Sophia's First Beach Trip

We took Sophia on her first trip to the beach in mid May. We stayed at Erika's family's beach house in Bethany (Delaware). While the weather wasn't so hot (it didn't rain but was somewhat overcast and chilly), it was a getaway and we had a great time. Sophia was an angel! She played on her activity mat in the house (what would we do without it? She especially loves the blinking and singing Mr. Star). We also hit the main drag and took her for a short walk on the beach. The highlight for Sophia seemed to be the waves.

Click here to see our beach and pool photos from May. Gotta love the little duck bathing suit!!

Congratulations, Brent!

This past Sunday, May 20th, Brent graduated from UVA's Darden School of Business. It was a wonderful weekend! Phyllis, Terry, Sophia and I were there to celebrate. Below are a few photos. Enjoy!

Sophia's week with Dad

This week brings a new development - Erika returned to work, albeit, on a one week assignment to train her successor. Therefore, I am having a lot of "daddy" time with Sophia. Actually, Sophia is sitting on my lap as I type this entry.

We spent Monday and Tuesday running around DC and Bethesda on miscellaneous errands related to the wedding, graduation or the new house. One of the more time consuming tasks - looking for a tie for the wedding - took us to practically every men's clothing store in the area. When I found a tie I liked, I would show it to Sophia. We had a system. She stuck out her tongue if she approved, and grunted when she disapproved. Sophia is a tough critic because by the end of Tuesday we only had three options. After all our hard work, we decided to treat ourselves and stopped into Lia's (a new neighborhood eatery) for happy hour. A few beers, a burger and a bottle later Erika stopped in on her way home from the office to join us.
Yesterday, Sophia and I spent the better part of the day at the Esposito's house. Erika's mom got to enjoy some much needed Sophia time while I bummed around, moving between the couch and the porch with laptop in tow as I snacked on green Jello that Mrs. Esposito made me for my birthday.
Today, Sophia and I went downtown to visit Erika for lunch, followed by a trip to her office, so her coworkers could see Sophia. The trip involved taking the subway, which was a first for Sophia. Like always, she was as happy as could be to take a trip. Once she gets moving in her stroller, she is all smiles.
Tomorrow morning we head to Charlottesville for graduation weekend - thus ending my brief stint as Mr. Mom. Next week she goes back to her normal routine (no more AM Sportscenter, no more CNBC, and most likely no more happy hour!). Erika will be back home as we wrap up final wedding details and prep for our move. Also, next week we close on the house, so soon we will have a new address. In the mean time, I have to thank my little girl for her angelic behavior. Sophia has been excellent all week. Even though she strongly prefers nursing, she took her bottle with little fuss. We read a lot of books - for those that remember, we read "Sweet Pickles" stories. After falling asleep around 10pm, she routinely sleeps 8+ hours a night, and even lets daddy sleep in until 9. Sophia makes parenting look real easy.