I was so excited about the Hunger Games movie that I made t-shirts for Sophie and me.

While I normally hate mother-daughter matchy things, I can't help but love this. I think it is adorably nerdy.

**Idea taken from here. 

19 Months

My little girl is 19 months old today. It has been so much fun watching her learn and grow this month. I still call her my baby, but she really isn't anymore. With all of the walking, talking, and comprehending that Sophie is doing, she is definitely a little girl now.

The biggest change this month seems to be Sophie's speech. She tries repeating all of the words that we say. She is like a sponge! I couldn't list all of the words she can say now even if I tried. It is so much fun hearing her talk. She is always chattering about something, some of which you can understand and some you can't. She tries very hard to pick up new words when we teach them to her. She is even stringing words together, such as "Where dad at?" and "What this?" (these are usually paired with her hands in the air in an 'I don't know' manner.) She has the sweetest little high pitched voice, though she knows how to get loud when she is excited!

I love the morning routine that Sophie and I have now. After hitting the snooze button once or twice (or more), I get up when I hear Sophie. She always greets me with a big smile and offers me something from her crib, like her blanket. After changing her diaper, we go back to my room. Right away she starts saying, "Teeth...teeth," which is the signal that she wants to brush her teeth. I usually sit on the edge of the tub and pull her up on my lap so we can brush together. We end our brushing by standing in front of the mirror, where Sophie laughs and makes faces at herself. She then announces, "All done," and hands me back her toothbrush. She usually plays around while I finish getting ready. When we go to leave, she starts saying, "Bye, bye," and brings me her jacket or shoes to show that she is ready to go. She makes me smile. It is so hard to leave her though, and I find myself lingering at our house or the baby sitter's longer than I should.

I'm not sure of Sophie's current weight. Joe took her for her 18 month check up two weeks ago. She weighed 15lb 8oz and was 28 1/2 inches tall. She is my petite little girl. The pediatrician wanted us to call GI to give them the updated measurements. While Sophie has grown since December, Dr. Campbell was concerned that she hasn't grown much. Due to this, she wants to see Sophie again in a few weeks. That break from GI was short-lived. Oh well. As long as they aren't putting her on feeding tubes or unnecessary medicine I am fine with it.

Here are some of my favorite moments from this month:

• Sophie loves playing with sidewalk chalk. When I picked her up from the baby sitter's house one afternoon, she screamed bloody murder when I took her away from the chalk so that we could go home. I went right out and bought some chalk of our own. She gets so happy! Our driveway is covered with chalk. So is our front porch, and chair, and even one of the window screens...
• Sophie is really into holding her own bags. It doesn't matter if it is a purse, a shopping bag or a tote bag, she wants to hold it (while repeating the word "bag"). It is so funny to see her with a big bag hitched up on her shoulder like a tiny lady.

   

For Christmas, I made coasters with pictures of our family. Sophie loves looking at and playing with them. The other day when she was playing with one of her, we asked her who that was. She replied, "Baby." So we asked her what that baby's name was. "Me!" she replied while pointing a finger at herself. We cracked up laughing! She said the same thing when she was looking in the mirror and we asked what the baby's name was. It is so cute. Hopefully I can catch it on video.

When she was younger (even just a few months ago), Sophie couldn't stand to wear shoes. She would kick at them until they came off. Now, she loves them. She is constantly getting her shoes, bringing them to us and repeating, "shoes!" until we put them on her. She doesn't necessarily want them on for long, but then she will start the cycle all over again. You would think that putting shoes up on a shelf would dissuade her from wanting them, but it just makes her point and loudly yell, "Shoes!" until we get them for her.

Bringing me her shoes so that I would put them on her.

Joe forgot to take the car seat out of his car one day after picking Sophie up. That next morning when I went to go to work and saw I was without a car seat, I was at a loss of what to do. Luckily my co-worker and good friend, Beth, was right down the street dropping her son off at their baby sitter's house. She picked us up and Sophie got to ride in a forward facing seat for once! She seemed pretty happy facing forward. She especially loved that Beth's other son was in the seat next to her. She seemed to like having company back there.

I love watching Sophie walk. She is getting so fast and can go long distances before getting tired or falling over. It makes me so happy and proud. I still find it hard to believe that she has only been walking for a month and a half.

