Pound Party!

Sophie finally hit 14 pounds today!

Climbing with Sophie

I remember when Sophie couldn't do anything but sleep and wiggle. I longed for the day that she would be able to crawl. When she finally began to crawl (that funny little wiggle-crawl that she originally did) I couldn't wait to see her get up on her hands and knees and explore everywhere. Then this summer when we moved into our new house I couldn't wait to teach her how to crawl up the stairs.

Once she got the hang of it, you couldn't keep Sophie from the stairs. Of course this means that gates and chairs get put up to block her way to the stairs so that she won't go up alone. She gets so excited when we unblock everything and let her go up. That little girl is quick!



13 Months

Another month has gone by. It is a good thing Sophie is still small or I would be upset at how quickly she is growing up.

This month started out rough. As stated in earlier posts, Sophie reacted pretty badly to her one-year shots. She had high fevers for a few days (including a very scary 104° temperature). I felt so bad for my little girl. Still, she has such a great personality that she didn't let it bother her too much (though we still had our fair share of crying spells). She even had her one-year pictures take by this amazing photographer when she was still feverish. What a trooper.

Once we had her fevers under control, the month shaped up quite nicely. I swear this kid is changing every day. Some days I just stare at her baffled, wondering if she did in fact grow a little taller than the day before. (She does, I tell you! She does!). Other days I stare in awe at the things she is learning and perfecting.

Here are some of the highlights from this month:

• Sophie weighs 13 lb 13 oz
• New words: cracker, Cosmo, apple
• Waving - Sophie knew how to wave, but rarely did. Now she waves all of the time. It is cute seeing her wave good-bye to people or wave good morning to the kids at the babysitter's (and of course her wonderful babysitter, too).
• She blows kisses
• Sophie gets into e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!
• Pulling herself up rapidly - she already knew how to pull up but now it is just second nature. She is so quick with it!
• Standing while holding on with just one hand. She did this a few times before this month, but now she does this a lot. She is getting very brave with it, too. She is even bending down to pick something up from the ground while holding on with one hand.
• Sophie's favorite game is Peek-a-Boo. It makes her laugh so hard! If we put a blanket on our heads or in front of our faces, Sophie will rip it away. She will do the same thing with we put a blanket on her head or in front of her face. If she has a dress on, she will play the game by lifting her dress up over her face and then pull it down. She also likes when one of us hides behind a wall or piece of furniture and then pops up.
• She is a hair Houdini. Seriously, I put her hair up in a ponytail with a tiny rubber band and she always gets it out. Regardless of how far back I put it or how tightly I make it, she gets it out. Sometimes it just gradually happens throughout the day. Other times I put her in the car and it magically disappears when I go to get her out of the car. When this happens she is left looking like a rooster because of how her hair sticks up.
• Sophie loves clothes. Like any baby, she will pull (clean) clothes out of laundry baskets. However, Sophie doesn't stop there. She will proceed to pile up all of her clothes around around her. Then she will put them on top of her head or around her neck. One day she even took her clothes into her big pop-up play cube. She does this same sort of thing with her blanket. She must really like the feel of all those different fabrics.
• Our morning routine is the highlight of my day. When I go in to get Sophie she scrambles to her feet and starts bouncing up and down with a huge grin on her face. After I dress her I take her over to look at herself in the mirrors we hung last week by her bedroom door. She thinks this is the best thing, always pointing and smiling at herself. Then we go downstairs, open the front door, wave and say "Good morning, world!" Some days Sophie will point at the door to make sure that I don't forget this part of the routine.

***Side Note: I must say, it feels stranges to not take a photo of Sophie with her month on her shirt. They had 13 - 24 month stickers...maybe I should have bought those. Oh well! I am still taking a picture a day of her.

Speaking of pictures, follow the link below for a few of Sophie's pictures from this month

Showing Cosmo who is boss

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

1 year photo by Sarah Anne Photography

Cousin Anna pushing Sophie on the swing. What a great cousin!

She liked the first two bites of pudding but then pulled the third bite out of her mouth. I thought she rubbed it on the floor until she looked up at me.

I told you she enjoys putting clothes on top of her head.

