Road Trip!

Johnny had two days off from work, so we decided to pack our bags & hit the road. The destination? The Rio Grande Valley to visit Johnny's family AND to have a family day at the beach. It was so much fun, and I'm proud to announce that Sophia didn't cry at all during the car ride there and back! If you know Sophia and her hatred of car rides, you know that is a huge accomplishment for us.

Sophia after a long day of travel & beach fun.

Loving the beach...excuse the crazy hair 

(post partum hair loss & regrowth has been cruel to me)

Some other Sophia developments:

Cheerios have become one of her obsessions. She's liked them for awhile, but now she's 100% hooked.  She was running around the grocery store with the box (hence the blur)!

She loves & is terrified of puppies at the same time. Sophia's cousins just got a tiny little chihuahua. Sophia was screaming and shaking from fear and squealing from excitement all at the same time. And when the puppy wasn't around, she would go looking for her. It was so cute. And hilarious. I'll try to upload Johnny's video of her reaction. We couldn't stop laughing.

She learned a new (and fairly disgusting) new trick. She likes to grab her feet and smell them while she is sitting in her carseat.

Sophia loves playing with her baby cousin Quinn but hates being cooperative when I want to take her photo. Here's Exhibit A...

She's only happy when she gets to walk around.

I wish I had more pictures from the trip, but that's all I have! I hope everyone is having a great Fourth of July Eve!

Beach Day

The other week, So and I had a little beach day with our friends Michelle & Tarrin. Sophia had the best time. At first, the sand scared her. But once she got used to it, she was running around. Her favorite thing to do was dunk her face into the ocean...and then shove her fingers in her mouth to lick off the salt. Ew! But at least she didn't eat the sand. I was just waiting for her to put a handful of sand into her mouth, and luckily she never did.

I can't wait to take her back to the beach. Hopefully next time it'll be somewhere prettier than Galveston!

And please follow Baby Girl Rivera on bloglovin!

My Girl So

Beyond excited to share So's one year photos taken by our fav Taylor Lord and styled by the amazing Lindsey Zamora. Although Sophia refused to smile or let me leave her side, I love how they turned out. Click here for Taylor's full blog post :)

And just a few updates on my girl So:

• She watches Sound of Music with grandpa on the regular. She sits in her little baby chair and dances to the music.
• She calls most animals ap-ap (duck in Chinese).
• She LOVES other little kids. She wants to run and play with them. But the second she sees an adult she doesn't know, separation anxiety sets in to the max.
• She always sneezes twice. And then grins.
• She is such a happy baby. She runs around squealing, laughing, and clapping.
• She knows that if she sits on the first step of the stairs and puts on her shoes, she gets to go out.

ONE

Someone turned ONE this weekend.

Today was her one-year checkup. She's still a petite little girl, but boy has she grown in the last year. And she sure does have a set of lungs. She's known for her loud shrieks and cries around the ped's office. 
I haven't done any stats updates so far, but I figured I would do one for her one-year checkup just to see how far she's come.

Age: ONE!

Stats: 28 inches (20%),  18 lbs (5%), 17 inch head circumference (30%!) 

Favorite Foods: Blueberries & Bananas

Favorite Words: Mamamamama..., Da!

Favorite Toy: Jellycat Bunglie Pink Giraffe

Favorite Book: You Are My Cupcake

Favorite Activities: Anything with water (pool time & bath time), "Walking" down the stairs with daddy, Running circles around the house, Pretending like she's part of the joke when everyone is laughing, Being attached to mama

Least Favorite Activities: Getting her diaper changed, Riding in the car, Meeting a big group of new people, Getting separated from mama

Nicknames: So, So So, Sobo (short for Yakisoba bowl), B

Signature Moves: Waving whenever she sees someone getting into a car & being scared of everything

Mom's Proudest Moment: Raising a little health nut. Sophia loves fruit. She could eat it all day long. She wouldn't even touch the cake we got for her cake smash photos until we put Cheerios on it.

Dad's Proudest Moment: Being the first person to make Sophia laugh. Don't worry, he won't let anyone forget this.

Other one year celebrations...
Saturday afternoon, we had a pool party. It was so nice and small, and Johnny's family was able to drive up for it!! After warming up to so many new faces, Sophia had a great time in the pool with her cousins.

Sunday, we spent the morning at the Houston Zoo. Boy was it hot! And crowded. It seemed like every family in Houston had the same idea we did.

Later that afternoon, we took Sophia to the big girl pool for the first time. She had so much fun and couldn't get enough of the water. I'm so glad that she loved it because I spent half my life in the pool (between swim team, lifeguarding, swim lessons & fun in the sun!).

