I Love to Help

I love to help. Whatever chore mommy or daddy is doing, I want to do it, too. Last week, mommy put Juliet in the baby bjorn and mowed the lawn. I cut black-eyed susans with my scissors. After I got bored with that, I asked mommy if I could mow. It was a lot of work pushing our little mower, but it was great fun! Look at how hard I worked. Nothing was going to stop me from mowing the lawn.

I got a "Bob"

I love my short new hairdo! Everyone tells me it looks so cute, and I enthusiastically tell them "thank you!"

Cheerios

Cheerios may be one of the greatest foods ever invented. Juliet just started eating "chunky" foods. Cheerios tops her list as one of her favorite chunky foods. I had forgotten how much I love Cheerios, too. Mommy needed to get some work done in the kitchen, so she put a place mat on the floor and put Cheerios on it. Juliet and I loved it.

Grandpa's Birthday & Four Generations of Women Weekend

We celebrated Grandpa's 58th Birthday in Green Bay this weekend. We had a great time visiting. Grandma played play dough with me and Grandpa played running games around the house with me. Everyone loved watching Juliet crawl around on the floor and hear her make her latest vocals. We went the park, visited the Obama headquarters in Green Bay, ate cherry cheese cake, and played with toys. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend. Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Just hanging-out with a few bears. Some of the stuffed animals at Grandma and Grandpa's house originally belonged to my mommy and to auntie Katie.

Juliet liked the bears, too.

Whenever Juliet picks-up a stuffed animal, she immediately inspects its nose with her little fingers to determine if it is the proper shape for sucking. This bear made the cut.

Oh happy day!

Mommy and daddy found this fun toy at a garage sale while going for a jog on Saturday morning. P.S. This is our first official "matching outfit."

The four generations of women. (Frances, Maureen, Chris Marie, Sophia Marie and Juliet Frances)

The girls always have fun!

So sweet.

"Great Day"

Yesterday is what I call a "great day." At the end of the day I told mommy, "I had a great day with you." Here are a few pictures of our great day. I played the piano while mommy danced around the living room. I also sang and Juliet chimed in, too. In the bottom two pictures, Juliet played "monster baby." Juliet likes to play with the little people that go in the house. Mommy and I set-up all of the little people in the plastic house and Juliet (monster baby) comes and knocks them all down and puts them in her mouth. Juliet will also peer through the windows of the little house and try to topple the whole thing over. She also makes her growling noise that she loves to make while she is doing all of this. Juliet looks like a big giant "monster baby" during this game.

Updates

Here are a few updates on our life.

1. Mommy went back to work (sort of). Mommy is working in the office at the law firm one day per week. Daddy stays home in the morning with us, and then works late that day. Auntie Lindsay comes in the afternoon and stays until Mommy comes home. I have to say, I hardly notice she is gone! It is such a crazy and fun day!

2. Juliet continues to amaze us with her vocals. If I start to sing, Juliet will sing. If I start to shout, guess who shouts, too! She also also started to say, "dadadadadadadadadadad" and "bwahh...bwahh...bwahhh...bwahh..." Her words do not mean anything, but they are fun to hear!

3. I started gymnastics again. In the past, mommy, daddy & Juliet would stay and play with me in the gymnastics studio. Now, I graduated to the big kid class and I go in all by myself. The rest of the family gets to watch me from the windows in the lobby. It is great fun. In fact, I only acknowledged mommy and daddy one time during the entire hour long class.

4. What can say about daddy?!? He recently introduced me to Shel Silverstein's poems. We read them together nearly every night. I love all of the silly poems, but there are a few that are too scary for me.

Big Kid Bed

For my birthday, I got a big kid bed. It is pretty fantastic. Mommy and daddy finally kicked me out of the crib and now Juliet uses it. It really was no big deal. I started sleeping in big kid beds when we went on trips this summer. At first I made someone sleep in bed with me until I fell asleep, but not any more. Every night, daddy snuggles in bed with me. We play a few video games on the gameboy, read stories, talk about our day, say prayers and sing songs. Daddy leaves and I snuggle with Bunny Bun, look at my poster on the ceiling and fall asleep.

We knew she would leave home someday...

We just didn't think it would be this soon!

Congratulations on learning to crawl, Juliet!

