My Sweet, Funny Girl

When we got to the babysitter's today, Sophie was so excited to see her buddy, J (a little boy a few months younger than her.) He was excited to see her, too. He was trying to sit up to see her better and he bonked his head. Immediately he started crying. Sophie crawled over to where the babysitter was consoling him, as if she were concerned, too. When J let better, he sat on the floor with Sophie. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around J's neck, hugging him. Adorable! They are so cute together.

Today was Joe's 1/2 day, so he picked Sophie up and brought her home. When I finally got home, Sophie screeched excitedly in greeting. I went over to her (she was sitting next to Joe) and held my hands out so I could pick her up and hug her. She held her hands out and then pulled them back, shaking her head 'no' and grinning. I tried it again and got the same result. The little stinker was playing a game! After doing this a few more times, she finally let me pick her up for a hug.

When I was giving Sophie her bath tonight, she was playing her game of standing up and then sitting down (after telling her bath time is over if she doesn't sit...she loves this game). When bath time was really over, I started to drain the water out of the tub while she was still in it. She scooted closer to the drain and slowly pushed the stopper back down. When the water stopped draining she laughed and clapped, clearly pleased with herself.

Sophie has such a great personality and it keeps getting better. She is a perfect mixture of sweet, silly and sassy.

15 Months

My little 15 month old weighs 15 pounds and 2 ounces today! Pound party time! (That means take a shot/drink to celebrate Sophie gaining another pound. Gaining a pound is a big deal for kids who gain weight slowly, so go ahead...drink up!) Besides gaining weight, check out things that have been going on in Sophie's life this month:

• We often call Sophie "monkey," and she is really earning that nickname this month. She loves to climb anything and everything. She still loves climbing the stairs (and is very quick now), but she has moved onto bigger, better things. If you lie on the ground, she will act like you are her own personal mountain and climb all over you, laughing when she sits on top of you. If you put your legs out to try to block her path, she will climb over them (in a very focused way, might I add). She tries to climb her slide. If you put something up on top of the slide, she will keep climbing until she reaches it (or at least shakes the slide enough to let the item drop down to her). If you put her on the couch with you, she will try to climb over the arm of the couch so that she can reach anything that we were foolish enough to leave on the end table. The scariest thing that she climbs is her small plastic chair; she is proudest of this. Two weeks ago, Joe looked over and saw her climb her chair, and stand on top of it while holding on to one of our kitchen chairs. She did something very similar at the babysitter's house the following day. We catch her all of the time trying to climb on the chair now. I have a feeling I am going to write a post sometime soon about how she hurt herself by falling off the chair. Knock on wood that this doesn't happen. *pauses to knock on wood*

• Sophie now has 7 teeth. (Which, if you are an avid read of this blog-I'm talking about you, Mom- you already know this.)
• Sophie still isn't walking. She won't even stand on her own without holding onto something. It makes me very antsy, but I am trying to let it go. I know she will walk when she is ready - she does things on her own time line. It is hard to let go and not worry. With her being smaller and her previous heart issues, I just never want her to be behind developmentally. I went looking around online again today to see when I should be worried about kids not walking, which was 18 months, so I am breathing a little easier. On the bright side, Sophie isn't very heavy, so carrying her around doesn't bother me. Plus, I love when she squeezes onto me when I am carrying her somewhere. I suppose I can wait a little longer until I have to chase her around. 
• Sophie is becoming even more affectionate than before. She gives her best buddy (her babysitter's daughter who is in Kindergarten) kisses all of the time, and practically jumps out of my arms to hug her goodbye. She always loves on her baby doll. If you hold it out to her, Sophie will give the doll a huge bear hug and then kiss it. She gives away her kisses to her grandparents and her dad, too, but leaves poor old me without any sugar. At least I still get great hugs from her.

• Yesterday when she was playing with Cosmo, Joe told her to be gentle and pet the kitty. She very clearly said, "Kitty!" That is a new one. She usually says "cat."
• Sophie still loves books. Often times if I get a book out, she will crawl over to me and sit on my lap or right next to me so I can read it to her. Her favorite 'toys' are books. She really loves looking through them and holding them. A girl after my own heart!

• We have started giving Sophie Vitamin D milk mixed in with her formula and Pediasure. She seems to like it so far. There aren't as many calories in whole milk as there are in formula and Pediasure, so we will continue to mix them for awhile. Still, it is pretty exciting that she will drink it.
• Sophie is becoming more adventurous with the food she tries. As long as you let her bite into it, she will try it. Of course that doesn't mean that she will continue to eat it or even keep it in her mouth. Still, she really likes being able to bite into things. She was even eating a stalk of celery tonight (I'm sure she heard it was negative calories and got excited...) Whatever gets her to eat is fine by me!

I am so thankful for my little girl. These past 15 months have been wonderful. Yes, Sophie can be challenging and frustrate me at times, but those things are nothing compared to the joy she brings into my life. I just hope that I think the same thing when she is a teenager and we are fighting all of the time!

Enough of my sappiness...onto pictures! Click the link below.

We gave Sophie a sucker for eating so well one day. A nice treat for a special occasion.

She sure knows how to share.

Already a fan of money.

She has been really into sticking out her tongue and making noises. Joe caught this picture right before she started blowing a raspberry.

