birthday weekend!

We had a GREAT weekend, celebrating old friendships, good memories and new beginnings!

First, Lily and I had a great afternoon catching up with old friends Molly and TK...it was so good to reunite with friends I haven't seen for years only to find them loving the Lord, loving their husbands, and working to further His kingdom...what a gift and joy, and to remember all over again why we were friends!

Lily took this picture!  my future blogger :)

Then yesterday we had what would have been the best day of Sofie's life, if her dad had been there.  Grandpa, Uncle Adam, Aunt Lisa, Lily, Sofie and I had just a GREAT great day at the zoo.  Sofie adored the animals, and was particularly enamored at the monkeys, all of whom she grabbed for and cat-called.

She also mastered going down slides by herself, rode the carousel, and ate cotton candy.  She and Lily were in great moods all day and we spent seven hours there, until after the zoo even closed, which we never thought possible with two so little, especially after an early morning at church!

SO, if you don't mind indulging me for a second, I want to share Sofie's big day with you (and with her Daddy, who missed it) and a bit about who she is so far.  Just the pictures I caught today show her personality.

o-r-n-e-r-y.  

or, for a British friend who wasn't familiar with 'ornery', she's cheeky :)

Sofie will walk like a champ all over the room.  But she's 10 times happier if she's holding your finger.  And she's 10 times happier still if she's holding Lily's.  She wants to be and do wherever/whatever her sister is doing, 100 percent of the time.

Just like Lily (above), Sofie wasnt' crazy about the hat.

Everything she touches is for her mouth.  Everything.

and then literally one second later.  

This is Sofia.  And she can cry if she wants to.

and then she will be happy again.

 and then she will cry again.

She is curious, and VERY serious when she sees or does something new.

Which, when she's tired or teething, means she cries, too.

 

That is, until she tastes sugar.  Here, her very first taste of cake!  (this week)

Then, she's in heaven.  And loudly says, "MMMMM! MMMMM!" through the rest of her piece.

Just like she does when she looks at a book or magazine, just like Lily did.

She also LOVES to share food, and always wants to put whatever she is eating in your mouth, too.

She and Lily have these little moments a few times a day that just WARM my heart...just a little, "It's ok!" or "Happy Birthday", or "Good Morning," or just a kiss.  It's SO great.

Aunt Lisa and Uncle Adam got her this singing doggie, and she LOVES it.  She would NOT put it down the rest of the day.  Her new thing is "kiss-kiss", and everytime you say it, she kisses whoever is in front of her :)

By now, she was just exhausted...and we weren't getting anymore smiles...until we busted out Mommy and Poppy's gift.

Any toy called "hit and hammer" seemed perfect for our bruiser.

Friends from Haiti say that if we never have a boy, Sofie could suffice :)

But still with a grip on doggie.

So happy, so good, so....

done.

Put her in her swing with her doggie, and that was IT.

Plays hard, feels hard...sleeps hard :)

While she slept, big sister cleaned up all the b-day balloons, always taking care of Sof.

And after that nap, she was good to go again.  And that is Sofie.  

She's bold, full of life, social, and she may be off running and she might give us NO rest, but she loves so fiercely that we can't wait to watch her life unfold within a fiercely loving Father's hands.