Well, we sure had an eventful last week or so. I really finished out my leave strong. First up was celebrating Sophie turning 8 months! It is such a struggle to get these pictures now since she's always on the go and never wants to be still.
The next day we finally were able to visit the Dana Point Baby Beach, which had been on my list for so long. I was told that it was nice during the week, but I guess that doesn't apply during the summer because it was pretty packed. Still, it was nice. Sophie really loves water, and it was pretty chilly, so we would hold her up over it and she would go crazy, splashing in it with her hands, and getting confused when the tide went out, and going crazy when it came back in. I love taking her to the pool and other places, but it's always such a hassle getting her covered in sunscreen, changed into a swim diaper and into her swimsuit - so it doesn't happen as often as I'd like.
She's getting insanely strong, and hitting some big milestones, such as pulling herself up to standing (and even staying standing for quite awhile!) so the point where we already had to lower her mattress twice!
We celebrating our friends' birthday with a dinner out, and she did so good in the crowd and being passed around to everyone. And then she settled on her own bottle of wine. Ha.
Sophie also went to her third birthday party - this time for Lucia's second! She loves being social and being around everyone and loved watching the birthday girl in her pretty pink dress go by.
Around the house, Sophie is in love with Khaleesi, who is braver and more tolerant when there is glass between them, and we got to use her kitty kat bath towel cause she's getting too big for her others.
Then - the big kahuna. We took our first overnight trip with Sophie. I know a lot of people do it even earlier than we did, but even at 8 months I was pretty stressed and wondering how enjoyable it would be. We wanted a short getaway during the week to San Diego to visit friends and test the traveling waters. Originally I just wanted an Airbnb in the Mission Hill, Hillcrest or North Park neighborhoods but Airbnb has gone insane, and it was cheaper to get a small suite at the Gaslamp Plaza Suites downtown. I was overwhelmed with all that we needed to pack and bring for the baby (on top of packing for ourselves!) but it all worked out, and it felt good to be prepared for everything.
Traveling with her turned into such joy, seeing her curiosity everywhere and seeing all the new things. She just loved looking out the window down at Gaslamp and all the activity below, and when I took her in the stroller to Starbucks in the mornings, she just sat back and loved watching the city - people smiling at her, cars driving, and the trolley dinging by. It was fun for everyone.
We got to meet up with friends at Balboa Park and even meet Pam's three-month old for the first time. The babies had such a cute meeting! Sophie was obsessed with her and kept grabbing at her face and eventually settled on sucking on her arm.
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Enjoying time with Uncle Raf
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On Tuesday, we met up again with Uncles Rob & Rafael for brunch (tower of sweetness!) and she did pretty good. It sure is different trying to catch up and enjoy a meal with an 8-month-old at your table! After that, AJ and I went and bought Sophie a helmet because we thought it would be fun to get scooters and go around the city. After her nap we saddled up and went out to Seaport Village via scooters. AJ and I love those things! We first did it in Rio de Janeiro and try to do them when they're around. Must've been mindblowing for Sophie, and she never complained.
We enjoyed walking around Seaport and ended with soft-serve ice cream and frozen margaritas. Sophie stuck to her usual milk and pureed vegetables though.
That evening, we went to Liberty Station to meet up with Pam, Doug and their baby to watch the MLB All-Star Game over wings and drinks. It was a nice, warm and breezy evening and the babies didn't get fussy until the very end, so that's a win.
Our last morning, we went and had brunch in Hillcrest. We wanted to try a creperie we found on Yelp but it was inexplicably closed, so we ended up at Mo's... a bar that I have many a memory at! They were so nice and even cut down an inflatable flamingo for Sophie to have.
We headed home after that, talking about how fun the trip was. It's definitely a new experience traveling with a baby (kinda sucks only doing things in small chunks of time and rushing back for baby naps) and she struggled a little at the beginning, but it's nice to have ripped that bandage off and she's now been exposed to other places and sleeping elsewhere and being out of routine a little bit (and still surviving!) and I actually do feel pretty confident for more upcoming trips now, so gaining that confidence feels good.
Yesterday was my last day of leave so I met up with a friend for lunch, and then took Sophie to the lake for a little bit. She loves seeing the birds that hang out there (especially because those Egyptian geese are pretty fearless and happy to come up pretty close - I can't believe I have to rev myself up to knock out a geese in case it tries anything with my baby, but that's my life now).
Then, yesterday evening, we had a crazy event in the house! We have a small platform level up two steps, and we've always been able to place Sophie at the base of it to play with her toys so we can maneuver safely up there in the kitchen and stuff, but AJ called me over and we watched her finagle it... and then completely clear it! It was really surprising because we've never really seen her try that before. She peers over it and puts her hand on it, but never really tried to scale it - and she did and succeeded!
Time to start babyproofing in earnest now.
Here's to more upcoming summer fun!
