10 Months Old Today!

Our little Sophia is quickly becoming a big peanut! "Peanut" has been my nickname for Sophia for a long time. I used to tell her, "It is so hard to be a little Peanut, but when you are a big Peanut it will be much easier." She is quickly turning into such a big girl. I was observing her sleeping in her crib all stretched out (which is unusual because she usually sleeps on her face and knees with her butt in the air) and I couldn't help but remark on how much she has changed. I remember putting her to sleep in her basket and thinking she was so little in there. Now she takes up more than half the length of the crib. At her 9 month appointment she was 21 lbs 9oz and 29 inches long, which puts her in the 90th percentile across the board.

Sophia is a special little soul. She has an air of sweetness and determination at the same time. She is truly a happy baby.

Crawling is no longer an accomplishment, but a part of daily life now. Sophia can pull herself up and stand for long periods with something to hold onto. She has just started standing more flat footed and will take a couple of steps if prompted forward while you are holding her hands. But I don't think walking is quite around the cornder yet. The walker has been mastered and she can maneuver it through doorways, around corners and even push aside the barriers that her Daddy puts up to keep her contained. She knows where her blankie is kept and I frequently find her reaching through the slats into her crib and pulling it out.

Food is good! Most of the time. She is still going through periods of loving to eat and not wanting to eat. I really think a lot of this has to do with teething. (Speaking of which, she has her two bottom teeth! But they are taking forever to come all the way in. It has been 4 weeks since the first one broke and it still isn't all the way through.) She isn't really into meats, but she loves her fruits and most vegetables. Mac and Cheese has been a big hit at several restuarants and I have learned that no matter how cranky she is if I order some ice cream she will sit still to eat that. I will be introducing eggs this month and a wider variety of non pureed fruits and vegetables.

Cousins are the best! We were so fortunate that my sister was able to bring her family to visit. It was the first time that Sophia met her cousins. Her big cousin, Leora, is 3 years old and a real cutie. Jesse is only 5 weeks younger than Sophia. It was so cute to watch them play together. Mostly they just took toys back and forth from one another. But I can definitely see them as trouble makers together in the future. We are already looking forward to visiting them. (Which will hopefully be in April or May.)

Sophia will be meeting her cousin Allison in just 3 months when we go to Greenville!

With the holidays just around the corner I find that I am reflecting back on our life at this time last year. What a difference this little girl has made to our lives and home. I no longer worry about the insignificant things (well at least I really try not to!). I think this is easier because I just don't have the time to waste on those worries anymore. I look forward to getting up each morning to see Sophia and can't wait to get home to her. This time last year I was starting to get pretty big and was busy preparing for her arrival. This year I am busy keeping up with her and am already planning for her 1st birthday and Christmas!

Milestone Mania

Our little Sophia will be 9 months old next week and 8 months has brought many new experiences for everyone. Sophia got over her fear of being on her stomach which quickly led to army crawling, crawling, sitting up and trying to pull herself up. She went from limited mobility to pretty darn mobile in a couple of days. It has kept Jeremy and I on our feet. She has a new game that she loves to play at the grocery store. It is let’s reach outside the cart and grab everything that is within reach. And let me tell you there is surprisingly a lot of stuff within her reach. All this new motion has increased the number of bumps and bruises that Sophia gets. She takes most of them in stride, but every once in awhile there is one that will hurt her feelings more than anything else.

(Shortly after taking this picture she fell on the side and smacked her mouth. We lowered the bed that day....)

Communication! Sophia thinks that louder will get the point across quicker. She is definitely developing her own little vocabulary. She was big on “dada” for a little while, but lately it has mostly been a lot of “awes”. Very loudly! And of course there is still a lot of growling.