Sophie started drinking Capri Sun this month. I was very happy when her babysitter told me that she tried and enjoyed it. Finally a drink besides Pediasure that will give her calories! She loves water and tolerates her Pediasure, but she doesn't like drinking juice. While I am glad she drinks a lot of water, she needs those calories.

Besides being a parrot with words, Sophie also mimics our actions. For example, tonight I was leaning forward with my hands curled up and resting on my face. Joe laughed because Sophie was staring at me and started to do the same thing. Too funny and cute. Of course this means that we really have to watch ourselves now!

Click the link below for more pictures from this month:

She ate about half of this! She really likes chocolate.

Sophie loves looking her reflection. She always laughs when she sees herself in the bathtub.

I constantly take pictures of Sophie mid-step because I am so proud and relieved that she is walking now.

Oliver Twist impression - "Please, sir, I want some more."

Sophie loves her Paw Paw (both of them). She ran right over to my dad when he came to visit; she was so happy to see him. I'm pretty darn sure that the feeling is mutual.

When the temperature was in the 80's this week, I pulled her water table out of storage. She loves dumping the water on the deck and herself.

"Is there something on my face?"

A Trip to the Zoo

We took a family trip to the zoo today. Sophie has never been, so we were very excited to take her. We met up with Susie and the twins (Sophie's aunt and cousins) and walked around for a few hours. It was a hot day, but still a perfect day for the zoo. Despite the heat, Sophie had a great time. 

Starting out on our adventure



 First stop was the elephants. Sophie kept calling out, "Ella!" when we told her what they were. After that we went to see the giraffes. Sophie wasn't as impressed with them. Maybe next time we will pay to feed them. I bet Sophie would love that!

Next, we moved on to see the penguins. Sophie went nuts for them. She kept saying, "Ohhhhh!" and pointing at the penguins as the walked around.

The next stop was to visit some of the different monkeys. I'm not sure if Sophie noticed where they were until they finally started to move around. Just like the giraffes, Sophie wasn't very interested in the monkeys.

Sophie's favorite part of the zoo was seeing all of the cats! As you know, Sophie loves cats. Whenever she sees one, whether it be in a book or in person, she excitedly yells, "Cat!" Today was no different. When we went to see the nocturnal animals, Sophie pointed and called out to each cat that she saw. She was so happy! Outside of the nocturnal house was a glass area that held some big cats. Sophie was in heaven! She loved being so close to the cat and having it look at her.





We really enjoyed our time at the zoo. I can't wait to take Sophie back again to introduce her to even more animals.

These stayed on for about a minute. 

 

Happy

Sophie and I went outside and played with sidewalk chalk for awhile. As we were going in, she kept saying, "Happy." She has been repeating it for the past hour. That makes me happy! I'm glad that she had a good time.

Another First

Sophie had another first today...pooping in the tub! She was splashing around happily in the tub for about 10 minutes. She didn't make any grunts or pained faces, she just played with her toys. There were a ton of bubbles in there, so I couldn't see the bottom of the tub. Then Sophie moved around and through the break in the bubbles I saw it. You know what I mean. I quickly got her out of the tub and called up to Joe to come take her so I could clean the tub. He was able to rinse her off in the sink as I pulled four (four!) solid poop balls out of the tub. Gross!

Don't worry, there are no pictures included in this post!

A Year Ago

With all of the tornadoes and bad weather Friday, I completely forgot that it was a special day. Friday marked one year since Sophie had her heart procedure. It is hard to believe that a year has already gone by!

Sophie had a few heart issues after she was born. She had a VSD (ventricular septal defect), PDA (patent ductus arteriosus), and a bicuspid aortic valve. Her VSD closed on its own, but the PDA didn't. Since Sophie was so small and having a hard time gaining weight, her cardiologist decided that it would be best to go ahead and close the murmur. On March 2, 2011 her PDA was closed after inserting an occluder through cardiac catheterization. Sophie still has the bicuspid valve, but everything else is doing great! We are so fortunate to have Children's Hospital so close by. They took wonderful care of Sophie.

Sophie right before her procedure.

Sophie after her procedure. Once the anesthesia wore off she was fine and back to playing with anything and everything.

The day after her procedure.

One year after her procedure.