Kaci said that Sophie's hair was messy and she needed to fix it.

Goofy girl

All dressed up (minus her hair bow) for a friend's baptism. Joe and I were the Godparents, so while we were doing our thing, Sophie was happily getting passed around by others. She thought it was a fun game.

Being sweet to Cosmo.



Like mother, like daughter

Even though Sophie won't stand on her own, she will stand with her back to a piece of furniture. Stinker.  



We couldn't find a pacifier, so she improvised.



One of Sophie's current favorite things to do.

Cosmo just lays there and takes Sophie's rough love. Not sure if she is the most patient cat in the world or just lazy.

Look at that hair!

People ask me if Sophie ever cries. Um, yeah. Luckily she limits her crying and is mostly a happy girl.

For the past few months we give Sophie 3ml of Milk of Magnesia each day, per the GI's suggestion. She loves it! Seriously, she hates all other medicine and throws fits when we give them to her, but she get really happy with this stuff. She sucks it down and usually steals the syringe so she can try to get out more. I usually try to give it to her when she is being crabby, as it makes her smile again.

Playing patty cake with Grandma S.

 

We got this bat noise maker from a friend. Sophie was fascinated by it and was even able to get out some sounds.

I have a feeling that Sophie is going to be a very dramatic speaker.

We have officially put the high chair away. She seems to eat better when she isn't restricted to a chair. Now we either hold her and feed her or just put food on her table and let her have at it. (Though the floor ends up eating more food than she does...)

Yup, she climbed up on the chair this morning to eat.

Sophie and Cosmo Play - a story in pictures

Sophie discovers Cosmo's toy mouse.

"You want this?"

Sophie throws the mouse to Cosmo.

Cosmo bats the mouse back to Sophie.

Sophie taunts Cosmo. Cosmo remains slightly interested.

Sophie throws the mouse again. Cosmo is ready to play (look at the curled paw.)

Cosmo passes the mouse back to Sophie. Sophie then puts the mouse in her mouth, thus ending the game and my picture taking.

An Apple a Day

I hosted a jewelry party today, so my morning was filled with cleaning and making snacks for the party. Sophie was not interested in letting me work though, as she fussed until I picked her up. I sat her up on the counter (she loves being up there) so that I could still try to work on things (right next to her, of course). Sophie quickly became fascinated with an apple she found.

She held it in her hands, turned it around a few times, and squeezed it to her body. Then she tried to bite into the apple. I smirked because it was a big apple and she has such a tiny mouth with just a few full sized teeth. Of course I forgot how stubborn determined my daughter can be. She continued to try to bite into the apple. After a few minutes I noticed the apple had a tiny bite taken out of it's skin.

Surveying her progress

Sophie wasn't satisfied with that one tiny bite though. She kept trying to eat the apple. Even when I moved her off of the counter back onto the floor, she continued to eat the apple. If she crawled somewhere, the apple went with her.

She was so occupied with the apple that I was able to finish making my snacks. When I went over to see how she had been doing with the apple, this is what Joe and I found.

Wow! I guess the kid likes apples.

It is Here!

Tooth #7, that is. I noticed earlier this week that her other 'fang' tooth (or right upper lateral incisor for those who don't use my 'slang' terms). She has been crabby this week, especially yesterday. Today she let me look back in her mouth and, sure enough, the tooth had broken through.

In other news, I am pretty sure that I should rename this blog "Yup, she has another tooth." It seems like I keep posting about teeth. Hard to believe she only had 3 at the beginning of October (Yes, I went back and checked in the blog to be sure). Crazy!

Harry Potter

I have a future Harry Potter fan on my hands.

Daddy's Girl

We celebrated Thanksgiving early with Joe's family today. Sophie loved being with her cousins, aunts, uncles, great grandpa, and of course her grandparents. She also enjoyed some delicious Thanksgiving food. Her favorite part, in my opinion, was rubbing food in her hair. (This was my least favorite part. I hate messes....good thing I have a child!)
With all of the food in her hair, I knew tonight would be a bath night. Joe usually gives Sophie her baths. She always seems to have a blast when he is in there with her. I always hear her laughing and splashing around. When I give her baths she doesn't seem too impressed and wants out early. Sure she will laugh and splash a little, but nothing like when she is with her dad. *heavy sigh*
When it was time for her bath, I decided to let Sophie decide who she wanted to give it to her. So I asked, "Sophie, who do you want to give you a bath? Mom or Dad?" Without any hesitation, as if she really understood the question, she loudly answered, "Dad!" I tried again a minute later, switching the order of mom and dad. Again, "Dad dad!" She then crawled over to him and pulled up on his knees, as if to let him know that it was time for her bath.
I definitely have a Daddy's girl on my hands!

Another!

I was looking in Sophie's mouth today to check on how her teeth are coming along. I was very surprised to see that her right front tooth is coming in! Now she has 6 teeth - her upper and lower center incisors and her upper and lower left lateral incisors. 3 teeth are fully formed, 1 is halfway formed, and 2 have just broke through. Wow! I guess we won't have to sing "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" this year for Sophie.

A blurry/grainy picture of her teeth. You can't really see the ones that are just now coming in, but you can see the others.