Sophia still does not have any teeth, but I am still certain they are going to show up any minute. She loves her baby food and is just now starting to be able to chew a select few things. I actually think she could eat more things, but she only chews a few times before she tries to swallow and then usually gags. Her hair is slowly coming in. Well I am not sure if coming in is the right term really. Basically her fuzz has gotten a little bit longer on the top. She is definitely growing like a weed in every other way though! Right now we think she is about 21 lbs and 30 inches long. This would make her in the 80^th percentile for weight and 97^th percentile for height!

Our little girl still seems to be catching just about any bug that she comes into contact with and thanks to daycare we are not in short supply. I feel horrible for her when she is sick. The last bug was a cold that turned into a sinus infection and then bronchitis. Over a month later and a second round of a stronger antibiotic the cough is finally starting to subside and allow her and I some sleep at night. I try to not miss any work unless it is Sophia related, but unfortunately on Friday I ended up leaving early because Mom had caught a bug. Fortunately it was just a 48 hour thing and Daddy was around to pick up the slack.

We are fortunate to have my dad around a lot more these days due to a change in his position at Swift. Sophia loves her Grandpa Williams and usually lights up when she sees him. She likes to touch his beard and show off a little for him. We are really happy to have him around more these days.

Well, we are off to bed now and will check back in soon. Love everyone!

Month 7 coming to a close, 8 is just around the corner!

(Those are her great grandpa Williams' ears. Lucky her!)

Growing like a weed! Literally. Sophia is getting so big. We were at the doctor’s office this week (another cold) and she is 19lbs 12oz. I am not sure how long she is, but she is in 12 month old clothes for the most part now. We are into the stage 2 foods now and she really loves her solids. So much so that the bottle has become somewhat of a battle at every feeding. She likes almost everything that we have offered her, with the exception to peaches and spring vegetables (they slipped some spinach into those, Yuck!)

(Still has the blue eyes and looking more like Jeremy everyday!)

No teeth yet, but I still swear she is teething. (I know I have been saying that for 3 months now.) There is a lot of rolling around going on, but no signs of crawling. She still hates to be on her stomach, but now she knows that she can roll over the other way. Although if she is cranky, she will just scream for someone rather than do it herself. I am pretty sure that we are going to skip crawling and go straight to butt scooting or even walking.

(Cruisin' now with the dogs)

She loves to stand and frequently will go from laying down to standing with your assistance. Bouncing and being upside down are usually her favorite positions. Our friend, Ashley, has loaned us their walker (Thank you!) and she is really enjoying it. But I am not sure if she understands she is the one behind making it move. The walker has opened up a whole new world of exploration for her and my eyes on the need to baby proof the house. She can reach a lot more with the walker and had cleared an end table before I even realized what was happening.

(Bathtime is the best time!)

So much going on… Nightime has become a bit of a battle with her. She seems to get so busy with everything that she can’t calm herself down to go to sleep. I am certain that she has RLS (Restless Legs Syndrome). Rubbing her back and legs seems to help some, but for the most part it is a battle for at least 15-30 minutes. And it leaves mom done for the evening. The good news is that once she is down, she is a really good sleeper and will sleep through the night. (Unless we are battling a cough and snot, that is a whole other nighttime enemy.)

(Hates, hates, hates being on her tummy!)

Still a sweet soul… Sophia is a very social baby and will give just about anyone a smile that approaches her with one. Everywhere we go people stop to remark on what a cute baby she is. And I won’t pretend…I really do love it. I believe that she is going to be a child that leaves happiness wherever she goes. And with all that sweetness comes sensitivity too. I don’t think she is going to be the tough “tom-boy”. Minimal pain or being startled will elicit a flow of tears that are not easily comforted.

We are looking forward to summer wrapping up. Not just because the heat has been unbearable the past couple of weeks, but we have a couple of trips planned to see family. A short trip to TX over Labor Day to see my mom and their house on the Lake. And then Christmas with Jeremy’s family in SC. It will be exciting to introduce Sophia to all her extended family.

For now, best wishes to everyone and stay out of the heat!