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We celebrated Sophie’s first birthday this weekend with a family party at the house. She had a blast visiting with so many of her family members and generally being the center of attention.

Here are two of her many birthday presents. Her first pair of Jellies (thanks Auntie Aleen!) and a recliner from Nana and Pap Pap. She’s also showing off her new trick: the clap. Yay!
Uncle Dick made balloon hats for everyone. This is Sophie with her second cousin Shannon.
And of course there was cake!!

Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day! What a perfect first birthday party!

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Sophie’s birthday isn’t until Wednesday, but we couldn’t wait to give her her present, a little kitchen! Since she spends so much time with us cooking, we figured she could do a little of her own now.

Sophie helping Dave assemble. Since it came in a million pieces, it took a little longer than we had anticipated…
And the final product!

She’ll be a master chef before we know it.
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This weekend I took Sophie to the Zoo. Sunday was a beautiful, almost spring-like day, so we decided to get a little time outside and see some animals.

 Sophie up close and personal with a gorilla. Of course, she didn’t even seem to notice him.
 We went into the petting zoo area and spent some time with goats and sheep. She looks a little skeptical of this particular goat.

The bird exhibits ended up being her favorite. I think there might be Ibis in this pen. She was also very interested in the flamingos and ducks. Who knew? I guess next outing we’ll hit Kelly Drive to see some Canada Geese.
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Yesterday we visited the Camden Aquarium. Sophie loves the fish at the Sharp’s house (which she calls “shhhhh”), so we thought a building full of them would be fun. She loved the big tank, but was also very intersted in the swarm of other kids that were there.

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At the beginning of February Dave sailed in a Regatta in Miami, so we decided to make a little family vacation and went down a few days early to spend some time in Key West. The weather was amazing – just the break we all needed from the snow in Philly. This was Sophie’s first time on a plane and she was a champ – especially on the way home when it was just me and her. We stayed at a cute B&B called Avalon and rented the “cottage” in the back by the pool, so while she napped we could do a little sunbathing.
This was her first time in a pool. At first she wasn’t a fan, but once we started splashing around she warmed up to it. She still hung on pretty close though. We’ll get her signed up for swim lessons soon!

Sporting her bathing suit

We watched the sun rise almost every morning at a dock just a block from the B&B.

Sophie at the Southernmost point in the US

We discovered that she was not a fan of sand. As soon as we put her down on it, she would lift one let, then the other, or try and lean on something, like she is here with the beach chair. We’ll have to work on that one.

Walking with daddy.
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We got a foot of snow last night and since Sophie got a new snow suit for Christmas we decided to venutre out (well, venture outside the front door at least). While Dave shoveled the street, we did some exploring along the street.

Sophie didn’t move too much – just sat there and took it all in. I’m not sure what she was thinking, but “I’m cold” might have been in there.

Our street
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Well, it’s about that time. The tail had a good run, but to begin 2011 we decided that instead of being business in the front and a party in the back, we’d be business all the way around. Tail, you’ll be remembered fondly.

The before shot
 The CUT

And the after shot (she probably never even knew it was there)
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