Word of the Day

Sophie's word of the day today was 'cat.' When I was putting her in the car seat this morning, Cosmo (our cat) stopped by to say hello. Sophie loves Cosmo, so was very excited and started petting/hitting her. I pointed out to Sophie that Cosmo was a cat and tried to get her to say it, too. We've been working on the word 'cat' for awhile now. She will get the 'ca' sound out but never the 't' at the end. Half the time she will just say Cosmo's name ("osmo")  instead of cat. Today Sophie perfected the 't' at the end of the word.

In the car on the way to the babysitter's house I heard Sophie say 'cat' while she was babbling. When I picked her up today the babysitter told me that she was saying cat all day long. When we arrived at home, she saw Cosmo and said 'cat' with the 't' at the end. I was so proud. She continued saying 'cat' up until bedtime.

The best 'cat' moment was when we were going upstairs so Sophie could take her after "work" nap (she is too nosey to take long naps at the babysitter's,). She crawled to the stairs and climbed a few of them before stopping. She turned to face Cosmo, who was laying on the dining room floor (right next to the stairs). Very clearly she said, "Cat....cat...." and clicked her tongue to get Cosmo to follow her. I couldn't stop laughing! I love Sophie's personality!

Splish, Splash

Bath time is one of Sophie's favorite activities. 

Shampoo mohawk

She loves splashing around in the water and playing with her water toys. Her favorite 'toy' of all is her wash cloth. She puts it in her mouth and sucks on it. We have often joked that we should soak it in formula so she will drink that way.

Sophie gets upset when you take her wash cloth away from her, too. She doesn't care if you are trying to wash her with it, or that it is time to wring it out because bath time is over. Nope, she just wants her wash cloth and you better give it back right away! 

Watch out if you are in the bathroom with her though because she will soak you! Sophie of course thinks this is hilarious (rightfully so). It is the best thing in the world to see my little girl so happy. I love that laugh and smile!

A Night Away From Home

Sophie stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa Z. last night so that Joe and I could go out to celebrate my birthday. It of course broke my heart to leave her. Any night away reminds me of when I had to leave her at the hospital when she was born. Still, I know it is important for her to spend time with the rest of her family.

A family picture before leaving Sophie for the night

Sophie loved spending the night because it meant being spoiled by her Grandparents. She received a lot of hugs, kisses, and love.

She had such fun playing with her Grandparents, toys and Copper (the family dog). I think that her Grandma and Grandpa had more fun than she did, though.

A Splash of Color

Aunt Sara came over last night and painted Sophie's toes! Sophie wasn't really cooperating, but Sara is a pro and got the job done. I kept telling Sophie that she needs to enjoy this because one day she is going to be paying people to paint and pamper her toes.



Ohhh, pretty!

"That's right, I'm cool."

That Tickles!!

Sophie is a very ticklish little girl. Sometimes she is too distracted to be 'bothered' by being tickled, but for the most part she will fold in half and crack up. She is most ticklish on her neck and under her arms. She also is very ticklish when you "chomp" at her tummy.
I love when she explodes into giggles over being tickled. It is the cutest thing and the best sound in the world!

Getting tickled by Daddy

{insert baby laughter}

New Tricks

Sophie has a new word this week: apple! "Aaaaaaaaaa-pple." When I pointed this out to Joe he disagreed. "She is saying, 'aaaaaaaaaa-goo.'" Okay, I will give him that. She does say "Aaaaaaaaa-goo" sometimes. She will also say 'aaaaaaaaa-boo' sometimes. There are other times though where is is distinctively "aaaaaaaa-pple." Joe however just gave me a look that said, 'believe what you want, but you are wrong.' (I'm not wrong though). She actually reminds me of my parents' parrot that they used to own. He would say apple the same exact way as Sophie does. He would repeat it after we would say it to him, too, just as Sophie does. Interesting...

Besides saying apple, Sophie has also started blowing kisses. It has only happened three times this weekend and isn't on cue, but it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Hopefully this will become a more common thing. It would make going to work so much better if she blew me kisses as I left.

It is really hard to get a picture of a baby blowing kisses.