Sophia's first trip to Edmonton Valley Zoo

As the winter was unseasonably warm Chrissy and I have been itching to get outside with Sophia. However, as first time parents were are still timid on excursions due to length of time between feedings, catching a cool breeze, and the need for Sophia to be in near constant motion to be content.

Finally, we decided that it was time for a quick sojourn to one of our favorite spots: The Edmonton Valley Zoo.

Sophia slept through most of it but her Mom and Dad had a nice time.

Even meeting an elephant for the first time wasn't as exciting as sleeping.

Even though it's a bit of a drive from our house I think Chrissy is going to get herself an annual pass and do many a walk-through with Sophia this summer.

Bonus - We ran into the Bells.

First Family Day Weekend in Saskatoon

With some apprehension to how a 3 month old would do in the car we packed ourselves up and headed to see my mother and family in Saskatoon for Family Day weekend.

Much to our surprise and glee, Sophia was excellent for the 5 hour car ride sleeping the whole way with the exception of a bottle break in Lloydminster.

Grandma was a great host and many of my siblings, neices and nephews got to meet Sophia for the first time including a very pregnant Nikki.

No visit is complete with out Mom's home-cooked meals. Sophia had the best seat in the house.

The weather in Saskatoon was pretty temperate so Chrissy and I took Sophia out for a walk along the South Saskatchewan river valley in the Downtown.

The first of many visits back to the promised land...

Getting Through The First Couple of Months

I have been back to work now for almost a month and we are starting to develop a routine with Sophia....until it falls back in on itself due to gassiness.

A good night for Chrissy and Sophia usually means that I don't see them when I wake up in the morning so Christina will often times leave me a note of how the night went.

Should be read with affection :)

Some of the favorite pictures of weeks 4-7.

Out for a Walk with Sophia

Winter in Edmonton means a proper amount of bundling up and picking your shots to get out of the house when the weather permits.

For the first few weeks of her life all Sophia knew of the outside world was blurriness through a window or cold air experienced briefly in transit between the car and someones house.

With both mother and father getting stir crazy in the house it was time to take Sophia out for a walk.

She will grow into it for next year

We may have overdone it with the bundling.

As first time parents I think we were typically overcautious. I only did one superfluous wheelie.

Sophia's First Christmas

Everything was new to Chrissy and I this Holiday season. Everything that we usually do like gift shopping, wrapping presents, Christmas cooking or heading to a family members home needed to be planned to a nap time and took double the usual time.

And as the keeper of a newborn we were popular! That's new - People actually wanted to visit us :) Us, being Sophia, but Chrissy and I will take it.

Highlights of the Holiday season included birthday parties, many meals with family, getting spoiled by multiple Grandparents, and friends coming by to visit:

Christina, her Gido (Grandpa) on his 92nd birthday and Sophia:

Christmas was in Edmonton this year and we were treated to multiple massive meals at Chrissy's parents, grandparents and aunts houses. With all of those meals came family all to eager to give Chrissy and myself a break by holding Sophia.

Cross-eyed to read the writing on her jumper :)

Shortly after Christmas my Mom accompanied my sister Monica's family back from Saskatoon to meet Sophia for the 1st time. Sophia, although gassy, was pretty well behaved for Grandma.

Mom of course is a pro with a baby. I am guessing her calm that comes from experience was picked up by Sophia. We haven't gotten her to burp so well or sleep so well in this position since Mom showed it to Claire and Ren.

Mom and her baby's baby

We haven't been the most mobile, so we have felt fortunate to get sp many visitors. I never even thought to grab pictures from the first few visitors (Monica, Mark, Alex, Markiana, Chris and Tara Foster) but did smarten up to get some from the later visits.

Below is a picture of Rob and Carryn's daughter Justine holding Sophia. It was a bit surreal to see as I still remember the day that Justine was born. We collectively celebrated quite late into the night and my Sociology 101 test the next morning was a bit of an adventure. Justine was a natural with Sophia.

Shortly after Ukranian Christmas we were visited by Andrea, Ryan and Tekyla (9 months).

Teklya was very interested in "the baby", I am thinking that over the years they will find some trouble together, not unlike their mothers.

With all the food eaten, visitors gone and tree put away for the year we look forward to more firsts and more memories.