23 Month Old Turkey

Sophia is 23 months old!
Just one more month until she's 2- I can't even believe it. She is just getting so smart and so much personality, it's unreal.

Here are some of the things that amaze me about her right now:
1- Matching: she can match things together now. Like the front and back ends of animals and stuff.
2- She likes to knock on everything, and say 'knock, knock'
3- Pretend play- this is one of the most exciting things to happen this last month. She has started to pretend with her toys. She'll put her animals to bed, and say 'shhh', or put them on the potty, or watering them. Anything and everything can be a train and roll across (for example- two carrot sticks chugging along the front of the fridge- then she yells 'all aboard!') She even started telling me a made up story about Mickey Mouse living in a big green castle the other day. This is my favorite thing about childhood, and it is sooo much fun.
4- ABC's- totally out of the blue, she sang the entire alphabet song to me (the whole 'now I know my ABC' part and everything). It was crazy! I know we sing it and listen to it regularly, but I had no idea she had picked up the whole thing. She recognizes some letters too.
5- 'I'm flying!' - she wants to 'fly' everywhere. She puts her arms out and runs around saying 'I'm flying!' or gets really happy when mommy or daddy actually help her fly around the room.
6- Jumping- she loves the '5 monkey's jumping on the bed' song/book, and regularly reenacts it on our bed.
7- Trickster- every night after her bath/before going to bed, we both give her hugs and kisses. She'll say 'hugs?' and put out her arms all cute, then when you go in for a hug, she tickles you instead, and laughs and laughs and laughs. I'm pretty sure she learned this from Rick.
8- Sentences- I couldn't even begin to list the words she has learned anymore. There are too many. She's speaking in 4-5 word sentences now. Her language has just boomed. Most people are surprised that she's not 2 yet, because of how much she talks.
9- Little nurse? - she found my stethoscope and loves playing with it. She calls it 'boom, boom' because that's the sound she hears when I have her listen to her heart.
10- Nature lover- there is not a day she doesn't ask to go outside. She loves playing outside, and luckily, so do we! So we bought nice warm jackets and plan to play outside all through the winter.
11- Song singer- she loves music still, and can sing several songs on her own. Old MacDonald, Row, Row, Row your boat, and Mr Sun to name a few.
12- Artist?- she loves to color, and she'll bring me her drawing and say what it is. Of course, it doesn't look anything like what she says (it's a bunch of scribbles), but it's very cute to see her recognizing drawings are of things.

I could name a lot more things, but I'll leave it at that. I have so much fun with her each day. She just loves to laugh and play, and that is what most of our days are full of (with the occasional tantrum ;)

Here are some pictures of us on our way to Thanksgiving dinner. Sophia loved her 'turkey skirt'.

 

 

This is her impersonation of a Turkey- arms behind her like feathers, and yelling 'gooble, gooble'

Love my baby girl

Mommy's can be fun and toss baby's too!

And here are some pictures over the last month from Instagram- I take a lot of day to day pictures there, and don't want to forget all the fun things we do.

First trip to Krispy Kreme

She wanted to play at the table in the park.

Playing around the house

Us at the Detroit Turkey Trot with 23,000 other runners

Her new step stool

Loving  the park in her warm jacket

Behind the scenes tour of the Detroit Opera House

The 'blur' playing at the mall

Visit from Uncle Matt

I'm Flying!

More fun around the house

First Costco hotdog- now she asks for one every time we go.

At the Detroit Art Institute

Finger painting with Daddy

Playing under the pews at Church

And last, but not least, Sophia performing

'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes'

The Longest Run...

First a quick story.

So, I've never been a 'runner'. I've always found running hard and cruel and thought people who enjoyed it were crazy. I always was in the pool for sports growing up and in high school, and on the days we'd cross train, and run a mile or such, I would ditch. (sorry coach). 

But despite that, I've always wanted to be a runner. I've always seen people running, and thought that I could never do it. I'd always say my body just wasn't built for running, that I was a swimmer instead. So since I thought I couldn't, my rebellious side always wanted to prove myself wrong.

When I was in Utah in 2008, I got a bit into running. I did a few 5K's, but that was it. Then once we moved to Michigan, I lost all motivation and energy (mostly from working the night shift I think), and gained 15-20 lbs. Then I got pregnant on top of that- which really put a damper in my running goals, not to mention weight goals. 

