After having Sophie, I didn't want to miss a second of her growing up. So, every day for the past two years I have taken a picture of her. I've never missed a day of pictures. However, due to a recent computer crash, I lost three days worth of photos (not bad for 2 years, but it still makes me sad to not have those days). I love going through her pictures and seeing how she has grown. Now that she is two though, I might relax on the daily pictures and try for weekly ones. I can't give up my photo project completely because it seems like she is constantly changing, and I want to document that.
- As of last week, Sophie weighed 16lb 3oz. At one year she weighed 13lb 6oz, so she hasn't even gained 3 pounds this year. Even though that sounds worrisome, I am not going to be bothered by it. Sophie is strong and healthy so who cares about the number on the scale? Sure, she is still considered FTT, but she is following her own little growth curve and isn't losing weight. From all that I have read both in medical documents and through families' personal accounts, this all is very typical of IUGR babies. They just grow slowly. Some of those babies have other issues going on, but a lot of them have nothing else that appears to be 'wrong', just like with Sophie. So while she might not be in the same range as those 'normal' sized babies, she is right on target with her IUGR peers. That is good enough for me!
- Sophie's vocabulary keeps improving each day. She always surprises us with the new words that she can say or that she remembers. She is also stringing more words together.Over the past few weeks I have noticed her saying multiple 4-5 word sentences. That really impresses me. Heck, all of it does. (Of course with all of the hundreds of words that Sophie knows, she still won't say the word 'more.' She knows the sign for it, so she will just say 'mmm' and sign the word more. When we try to get her to say it, she just raises her eyebrows, smiles and says 'mmmmm.' Stinker.)
- Speaking of vocabulary, some of the ways that she pronounces words are so cute. For example, she can't pronounce the letter f, so when she says her name she says 'Sosie.' It is really adorable. (Her lack of saying the letter f had her saying 'suck' one day when I accidentally uttered a word that rhymes with suck in front of her. Oops and whew!) She also says 'tops' whenever she is trying to say 'stop.' Those little things make me smile. It won't be long until she starts saying them correctly, and I will miss her mispronunciations. (My heart still gets a little sad when she calls her cousin by her real name, Kaci, instead of Kiki.)
- If you sneeze or cough, Sophie will say 'bless you.'
- I still can't believe how active Sophie is. She is just as active as most 2 year olds, but after waiting so long for her to walk it really excites me. When I look back on older blog posts, I talk a lot about how I was worried when she wasn't walking. It was stressful seeing all of these other kids her age or even those 6 months younger than her walking when Sophie only wanted to crawl. Apparently crawling and walking later is another common IUGR issue. Thankfully she started walking before she turned 18 months and she has never looked back. I love watching her run around, spin in circles and jump. I wish that I could go back to when she was 12-17 months old and tell myself not to worry. She may have been late to the walking game, but she more than makes up for it now.
- Sophie's memory for identifying things is really coming along. I'm about to get a little braggy (sorry), so if that annoys you then just move to the next bullet...Sophie can identify at least 15 different animals and the sounds that half of them make. (dog, cat, fish, bird, frog, cow, horse, pig, duck, elephant, monkey, giraffe, zebra, alligator, tiger, lion, and a few others depending on the day.) She also knows all of her body parts, including her chin, shoulders, neck, elbows, and her 'lady parts.' (The other day in the tub she randomly grabbed her self and yelled 'gyna.' Oh my.) She even knows where her palm is. Seriously? I have no idea where she learned that! She can count to 13, but she usually skips the even numbers (except for 2 and 10). She can spell her name, minus the letter 'h.'
- We are breaking the car seat rules. Kids are supposed to be at least 20 pounds before they face forward in their car seats. Sophie obviously won't hit that weight for awhile. We decided though that it was time to get her some forward facing seats. Joe installed her seats the day before school started for me so that Sophie could start the school year in a new seat. She loves it! I love it, too. She seems much happier in the car now.
- Sophie has peed on the potty a dozen times now. 5 of those being in the past week! I'm not going to push the potty training thing, but this is a great start. If we can get her peeing on the potty even a few times a week, I will be happy. If that doesn't happen, who cares. She is only 2 and has plenty of time to learn. (2...oh my goodness...she is 2!)
- Sophie is becoming more and more independent. There are many days when I try to put shoes on her or help her with something and she just brushes my hands away. At any given moment in our house you will here, "Sosie, too!" "Me try." "No. Sosie do it." "Sosie turn." Bring on the terrible twos!
- Speaking of the terrible twos, one of Sophie's new 'tricks' is her fake cry. She has done this for awhile, but now it is even more dramatic...and more fake. She also has started putting her fingers in her ears when she doesn't want to listen. Oh, Sophie...
- Sophie still doesn't quite understand that I am having a baby. However, if we ask her where the baby is, she knows to point to my stomach. Sometimes she will lift up my shirt and kiss my stomach or 'talk' to the baby (usually there is some prompting for her to talk to the baby.) It is pretty sweet. I can't help but wonder what Sophie will be like when the baby is born. Jealous? Helpful? Mean? Loving? Who knows. There is a baby at her baby sitter's house a few times a week, so hopefully Sophie will get used to the sounds they make. Maybe she will get over any jealousy issues, too. I think she will be a good big sister though.
- Sophie seemed to really enjoy her birthday today. When we would ask how old she is she would tell us 'two!' When we tell her it is her birthday, she says, "Happy day!" and "Happy birthday." She loved when we sang happy birthday to her and she even tried to blow out the candles on her cupcake. Her favorite thing though was opening her presents. She was already tearing into them before I got them all on the floor next to her! She ripped the paper off and cheered happily at all the gifts. When all of the presents were opened and she finished playing with them, she looked around and said, "mmmmm presents" while signing the 'more' sign. She walked around the room looking for some more, calling out, "Presents!" Silly girl. I'm glad that she had a 'happy day.'
Click the link below for more pictures from this month.
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| Sophie was basically the same size as this doll when she was a newborn. She was an inch or two longer than the doll, but the doll was wider than her. I used to take monthly pictures of her with the doll to show her growth. Look at them now! |
