Life is Wonderful: 29 Months

I can still remember this time 2 years ago. Sophie just turned 5 months old and was preparing for her first hospital stay. The next day she was going to be getting her feeding tube due to slow growth and FTT. Today she still grows slowly (stuck right around 18 pounds), but she is doing great. She is such a strong, feisty, sweet, polite, smart, and funny little girl. I sometimes can't believe that I am lucky enough to be her mom.

Sophie's new favorite book. She wants it read constantly. She has even memorized some parts of it and will read along with us.

Sophie is really seeming to understand that Josie is a baby and she will be here soon. She will mention Josie fairly often. She points out items that are Josie's and makes sure that we are aware of who they belong to. She is also becoming more mother-like to her baby dolls. It is really sweet watching her interact with them. She covers them up, puts them to bed, rocks with them, pats their backs, and so on. She even has started putting them into the baby swing that we set up downstairs. The only worrisome thing is that she calls the one her baby brother. I hope that she isn't disappointed when we bring home a girl!
We think Sophie is going to be some sort of medical professional when she is older. She still loves playing with stethoscopes and wants to check out our hearts often. When Joe checks my blood pressure at night, she declares that it is her turn for a check-up. She waits patiently while Joe "checks" her blood pressure. She has gone with me for a few of my check-ups this month and gets so excited! She tells the nurses that it is, "Mommy's check-up" and watches them carefully as they get my stats. She will sit patiently while the doctors do their thing and gets excited when she can 'help' (one doc lets her push a button so we can hear the heart beat). I'm glad that she enjoys these check-ups when I have to take her along. It makes things so much easier!
For the third year in a row, Sophie has stayed up until midnight on New Years Eve. She likes to party, apparently. I am kinda glad that she stays up each year so that we can ring in the New Year with her.

At the beginning of the month, Joe had to go to a meeting. He gave Sophie some money to put into her piggy bank (she loves doing this) while he was gone. After he left, she turned to me and told me that she wanted to put the money in Josie's piggy. I was shocked and didn't think she would really do it. I had her lead me upstairs, and sure enough, she took me into Josie's room and put the coins in her piggy bank. What a sweet little girl!

She could spend hours putting money in her piggy bank.

Another fun/gross poop story this month: Joe was at a meeting and I was giving Sophie a bath in the tub. In the tub, she kept farting. I asked if she needed to get out and she said no. I warned her not to poop in the tub and she told me, "I not." Still the farting continued. I tried a few more times to get her out of the tub, but she was having too much fun and said no. Then I hear, "Ohhhhhhhhh!" followed by panicked crying. I look in the tub and there was some loose poop floating around. I told her it was okay and pulled her out and sat her on the edge of the tub. Then the rest of the poop came out, on the edge of the tub. Sophie was hysterical at this point. "I poop! I poop! It gross! Noooooo! I clean it! Gross!" Poor kid. I kept telling her it was okay and that Mommy would clean it up. I wrapped her in a towel and took her to the other bathroom to rinse her off. She sobbed the whole time. I changed her into her pjs and she kept saying, "It gross. I pooped! Sophie clean it?" Poor kid was traumatized. I set her down and went to clean the mess. She was fine after that. We went downstairs to watch an episode of Mickey Mouse before I put her to bed. I asked if she was okay, and she said yes. I asked if she was embarrassed and she nodded, giving me these big, earnest looking eyes. I told her again that it was okay and accidents happen. I gave her a big hug and kiss, and she then snuggled up next to me on the couch. She quickly started to drift off to sleep (probably drained for crying). I told her I was going to take her upstairs and she told me, "No. I sleep on couch." So, we ended up both falling asleep on the couch. When Joe got home, he snapped a quick picture and then carried Sophie to bed.

Here are some random pictures from the month (from my phone, so the quality isn't the best):

We've been pulling baby things out of the basement to prepare for Josie. Sophie loves seeing all of the things we are bringing up and trying them out. She always loved this seat when she was a baby, and she still loves it now. I just hope she doesn't squash Josie when she is in there!

I was able to practice swaddling again.

This was Sophie's first real snow that she was able to play in. She was too young two winters ago, and last year it didn't really snow. She enjoyed it, but didn't like when the snow was blowing in her face.

Hanging out with Rosie, waiting for midnight on NYE.

My party animal.

Yum! A giant Hershey Kiss! Thanks, Colliver family!

Sophie likes cleaning. I thought she only enjoyed wiping things with her baby wipes, but apparently she enjoys using the swiffer, too. This could be a very good thing!