Love,

Sophia, daddy & mommy

The State Fair Extravaganza

In Minnesota, the state fair is a pretty big deal. For the Heffelbowers, the state fair is a really big deal! Every year, all of the Heffelbowers take the day off from work on the first day of the state fair. We look at animals, eat, talk, people-watch, try out the tractors and have a great time. Mommy and daddy brought two strollers---one for me and one for Juliet. The thought was that Juliet would fall asleep in the stroller in the afternoon for her nap. That did not happen. She was having too much fun. Juliet, however, loved the stroller and lounged in it all afternoon. In fact, for most of the day she lay side-ways in the stroller with one foot on the tray of the stroller. The first several pictures are of baby Juliet lounging in her stroller.

"Ahhh. So relaxed." ---Juliet

"I have not a care in the world." ---Juliet

"What a great day." --Juliet

"Who wants to smell my feet? Anyone?" ---Juliet

"I understand that you put this blanket here so that I would try to nap in the stroller. Do I look tired to you?" ---Juliet

Me, Lindsay and Bunny Bun in the middle riding the 4-wheelers (for pretend).

I loved sliding down the slide.

You have not lived until you have tried a deep-fried candy bar on a stick. I know the thought is shocking, but it is truly a wonderful experience. I ate the entire thing myself. It was gooey, messy, sweet and wonderful.

Lindsay and I stared at those bees in the hive forever.

Daddy and Ross. What else can I say?!?

Running around with Lindsay-Linds

The whole gang resting and sampling food. Jeremy had deep-fried alligator!

The animals were great. I heard a horse neigh and then couldn't stop neighing loudly, too.

Such a cute little ducky.

I am drinking milk. There is a milk booth where you pay $1 for a cup and can get it refilled all day. I love milk, so it was great for me.

Looking cute with daddy.

Me and my piggy ears.

We will be back next year! Can't wait!

High-heeled

You know you are a real grown-up lady when you wear high-heels and ride your trike! I love these shoes. I don't why mommy doesn't wear them all of the time!

"Road Closed"

Our house is located in a great neighborhood called Kingfield in SW Minneapolis. We have a fun block with lots of kids and we all try to look out for each other. Recently, the city began some major road construction on a near-by busy street (Lyndale Avenue) that is going to last for several months. The city failed to put-up adequate signage for detours, etc. So, cars began using our little street as the de facto detour for Lyndale Avenue. This caused a lot of problems. One time, we were almost hit by a speeding car as we crossed the street. Another time, a car hit another parked car and started to drive away until mommy ran after them. We were all pretty fed-up with the traffic situation. So, mommy emailed our council person, Scott Benson. Scott went into action. After several more emails with mommy, it was decided that the entire length of Garfield Avenue (our street) would be blocked off for local traffic only until the end of the construction. Here is mommy standing by our sign on our block indicating "local traffic only." The sign has worked and our traffic problem has been solved!

Juliet's Eating Solids

Eating around here is always a family affair!

"The bowl tastes almost as good as the avocados."--Juliet

"Avocados can sure make a mess." ---Juliet

"Yum."--Juliet

Juliet started eating rice cereal when she was about 5 months old. Since that time, she has had bananas, peaches, avocado, sweet potatoes, yogurt, and few tastes of ice cream. Mommy makes all of Juliet's food. She seems to love it. She gobbles it all down. I really enjoy feeding Juliet, too. The only problem is that I am not fast enough and Juliet will often grab the food off of the spoon before I have had a chance to get it to her mouth.

Here are a few other food related stories. A few days ago, I came to the table for lunch. I sat down and looked at my plate and said, "A giant blueberry. I love giant blueberries." I was so excited. Mommy later told me it was a plum. How disappointing.

I have been eating gum as a special treat. Daddy and White Bear Lake Grandma chew gum. I would pretend to chew gum by chewing up tootsie rolls or jelly beans in an exaggerated manner. I would say, "Mommy. I'm chewing gum." Well, I finally got the chance to chew real gum. I would chew that gum all day if mommy and daddy would let me. But, they finally make me spit it out after it turns into a rubbery little grey thing.

Swimming at Fuller Park

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to go swimming. We sometimes go down to Lake Harriet and swim at the beach, and sometimes we walk to our little neighborhood park and swim at the pool there. We went to Fuller Park this weekend. In a stroke of good fortune, our neighbors Jude, Chloe and Josie and their daddy were there, too! Juliet loved trying out her floaty-thingy for the first time. She just loves to splash in the water. I loved jumping and splashing and climbing all over mommy at the pool! It was refreshing on a hot day.