Sophia Stories

The Incredible Costs of Daycare

7 Comments
Her laughs and personality are starting to shine through.

Her laughs and personality are starting to shine through.

If you’re anything like my family, you have bills to pay, childcare to pay for, vehicle payments, housing costs, and more money flowing from your wallet every month. For a lot of people, that’s A LOT of money. The same goes for us. We have our fair share of bills and we understand that’s the way the world works. But, I’m going to be honest with you, before we had kids, I never realized just how expensive it was to put your children into daycare. And the costs keep rising. It truly amazed me to learn about the costs. It’s one of the reasons that I decided not to look for a new job when Sophia was born. I had been laid off a month before she was born. And, it made the most sense for me to stay home, rather than spend a big chunk of that income on daycare. Continue reading →

Oh The Things They’ll Say

1 Comment
The living situation Sophia dreamed up while driving home as told through MS Paint

The living situation Sophia dreamed up while driving home as told through MS Paint.

Everybody knows that kids come up with some of the most insane things to say. The way their minds work is astounding. I mean, I say some ridiculous things, but the stuff that comes out of their mouths is pure gold. Gold, I tell ya!

Well, Sophia had quite the observation while I drove her home from daycare a couple of weeks ago. You can see the AMAZING illustration I made of said observation on the right there. Below is what she said, word-for-word.

Sophia: that’s my house (pointing to a giant house that isn’t ours)!

Me: Oh is it??

Sophia: Yeah. I live there. With Maddie. And Mommy. And Dubsy. Not you.

Me: I don’t live with you??

Sophia: No, you live there (points to a much smaller house down the road) with a dolphin.

Me: I live with a dolphin???!?

Sophia: Yes, you live with the dolphin and swim with him.

Oh the things toddlers come up with… She later decided I’m allowed to live with her.

I’m going to be writing and documenting more of the insane stuff that comes out of Sophia’s mouth, and hopefully I’ll be able to do the same once Maddie starts talking, too.

Let me know the ridonculous things that your kids have said below! Or on Facebook or Twitter!

How I Duped Mommy into Liking Me

8 Comments
Sarah and I on our first Christmas together in 2001.

Sarah and I on our first Christmas together in 2001.

This year is a benchmark year for Sarah and I. We’ll have our fifth wedding anniversary in May. I know, I know, five years isn’t long in the grand scheme of things, especially when you consider that we’ve been together since November of 2001. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. In light of our coming anniversary and with Valentine’s Day just passed, I figured now would be a great time to share–for you, and for Sophia and Maddie–the story of how I basically duped Sarah into liking me.  Continue reading →

The Sweet Taste of Victory – #FrozenChefMadness Challenge

Leave a comment
Finding food Sophia will eat can be a challenge.

Finding food Sophia will eat can be a challenge.

Anyone that knows me can attest to this: I am competitive. VERY competitive. Am I any good at sports? Big fat no to that one, dear readers. Even so, I hate to lose. My competitiveness also comes into play in a big way when it comes to rooting for sports. I’m a diehard Philadelphia sports fan, and if you aren’t, you’re a fan of someone else, we’ll end up having words. Nothing beats some friendly sports banter! With this time of year, one of the best sports months of the year is about to be upon us. I talk, of course, about the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tourney. Tourney time is awesome. Cinderella stories abound, underdogs become the most rooted for teams, and game-watching parties are planned and attended.

When it comes to settling in on the couch for a long day of watching hoops–or any game for that matter–food plays a HUGE part. Now, as a parent, I have to be mindful of the food that we’re going to make and eat for a game. And, with Sophia being quite the picky eater, we have to be extra careful of what we’re putting together. After all, we don’t want our snacks and game-time apps going to waste. She loves snacks, chips, pretzels, and more, but we want her to try new things, so, we try to come up with interesting things to create and cook, hoping she’ll give them a try. Continue reading →

Baby Laughs, Snowmen, and Getting Our LEGO On

1 Comment
This girl loves her some snow.

This girl loves her some snow.

