Sophie at 21 months

Just pictures because I haven't posted any in a long time.

Sophie on Christmas morning-more than ready to start opening presents.




At my birthday party sporting her Tiara.

Little miss social butterfly.

Observing Learning

Of course kids learn and are learning all the time. Babies learn how to suck, and cry, and roll over. Babies learn all kinds of things without their parents actually teaching them how to do it. As parents we interact with our children all the time and speak to and about our kids in the context of what we are doing at that time. And though I know Sophie is learning words, what things are, and how to do things on her own it amazed me when I asked her to do something and she did it!

A few weeks ago I was preparing dinner in the kitchen. Right before I was about to put the meal on the table I asked Sophie to "bring her highchair to the table" and she did it! It dawned on me how incredibly smart kids are. She can't say highchair or table but knew exactly what I wanted her to do. She also picked up her bib off the floor when I asked her to and has even carted groceries like baby wipes to her room when I've asked. This new discovery isn't so I can boss her around but it does make getting simple things done much more enjoyable-and hopefully she feels like she is helping too.

New Year's Resolution

New Year's Eve I began to get a cold but we went to a party with Sophie in tow anyways. It was New Year's Eve after all! New Year's Day I spent 85% in bed feeling terrible and followed the same routine on Saturday. It wasn't until Sunday I emerged, showered, and sort of felt better. To make matters worse my car started acting up and spent three days in the shop. Luckily Phillip did some internet research on Subaru's and diagnosed the problem as well as the cure so the shop visit didn't cost a dime; which was a good thing because with paychecks coming at odd times in December and the holidays we didn't have a lot of spare cash. It was not my ideal way to ring in 2010. So I declared that MY New Year wouldn't start until January 14, 2010-my 32nd birthday.

One of my resolutions was to contact an acquaintance I know from work to inquire about she started her business and learn all I could so I can further pursue opening my business. I met with her last week and I am excited about spending some time this year doing some R&
D (research and development).

My next resolution is to be more aware of my eating habits and drink more water. I'm drinking water right now as I type but had mac & cheese and chicken tenders for lunch. But I did buy some root vegetables at the store to make a great mash.

Next is to rededicate myself to this blog. I've gotten lazy and instead of posting on here I upload a few pictures to Facebook when my mom or sisters beg me to. That's no fun. I hope to post at least once a week. And include more information about the journey of motherhood and raising a daughter.

So here goes.

My daugther really didn't stop aging at 13 months I'm just lazy

The seasons have changed, Sophie has learned to stand up and cruise, she says mama, papa, hi, and buh bye and I'm just now getting around to posting these exciting milestones. I must rededicate myself to posting on here more frequently! She also has 12 teeth. Four in the front top, four in the front bottom, and molars to match. The molars are still coming in but they have all broken the surface of the gum. Things she is lacking-walking skills and enough hair to put in an incredibly cut Bam-Bamesque pony tail. How are we supposed to go trick or treating if the kid can't walk? Oh well she's still super cute!



Her first bike ride

Enjoying a snack at the pool

Learning how to wear her sunglasses





She loves this chair we are borrowing from her godparents. It talks, sings, and is obviously just the right size.

Look Ma, I'm standing!

So this picture needs an explanation. I think Sophie remembers breastfeeding. She sometimes will try to pull my shirt down (especially when I'm wearing a v-neck) just to see what's going on in there. One day she put a wind-up penguin in my shirt. Phillip found this funny and explained to Soph that my shirt could be used for all sorts of storage and he commenced to putting his wallet, car keys, pocket knife, books, and anything else he could find within arms reach into my shirt including my box o' wine. (Yes, I said a box of wine. It's a tough economy folks.)

Sophie being Sophie

Sophia Celebrates the BIG ONE!

Sophia turned one on April 20. We acknowledged her birthday on the 20th but since it was Reunions week at work we didn't celebrate until the first weekend in May. Sophia's grandma, grandpa, and nana all came to town and some of our friends came out to help celebrate. Sophia indulged on a homemade cupcake and received a lot of fun new toys. She does like all the toys she received but a kid being a kid also really relished in the wrappings.

On her birthday-before heading to daycare.

Sophia, how many are you? "I'm ONE!"

Cupcakes!

That's for me? (Notice Dolly thinking -hey, ma, drop that down here.)

Besides the sugar rush, I think her favorite part of the cupcake was seeing exactly how much of it she could SHOVE into her mouth!









Sophie opens presents

Easter

Catching up on my blog posts. Sophia's first Easter was great! We went to church, enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt, had Becca over for dinner, did another egg hunt and learned the joys of "robin's egg lipstick.
"

Long time no post

Wow, it has almost been two months since I last posted and in baby months that's like 17 years! Wheww. It is funny to me that I seemed to have more time to post when Sophie was just born. I guess all that sleep allowed me to have "me time." Oh, well. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Sophia continues to be the Happiest Baby on the Block! She is so mild mannered, calm, and happy. Phillip and I both just love to be around her and look at her and marvel at her cute squishyness. I'm not being the mom who thinks her kid is better than the rest, Sophie really is a very happy and contented baby.

We started feeding her solids around 7.5 months and she has yet to turn away from food with a "I'm not eating that face." Thank goodness she gets her palate from her dad and not me! She happily eats kale, broccoli, and asparagus. She can make a mess but enjoys eating. After first feeding her broccoli she somehow ended up with a broccoli beard. Not the most attractive thing but funny nonetheless.

She has been sleeping solidly through the night for several months now. It is so delightful to get a full nights sleep and be functional the next morning. She often sleeps on her tummy and usually holds her bear, Smokey, over her eyes. Recently however she has discovered he makes a nice pillow.

In her spare time Sophie enjoys picking Daddy's nose. And then makes him eat the boogers.

In my spare time I enjoy taking Sophie to swim lessons! She loves being in the water and has done well so far. Doesn't fight when on her back learning how to float. Enjoys "wheels on the bus" for warm up and really liked playing Humpty Dumpty last week when teaching her how to find the wall in case she ever falls in the pool. It will be nice this summer when we go to Hilton Head that she is already a bit acclimated to the swimming pool.
Yesterday was a big day at the pool because she got to go under the water. Sophie only had a look of confusion on her face not fear. I imagine the more we go under the more enjoyable the experience will be.

Little miss Sophie still is not crawling yet. She gets about 96% into position and pushes up on her hands a little bit but only to reach the item she wants and then sits down. At this point she may just become a walker! She is content with schoocing to her destination or the toy that is out of reach.

We are looking forward to the warm spring weather, the opening of the farmer's market and celebrating Sophie's first birthday.

Sophie Speak

Sophie is a little over 9 months now. She hasn't started crawling yet but does have some new tricks. She is not giving us razzberries as much these days but just yesterday or the day before has started to babble with more gusto! A 'b' sound is her dialect of choice at the moment and it is adorable. I personally love the facial expression she makes while babbling. Here is a video for your entertainment. (The audio comes in and out because I omitted some extra background noise and conversation. The loud babble in the middle is me encouraging Sophie.)

Sophie has enjoyed eating solid foods and her diet now consists of sweet potatoes, mango, banana, cottage cheese, and kale. This weekend we will introduce tofu or carrots.


The bowl is just as good as the bananas!

Working on the crawl, but not there yet.


Michael Jordan tongue! Yup, I think she'll play basketball.


In her free time she enjoys the daddy jungle jim!

Sophia learns to wave

Sophia has learned to wave hello and goodbye.