Sophia enjoys making us laugh when we clap our hands and she repeats what we do. She just got her new bedroom furniture. Assen got jealous of the new furniture. Sophia likes her big mirror. She keeps eating very well and she is very active: crawls very fast and stands up as soon as she can get help from any furniture or nearby hands. Sometimes we find Sophia walking under the dinner table! Here she is with her big bro!

Sophia is starting to repeat words she hears. We think she started saying "stop!." It sounds like that. She also loves to play and she's unstoppable. She sees Assen playing the piano, and she tries to play too. She is so adorable.

Sophia arrived yesterday from Pennsylvania. Iowa City is having the worst flood ever. Water keeps rising and roads are being closed. Restaurants are also closed. Sophia is getting stronger. She can crawl faster, and she can also stand up pretty fast. She seemed happy to be back home again.

Sophia crawls all over the place. She likes to get up and stand up -holding something, of course. No doubts she will be walking soon... She is also eating better. She takes most of her formula and loves to eat solid food. She also likes to move the alphabet letters from the refrigerator and put them on the floor [for mama to pick them up].

Went to Naiobi zoo. We saw the new giraffe exhibit. They have about four giraffes. It looks very nice. Assen had a pony ride. We also rode the train.

An earthquake rocks central China (Sichuan) killing thousands! Reading the news and watching pictures break my heart in tears. My prayers and thougths are with all whose heart is close to these people.
Postville, Iowa. About 300 illegal immigrants were detained in a kosher meatpacking plant. The largest raid in the history of Iowa.

Sophia was nine months old today. She had her first visit to the doctor (and a few shots!). She is 16.2 lbs (10%) and 28.35 inches long (77%), and that's American standards! She is a tall and skinny girl. She is working hard on her crawling, she'll be crawling very soon. She is not a good eater, but she is doing OK. She is very happy and loves to laugh. Loves pushing buttons on her toys.