So we're two weeks in...Chris has made it safely to his final destination in Iraq and seemed pleasantly suprised with his new surroundings. We've actually been able to make contact quite a bit between phone calls, instant messages, emails and even video chatting last night for the first time! Sophia finally got to see her Dada and did she light up! It was so nice to see him and I could see in his eyes how happy he was to see Sophia. Who wouldn't be!? She's such a ham! She showed Dad where her hair was, where her chin was, where her tongue was and it was so nice to see her actually understanding that Dada was interacting with her and responding to that through a computer! It really made my night and it was so good for Sophia's spirits. All day today she passed the computer saying 'Dada? Dada?'. How precious! Hopefully communication will stay this good because it will make the deployment so much more bearable.

Can I just say that Sophia's new playground is...THE BEACH! I used to take her there to walk when she was a tiny baby on Chris' first deployment. Sometimes we'd sit together for hours watching the waves. I stopped going as much when she was learning to walk but now that she's practically running, we've totally embraced being at the ocean! Althought it's not as relaxing as it used to be pre-baby...setting up my chair, slathering on some suncreen and enjoying a good book...it is SO much more rewarding. Sophia absolutely loves the waves and couldn't have had more fun with her Auntie's with her! By the end of a week at the beach Sophia was running INTO the waves and covering herself head to toe in sand! I think it's great. We may not always live 5 minutes from the beach so we've got to enjoy it while it lasts and make the best of it!

I can't get over how much Sophia is communicating these days! More than ever I can see how badly she wants to communicate what she needs, instead of whining. The number of words and phrases that she can understand is really unbelievable! I love listening to her talk to herself in the mornings before I come in and get her. I love talking to her about every day things and hearing her adorable responses most of the time having to do with Dada. It floors me how quickly she has grown and excites me about our future together especially down the road with Dada being home!