Happy Halloween?

Before I get to the ridiculousness surrounding Halloween, I had to include a pic and a few words about Sophie’s latest love. No, it’s not me or her mommy and though Princess is very interesting, she certainly doesn’t bring the pleasure of her latest love… …macaroni and cheese. Sophie was introduced to this delicacy months ago but it is only recently that she has come to understand the magic that cheese produces. She eats it, uses it as a skin moisturizer, and most importantly, as a hair mousse. I included some pictures of Sophie in the outfit that her Aunt Kelley bought her to help give a balanced perspective of how adorable Sophie can be (as if we needed more evidence than has already been posted to date).

This was Sophie’s first Halloween and whether she liked it or not, we took her to the pumpkin farm and dressed her up and carted her around the neighborhood. If you ask me, she was not really into it. She slept all her way to the farm. If it weren’t for the farm animals or her stuffed puppy, she would have been completely bored. Trick or Treating was not much different. We went to two houses and Sophie fell asleep on Ileana’s arm as we were rounding the block.

There was one aspect of the holiday that Sophie was fascinated with – pumpkin carving. She pushed her hands into the pumpkin guts and played with the seeds. She also took the bits of carved pumpkins and chewed on them. She also seems to be learning well from her sorting toy as she inserted blocks and action figures into the eyes, nose, and mouth of the carved pumpkin.

All in all it was a nice Halloween. It is a little rainy outside and Sophie is now enjoying pizza with the mommy and Aunt Kelley. Hope you enjoy the pics.

-Chris

Where does the time go?

I have to admit, I have been a little lax in my responsibilities as a blogger. Fatherhood is a lot of fun but it takes up quite a bit of time. Hopefully it will be worth it and Sophie won’t grow up to be a pothead or the Unabomber or anything like that.

This week, I am trying to catch up with what we did last week. Until her high school graduation, I have a feeling that this is how it is going to be. Sophie had a very interesting week this week. We saw a dramatic shift in her personality. Last Friday night she began exhibiting a new behavior: wining. This is very different from the polar personality that we have experienced so far. She is usually happy and full of smiles. When she is not happy, she is screaming at the top of her lungs. Last weekend, we were treated to a lot of wining and screaming - no happiness. To add to the enjoyment, she freaked out her mother by not her eating. Given Sophie's eating habits, this must have been very hard on her.

I am happy to say that after a week she has mellowed some but we are left with some of the residual wining. The only things that saved us last week were the stuffed puppy (thanks Todd & Tracy!) she won’t let out of her sight and some “holistic” teething tablets (I swear these suckers must be laced with an illegal substance. I should begin passing them off on the irritable druggies I see on the train on the way to work.)

Somewhere within all this mess, we were able to attend dim sum with our group of Nov04DTC families (like the average person knows what this means) who all live in Chicago. We met earlier this year BEFORE we got our referrals and this was a reunion now that we are all home with the babies. We had a nice time and the food was very good (though Sophie was very miserable).

The event in Chinatown was capped by the ubiquitous “group photo”. You would think that the whole “red couch” experience would teach adoptive parents something about group photos (that they shouldn’t subject their children to them). I guess we are all just gluttons for punishment. I don’t know who started it but the minute there was one cry, this set of a chain reaction with the rest of the children. I actually caught the point where Sophie started to cry on film. It is actually kind of amusing to watch if you are disturbed like me.

I have to apologize as I didn’t have time for cutesy photoshops of Sophie as the Unabomber, nor did I photograph any of the derelicts that I ride the train with in order to better illustrate my story. Hopefully you will find it in your hearts to forgive a busy dad for posting only the photos of the dim sum brunch.

-Chris

A Guest Blog From Rhonda & Eric

Greetings from Chi-town. Rhonda, Lauren and I have had a wonderful weekend with Sophie, Chris & Ileana. The girls seemed to hit it off quite well. Sophie is just enthralled with Lauren and can’t go more than a half hour without touching Lauren and laughing. Too cute for words.

In our travels, we visited some of the historic Bungalos in Chicago. (We got to see how people decorate their homes when they have a little more money than we have ). We also saw some of the local sights like the John Hancock building, Michigan Avenue and Lincoln Park.

While in Lincoln Park we got to see a great conservatory and a wonderful little zoo where I was surprised with a very majestic looking lion. The girls were angels as we dragged them from place to place. The weather was a little cool both days, although Sunday was much sunnier than Saturday. Lauren even got a bit of a shiver as we were leaving the zoo. After a photo op in Lincoln Park with a gorgeous view of the city, we packed up the cars and headed to Gulliver’s.

Gulliver’s deserves its own little paragraph as the place was strewn with antique chandeliers, statues and art glass. Lauren was mesmerized by all the lights. Even other patrons of the restaurant were chuckling at how Lauren’s eyes were simply glued to the ceiling throughout the place.

In all, it seemed Lauren fell in love with Chicago and with Sophie, Uncle Chris & Aunt Ileana. I’m sure she can’t wait to come back, and neither can we. Thank you for having us, Chris & Ileana. We all had a wonderful time.