For us in the northeast, this winter has been brutal. What, you didn’t know that?? You haven’t seen it plastered all over the news and the interwebs? Weird. All the snow has provided me with many, many, MANY opportunities to take Sophia out back to build a snowman (Do you wanna build a SNOWWWWMAAAAAAAN?!!!), slide down the hill in the greatest makeshift sled of all time, and teach her how to throw snowballs like a boss.

They’ve been fun. They’ve also given us insane cabin fever. But, the best part of all this snow has been Sophia’s reactions when she looks out of our bedroom window in the morning and sees the beautiful white snow covering the ground… “It’s snowing!” or “It snowed!!!!” and her eyes get so wide and her jaw drops. It takes me back to my days as a kid. Back when I loved the snow. Back when I didn’t moan and groan about yet another storm. I miss the days when snow was the best thing ever. It makes me so happy for her to love snow that much, just like I did. Continue reading →

Where Can I Find My Patience?

6 Comments

The song in the video above is one I vividly remember from my childhood. I recall a different voice singing it when I was a boy, but the lyrics remain. The chorus has stuck with me for what feels like forever:                                                                                                  

Have patience, have patience
Don’t be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you

In fact, when we’re in a hurry to go somewhere or Sarah gives me a hard time to get me moving to get out the house, I’ll often sing the chorus to her. I used to be patient. I used to not worry if I was running late, or if I was stuck in a crowd, or anything along those lines. Now? I’m quite the opposite. I don’t know when my patience deteriorated to the level it is at now. But, my lack of patience has really been shining through when it comes to being a parent. Continue reading →

Dad-flections – Three Years and Two Kids Later

Leave a comment
Hard to believe I've been a dad for three years!

Hard to believe I’ve been a dad for three years!

WordPress did a funny thing the other day. It wished me a happy anniversary. I was confused. It’s not my anniversary until May! And then it hit me. They were wishing me a happy third anniversary for this blog. I’ve been doing this for three years?! I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Sophia will be three tomorrow. WAIT, I’ve been a dad for three years?! THAT is the most shocking revelation I’ve had lately! In that spirit, I’m about to take you down the path of reminiscing and musing about the last three years of my life. Buckle up. Continue reading →

“What’s That? I’m Pooping!” – Potty Time, Excellent

Leave a comment
I reign upon this throne.

I reign upon this throne.

There comes a time in every toddler’s life when it is time to say goodbye to diapers or pull-ups, and embrace going to the bathroom like a big kid. We’ve been working on potty training with Sophia, on and off, for the better part of a year. It’s been frustrating at times. But, hey, kids want to do things on their own time.

We let Sophia start wearing underwear in place of a pull-up to see how she would handle it. Let’s just say that our house should have been surrounded with flashing lights–it was an accident zone. So, we’d stop for a while, go back to pull-ups and wait it out until we thought that Sophia was ready to really be potty trained. Continue reading →

Sophia’s Sixth Sense…

1 Comment
Does Sophia see ghosts?

Does Sophia see ghosts?

Last night, I posted this status on Facebook after putting Sophia to bed: “While laying in bed Sophia looks at her closet and says ‘what’s the lady doing?’ What lady? ‘That lady over there!’ No one else was in her room… Not creepy at all”.

After asking her what the lady was wearing, she said that they looked like a fireman wearing a fire, fire, fire hat! Now, I’ve got to be honest here, I’m not one that believes in ghosts, in hauntings, or in paranormal activities. I just have a hard time believing it. Others do and that’s totally cool. It’s just not something that I’ve ever believed. Just kind of difficult for me to wrap my brain around, for some reason. BUT, what Sophia said last night, and the subsequent comments I got on Facebook have left me kind of, what’s the right word here… spooked I guess. Continue reading →

Please Don’t Stop the, Please Don’t Stop the Music

Leave a comment
Never a dull--or quiet--moment with Sophia around

Never a dull–or quiet–moment with Sophia around.

If quiet is what you’re looking for, then my house is not, I repeat, NOT the place you want to be. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. While I may get an abundance of headaches, they’re generally caused from the non-stop singing from Sophia. And by non-stop, I mean the only time her mouth is shut is when she is passed out asleep, and that’s not even a guarantee that she’ll be quiet. Continue reading →