't use the gate, so we had to walk up. Wanna experience chaos? Try that!
Dad managed to score us some Christmas Train tickets, so the entire family trekked out to dinner at White Spot on Georgia (we certainly weren't the only family with this plan!) and then with full bellies went to the train. Dining out with Sophia gets more and more interesting... Here was our request for the waitress: "Could we have a cup of water with a lid and a straw, plus a plate of ice." She took our order without a blink of an eye, and presented Sophia with her own plate of ice to play with. It kept her entertained for a very long time. And she didn't get too wet. She also enjoyed all of our dinners!
Sophie loved the lights, and ooohh and ahhed all the way through. It was hard to get good pictures, though.
However, she was not a fan of the bigger animals at the petting zoo. She did fine with the rabbits and birds and such, but once we got into the barn she started to whine a bit. She certainly did not like it when I went to pet the pony. Strange. She might have been tired.
Just a quite mommy and baby moment after dinner with Libby and Jen. There is hilarious video of Baba sharing a Ukrainian bouncy song with Sophia, which we will post later on.
This was taken while visiting Heather and Bob...not sure that being with them would drive her to drink. More like she snatched my glass in an effort to be a big girl!
Some good old fashioned play with Emily! Em and Joey were with us at Heather's, they got to spend the day not only with their grandparents but with the Mantels as well!
An early gift from Nana. We think she might have a future as the world's cutest boxer!
The Christmas haul. The only issue that we had this vacation was that a stomach bug took up residence in the Gerhards. It started with Sophia, who, to that point, had never thrown up. It was traumatic for all of us. She was scared by what was happening to her body, and we were scared (okay, I was the most scared!)about the ramifications. I was ready to pack her into the ER after the first round of sick, but thankfully David and Mom talked me out of it. She was sick all night, fine the next day while we visited Heather and Bob, got sick once more, and the slept it off. I got sick on Christmas Eve, right after service, threw up for about four hours, slept and felt yucky all Christmas Day. David got it on the 26th, the day we flew to Winnipeg. He never got sick, thankfully, as we were on the plane. There was a moment of fear though, when the carts were on either end of the aisle, effectively blocking both bathrooms, and David had an urge to toss his cookies. Tat would have been ICKY! We all recovered though, with out giving it to anyone else!
Christmas morning was FUN! I am not sure that Sophia really "got" the whole idea, but she did enjoy her self. She unwrapped each gift very carefully, ooohing each time a piece came off and revealed the hidden goody underneath. She LOVED helping everyone with their gift. She did spend time checking out what she got though...here she is looking over the Noah's Ark that came from Uncle Todd.
One of her new fuzzy friends, Hophop, and a new book, Puff the Magic Dragon!
Scoping out the goodies!
Seemingly reading her Blog book to Uncle Todd. David and I discovered a site (Blurb) that allowed us to download the first year of Sophia's blog and get it printed into a book. Each family got a copy. Sophia loves flipping through and looking at the "baby". It is a fabulous way to keep a hard copy record of our blog, so that she will have something to show her kids later in life.
cuddles with Hophop
Hanging with Dea (Todd's girlfriend) and Uncle Todd. Sophia took a little time to warm up to them, as she plays shy with new folks now. But once she warms up there's no stopping her. She had fun with these two, especially seeing they spoiled her.
We had a great time Vancouver, and like I said earlier, it was too short a visit. But all the requiste Christmas events happened, including a chance for David and I to sneak away to catch a movie (we saw "Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -romantic, no?)
On with the pictures:
Sophia was having a great time waiting for the plane./ Thankfully the designers of the Regina airport had the forethought to include play structures for travelling kids. Makes a difference, especially when the power in teh airport shuts down, and you have a little bit of a wait. Too bad they didn't have anything for kids while we waited to board the plane --because the power was out they couldn't use the gate, so we had to walk up. Wanna experience chaos? Try that!
Dad managed to score us some Christmas Train tickets, so the entire family trekked out to dinner at White Spot on Georgia (we certainly weren't the only family with this plan!) and then with full bellies went to the train. Dining out with Sophia gets more and more interesting... Here was our request for the waitress: "Could we have a cup of water with a lid and a straw, plus a plate of ice." She took our order without a blink of an eye, and presented Sophia with her own plate of ice to play with. It kept her entertained for a very long time. And she didn't get too wet. She also enjoyed all of our dinners!