So after having Sophia, I read a book called 'Born To Run' and it turned on a light switch inside of me. It said that our bodies are evolutionarily meant to run! That is what our ancestors did to catch food. So me saying I just 'wasn't built for running' didn't make any sense. I was a human body engineered for running. The book was incredibly inspirational to both Rick and I, and also got us into 'bare foot running' (hence my funny looking shoes). 

So I started running. Slowly, very slowly, I built up endurance and speed. At first I could only run for a minute or two. Over the course of a year, I started to be able to run for an hour at a time, and actually enjoyed it?! Then I started thinking, I wonder how far I could go???

And thus, I signed up for my first Half Marathon (13.1 miles), which I did today! 

My only goals were to finish, and not be the last one. And I did it!

We drove 2 hours away to Midland, Michgan. It was cool and foggy, actually perfect for running.

Some of my other friends were there to.

Rick and Sophia came to cheer me on.

(no, I didn't push the stroller. I'm not that crazy)

My pace was much slower than what I had been training at. Probably because I have been sick and couldn't run these last 2 weeks. I had planned to finish in 2hrs 40 mins or so. But I didn't let that get me down. Like I said, my goal was to finish and not be last, so I just kept trucking and made sure some people were behind me. It was an out-and-back trail, so once I made it half way (6.5 miles) I had this great feeling of "I'm really going to do this!" because I was 6.5 miles away, and the only way to get back was on my own two feet. 

I actually felt really happy the whole race. I had an app on my phone where people could write me messages on Facebook, and I'd hear them. It was awesome to hear friends from all over the world (thank you to Tamara for messaging me from Dubai!) letting me know they were cheering for me. My family was watching me on a map and commenting as I went. It was great!

The last mile I pushed as hard as I could so I could at least come in under 3 hours...

I was met by my little cheering squad.
Sophia was waving this cute sign all around.
Rick taught her to say 'Go Mommy!' and she said it all afternoon.

Under 3 hours!!!
It's not the best time, I know. But it's MY time, and I am proud of it. Because I ran for almost 3 hours.
I earned every second of that.
And next time (yes, there will definitely be a next time!) I hope to do much better.

I immediately ran over to my family and collapsed.

I felt so happy afterwards. Happy to be done, happy to have accomplished such a huge thing for me, and so happy to have proven something to myself.

The happy running family!

The awesome sign

And I got a medal!
(well, all the finishers did, but I'll take it!)

Very legit.

And I quickly sat down, took some Advil for my tired/sore legs, and iced away as we drove back home.

So lessons learned.

I learned that I can do anything I set my mind to. There have been other times in my life that I've had that realization, but there is nothing like working towards a goal for 10 weeks (not including the year building up to that), the training, the waking up early, the pain and tiredness- and then accomplishing that goal. And I have come to love running! Who'd have thought. I am finally starting to tell people that I'm a 'runner', and it's strange but true.

I wanted to do this for myself, and also for Sophia. I want her to have an example of a strong, healthy, and goal oriented woman for a mother. I want her to know that her body is a wonderful gift, and is capable of amazing things, as we take care of it. 

In the process of this I've lost about 25lbs (over the course of the last 6 months). I have struggled with weight my whole life (ever seen any pictures of me from high school? no? there's a reason.) And I made a point to myself that while I was doing this, my focus was to become strong, not lose weight. And there was a good month where I didn't lose a single pound, but I knew I was becoming stronger- so I didn't care. I can honestly say that. I may still be heavier than I feel comfortable at, but I feel stronger than I ever have before. I don't want Sophia to struggle with weight, and mostly I don't want her to struggle with not loving herself because of her weight. I've know from the day I found out that I was pregnant with a girl, that the best way I could protect her from the horrors that surround female body image, was to be an example of someone who is healthy, and loves and cares for their body- despite what a scale says. 

Running this distance was a mental game. It was not physical past 4 miles (after that my legs go on auto). It was my mind saying this was too hard and that I couldn't do it. And that is life. It's all a mental game. I really believe accomplishing large goals gives our minds the self-confidence to succeed and defeat our weaknesses.

And I'm not done!

I am definitely going to keep running, and do more races, and more half marathons. And dare I say it, a full marathon someday???

This post is mostly for me. To help me remember what I've done and where I've been. But for anyone else reading this, it can be for you too! 

If I did this, if I was able to go from running a minute at a time, to running 13.1 miles- you can to. Or whatever it is, you can do it! We are amazing! Our bodies and our minds are amazing! And there is no limit to what we can do!