Johnny and I look forward to this next year. We talked about some things we want to do this next year that include swim lessons, tumbling, dance classes, introducing her to more kiddos, a trip to the beach, her baptism, and so much more!!

Hello May!

So long April, hello May! 

Birthday month is finally here, and we could not be more excited! We're going to spend a couple days in Austin around Johnny's birthday for Sophia's one year photos, birthday fun, and my sister's graduation from UT Austin! And my aunt is visiting from Hong Kong. She'll finally get to meet Sophia.

I know I say this every time, but Sophia has changed so much lately.

She has finally grown an attachment to a toy. She has a stuffed giraffe (the one she's holding in the picture above) that she loves. Last night, Sophia was so grumpy before bedtime. The second she got a hold of her giraffe, she started to calm down. And of course, she held onto the giraffe with her chubby fingers all night.

Sophia has two bottom teeth. The top two have been "coming in" for about a month now, but still no sign of breaking through yet.

She's walking. Walking! She can take a couple steps alone. And she'll walk around the whole house if you hold her hand. Pretty soon she'll be running through the house. For now, she speed crawls. She squeals and laughs and crawls faster when she hears us running after her...especially when she heads towards the kitchen.

She's crazy. And talkative. And likes to be the center of attention. She's lucky she's cute, or else she would be annoying. Johnny said, "now you know how I feel about you." Ha. Ha. Ha. He's a comedian that one.

Oh and she loves kisses. She'll grab your face and kiss you.

A Little Update

It's been a crazy couple of weeks for our family, but hopefully it means some exciting new changes for us...fingers crossed! Say a little prayer for us!

Sophia, as usual, is crazy. She likes to make this pirate/pig face when she's feeling extra silly. Or when she's drinking out of a straw.

And she sure does love her Cheerios. Please excuse the mess behind sweet So.

She makes almost weekly trips to see the duckies with my parents. I don't know who enjoys it more, Sophia or my parents.

 And she took her first big girl ride in the grocery cart. She loved it. She's so curious and always wants to know what is going on. So looked at every. single. person. that walked by!

But, every once in awhile, we do experience a quiet moment.

And I'll leave you for now with a little collage of her first nine months. Shout out to sweet Jessica Garvin for the chalkboard circles!

T-Minus 3 Months...

...and counting until Sophia's first birthday. Holy 9 month baby!

In the last 9 months, Sophia has developed the sweetest & craziest little personality.

Some updates on our little So:

• She is everywhere. Girl can crawl...and fast. You cannot look away for even a second. And Auntie Tiffany thought it would be a great idea to teach her how to climb the stairs. I had a minor heart attack when I found out.
• Sophia has two little bottom teeth. So sweet, right? Wrong! She bites. 
• She smiles the sweetest smiles when someone she recognizes walks into the room. For right now, that list consists of Johnny, my dad, my mom, and myself. Occasionally she'll get excited to see her aunts as well. They visit often enough (and FaceTime/call her on the phone) for her to remember them.
• Girlfriend likes to talk. And she has lots to say. She can carry a conversation with anyone that will baby babble back. It's more of a high-pitched squeak, but it's incredibly sweet.
• Sophia has been to the zoo three times now. The zoo has free admission the first Tuesday of every month, and my parents have become obsessed with taking her to see the animals. She loves them, especially the fishies...except she still spooks easily and cried today when the sheep made a peep.
• She touches/reaches for everything with just one finger.
• She loves blowing raspberries and then giving sloppy wet kisses. She thinks she's hilarious.
• Her last "first" holiday (Easter) is quickly approaching.
• Sophia is on the verge of walking alone. I want to find her some cute little shoes that will provide some support for her little feet, especially since they turn in. And it always looks like she's twisting her feet when she's standing. Johnny wants some daddy-daughter Converse. I want some moccasins. Check out these sweet moccasins that I'm dying to get her. I just can't decide on a color! Too many choices!
• She can't wait to go swimming. Okay, really I can't wait to take her to the pool. Baby swimsuits are too precious (although Johnny got upset when I tried to buy Sophia a bikini. Apparently it is unnecessary for babies to wear bikinis).
• I also can't wait for her to be old enough for dance and tumbling lessons. We need activities to use up some of this little girl's energy!

We took some 9 month photos of Sophia in her Cubs onsie because it was the first thing Johnny bought when he found out we were having a girl (of course!). Auntie Daisy made the tutu and headband to match it when Sophia was a newborn. The outfit finally fit, so we just had to put it on her.

Of course, Sophia will no longer hold still, so taking photos of her has become infinitely more difficult. Most of the photos ended up with her either looking down or crawling away.

At least the fluffy tutu still makes for a pretty picture!