Sophie loved the lights, and ooohh and ahhed all the way through. It was hard to get good pictures, though. 
However, she was not a fan of the bigger animals at the petting zoo. She did fine with the rabbits and birds and such, but once we got into the barn she started to whine a bit. She certainly did not like it when I went to pet the pony. Strange. She might have been tired.
Just a quite mommy and baby moment after dinner with Libby and Jen. There is hilarious video of Baba sharing a Ukrainian bouncy song with Sophia, which we will post later on.
This was taken while visiting Heather and Bob...not sure that being with them would drive her to drink. More like she snatched my glass in an effort to be a big girl!
Some good old fashioned play with Emily! Em and Joey were with us at Heather's, they got to spend the day not only with their grandparents but with the Mantels as well!
An early gift from Nana. We think she might have a future as the world's cutest boxer!
The Christmas haul. The only issue that we had this vacation was that a stomach bug took up residence in the Gerhards. It started with Sophia, who, to that point, had never thrown up. It was traumatic for all of us. She was scared by what was happening to her body, and we were scared (okay, I was the most scared!)about the ramifications. I was ready to pack her into the ER after the first round of sick, but thankfully David and Mom talked me out of it. She was sick all night, fine the next day while we visited Heather and Bob, got sick once more, and the slept it off. I got sick on Christmas Eve, right after service, threw up for about four hours, slept and felt yucky all Christmas Day. David got it on the 26th, the day we flew to Winnipeg. He never got sick, thankfully, as we were on the plane. There was a moment of fear though, when the carts were on either end of the aisle, effectively blocking both bathrooms, and David had an urge to toss his cookies. Tat would have been ICKY! We all recovered though, with out giving it to anyone else!
Christmas morning was FUN! I am not sure that Sophia really "got" the whole idea, but she did enjoy her self. She unwrapped each gift very carefully, ooohing each time a piece came off and revealed the hidden goody underneath. She LOVED helping everyone with their gift. She did spend time checking out what she got though...here she is looking over the Noah's Ark that came from Uncle Todd.
One of her new fuzzy friends, Hophop, and a new book, Puff the Magic Dragon!
Scoping out the goodies!
Seemingly reading her Blog book to Uncle Todd. David and I discovered a site (Blurb) that allowed us to download the first year of Sophia's blog and get it printed into a book. Each family got a copy. Sophia loves flipping through and looking at the "baby". It is a fabulous way to keep a hard copy record of our blog, so that she will have something to show her kids later in life.
cuddles with Hophop
Hanging with Dea (Todd's girlfriend) and Uncle Todd. Sophia took a little time to warm up to them, as she plays shy with new folks now. But once she warms up there's no stopping her. She had fun with these two, especially seeing they spoiled her.We had a great time Vancouver, and like I said earlier, it was too short a visit. But all the requiste Christmas events happened, including a chance for David and I to sneak away to catch a movie (we saw "Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -romantic, no?)
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Tastes Like Chicken
Okay, so we are making up for some lost blogging time. Forgive us. A certain person, who will remain nameless, has been poking us about updating the blog, so here goes nothing. Keep scrolling and reading...there's lots coming in the next couple of days.
Sophia is becoming far more independent in her everyday activities...and this includes the food and feeding sphere. She knows what she likes and she knows what she wants to try. A couple of weeks back, I made Parmesan chicken, a favorite Mantel family recipe. I took a chicken, cut it up into pieces, dredged it in parmesan cheese and baked it until it was golden brown and delicious. David and I were savoring the meal, when Sophia started motioning with her hands, and making her "uh, uh, uh --I want that" noise. We thought "oh, okay she wants some chicken...here are a couple of pieces." Sure that was okay for her, she ate them, liked them and then wanted more. Not just pieces this time, but the whole drumstick...happiness ensued.
Sophia is becoming far more independent in her everyday activities...and this includes the food and feeding sphere. She knows what she likes and she knows what she wants to try. A couple of weeks back, I made Parmesan chicken, a favorite Mantel family recipe. I took a chicken, cut it up into pieces, dredged it in parmesan cheese and baked it until it was golden brown and delicious. David and I were savoring the meal, when Sophia started motioning with her hands, and making her "uh, uh, uh --I want that" noise. We thought "oh, okay she wants some chicken...here are a couple of pieces." Sure that was okay for her, she ate them, liked them and then wanted more. Not just pieces this time, but the whole drumstick...happiness ensued.
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