Sophie's 2 ... and about 2 months

I meant to write this around Sophie’s second birthday, but it’s been a bit of a crazy time. Thankfully, things are settling in and great things are to come.

Cheerio, London!

Before Sophie turned two, we took advantage of the fact she could still fly free as a lap child and went to London for Rosh Hashanah.

The reason we chose England was to see many of our great friends from our Singapore time who live there now. We stayed with Jeremy and Nivi and their two boys. What a fantastic feeling to fly across the pond, and yet feel like you’re staying with family. We split our holiday meals with them and with Alex and his new bride, Daniela. We weren’t able to attend their wedding in March, so this was a great way for us to celebrate with them. Of course, at all the meals, there was so much good food and conversation. 

As for services, it was fun attending synagogue there, especially taking Sophie to the kids service, where I swear Mary Poppins was leading the songs.

Before and after the holiday, we had a great time catching up with Andy, Sarah and Chloe. In our touristy time, we went to see the Changing of the Guard (Sophie enjoyed shouting, "Hi, Queen!"), walked through Hyde Park and Regent’s Park and took a walking tour around the city, seeing the Tower Bridge and Tower of London.

Sophie did extremely well on the trip. Amanda and I were both nervous about how she'd do with the time change, but she exceeded our expectations. From late meals to train rides, Sophie was a real treat.

It's Mines

Sweet Sophie can be super demanding sometimes. In addition to being possessive of certain items (shouting "It's mines), she goes into what we call “Pippa Junior” mode. This is where just like her Aunt Pippa, Sophie’s one track mind takes over.

It’s challenging when she is really determined. For example, she wanted a second helping of milk one night. I said no and then after she cried a bunch, I tried to give in by mixing some milk with water. She took a sip and declared, “No water, only milk!”

Hard to trick little Sophie “I want, I need” Rosenhouse (my dad used that middle name for me,so I guess what goes around comes around?).

Sophie’s Two Sweet
We had a full house for Sophie’s watermelon themed birthday party. I’m thankful for both sides of the family in helping turn Amanda’s vision into reality.

As this was Sophie’s first birthday where we lived in a house, it was cool having everyone stay in the house together. It was fun having everyone under the same roof.

Speaking of roofs, we also built a Sukkah for the first time. Was it it the most perfect structure ever? No, but we were happy with it and enjoyed eating in it.

Later that week, Evan, Susanne, Becca and Alex came in for the end of the holidays. The kids had a great time together. Sophie enjoyed our visits to Meyerland Minyan so much, she begged to go to “see-new-gawg” for the next week. We now use it as a motivating factor, saying if she’s a good girl all week, we can go to synagogue.

Scary Cute Cheerleader

Right before Halloween, we spent the weekend in Dallas for our friend Daniel’s wedding. It was a cool high school reunion of sorts. Plus, Sophie got to spend the night with the Lowenbergs and then have brunch with the family.

For Halloween, Sophie enjoyed trick or treating in the Dallas Cowboys cheer leading costume Cousin Sheri gave her. Some people gave us a little flack for cheering for Dallas, but I was (and am) unapologetic for it. 

Red Lollipop and Red Meat 

We just got back from an excellent weekend in New Braunfels/San Antonio.  We spent Friday and Saturday with two other couples in an Air BnB in the Hill Country.  We all had a fun, relaxing weekend in a cool place. Then on Sunday, the group drove to San Antonio for the Texas Kosher BBQ Championship.

  
It's a great event, similar to a chili cook off, but instead of chili, each booth lets you sample beans, brisket, chicken and salmon.  Sophie loved the brisket, but the red lollipop she got from a youth group was definitely her favorite part (Side note: this was my second barbeque trip of the fall, having had an awesome time with my cousin Zack in Lockhart, TX).

Part of the reason it took so long to write this was because of my job search. It’s been a tough couple of months, but seeing Sophie, Amanda and Bali has proven to be the best motivation. I’m thankful to so many people who have helped me by making calls, setting up introductions, all of it. I’m fortunate to say, it's working out. More to come on that later :)