Happy 2nd Birthday Sophie!

Dear Sophie,

Two already?!  How did that happen?  Just today I was recounting the story of how we packed up our entire house and moved two states away when you were only three weeks old.  Telling that story makes me feel like superwoman, and also like I might be a teensy bit crazy.  Why would someone voluntarily do that?  But I digress.  When I was talking about that time period, it didn't seem all that long ago.  Yet when I look at you, in all of your spirited, toddler glory, there is no denying that you no longer even remotely resemble that newborn who travelled to Pittsburgh with us two years ago.

Sophie, let me begin by saying that you possess a lively spirit.  All someone has to do is look in your eyes - at the way they positively glow when you smile, or when you're being chased, or when you have just stolen something that you know you shouldn't have - and your exuberance for life is abundantly clear.  But this spirit also means you have a strong opinion on, well, almost everything.  At home, you're not shy about letting us know when you feel something is not going your way.  Oh the squealing sounds that you can make!  I feel certain they would rival a stuck pig.  In other people's care, though, you seem to be slightly more amiable.  At church, where you play three morning a week while I work, they ADORE you.   They tell me of your kindness, your empathy, your intelligence, and your enthusiasm.  And I believe them, for I have seen these things too.  But they do not believe me when I mention the squealing, Sophie Grace.

You never stop, and while I know people say this about most little kids, it seems even more true for you.  You conquer physical feats that continue to surprise and amaze me; walking down steps with no railing, climbing up slides, hanging from tree branches, turning every curb into your personal balance beam, outrunning kids older than yourself, and once, climbing out of your crib when you were not happy about being placed there for a timeout.  Thankfully, that feat has not been repeated.  I will not be at all surprised if you excel in a variety of sports later in life, my little monkey.  You love to sing, to dance, to jump (you'll follow me around sometimes, saying "I hopping!" over and over again), to color, to swing, to read.  But most of all, you love to do whatever your sister is doing.  You're learning about sharing, though we've got a long ways to go.

Some of my favorite things about you are the way you'll read books with me, almost always finishing a sentence if I stop.  I love the concern that you show when anyone else is upset, frequently being the first to comfort your sister.  I love the way you sing every word of "Silent Night" and "Jesus Loves Me" with me when I am putting you to sleep.  I love that you sleep almost twelve hours at night and still usually take a two hour nap during the day.  I love that you have a passion for footwear, often changing your shoes several times a day before settling on yellow and pink polka dot rain boots.  I love the way you giggle, the way you frown, the way that you yell "I gotch you!" after you tag me.  I am so thankful that God chose me to be your mommy, and I will always, always be there for you.  Happy second birthday!

Love,

Mommy

Twelve Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

On your birthday, there are a few things I want you to know. First, we feel so lucky to have welcomed you into our family exactly one year ago. Maybe it's because you have the benefit of having an older sister (and we made all of our mistakes on her - just kidding, Emmie!), but almost everything about your first year has seemed to go pretty well. Yes, there were hiccups along the way, and yes, there were days that most certainly wouldn't qualify as easy by anyone's definition, but by and large I will always look back on your first year of life with a smile.

Second, I want you to know how much you are loved. For me, it has been especially fun to watch Emily grow to love you. And someday - maybe ten years from now - you may not believe me, but you are one of her very favorite people. She adores you, she takes great pride in the fact that you are her sister, and she is always on your side. She loves making you laugh, and you don't disappoint. Your infectious smile and giggle are so much a part of your personality, and we are thankful that you are often such a happy child. You have an entire extended family - aunts, uncles, and grandparents - that think you're pretty great. You have a mom and dad who delight in you each and every day, and you have a God who will always watch over you.

Third, I want you to know some of specific things you do that make you unique. You love to cuddle any and all things soft, and you give phenomenal hugs. You don't like being cooped up, and are always on the go. You have begun pointing to things you want to see, touch, and grab and you squeal like a stuck pig when you don't get your way. You enjoy being read to for short periods of time, and will help turn the pages. You must also believe that every book is supposed to be a "touch and feel" book, and will spend forever combing your fingers over the pictures. You were an early walker, and are pretty athletic. You can go up and down stairs with great ease. You like being outside, in new places, and around people. You have amazingly beautiful eyes, and I can never decide what color they are. You seem to detest getting new teeth, and sometimes will stuff your entire little fist in your mouth to see if that will make everything feel better. You are quick to cry, but easily comforted. You have flaws, of course, but to me you are perfect because you are you.

I love you so much, and I celebrate you today, Sophie Grace.

Love,

Mommy

Eleven Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

You are now eleven months old, and so close to reaching the huge milestone that is your first birthday. You decided to celebrate eleven months by taking your first steps - about five - yesterday, but you definitely aren't walking yet. If I hold my arms out to you from a couple feet away, you'll make your way over, usually falling into my arms on that last step. You want to be walking so badly, but I think it will be a few more weeks before you get there. And that's okay with me because I enjoy watching you speed crawl your way through our entire house. If they had crawling races for babies, my money would be on you every time.


Your days follow a mostly predictable pattern. You enjoy three bottles each day, gobble up finger foods at each meal, and on good days, will tolerate some baby food. You nap very well each morning, but often cry for awhile before your afternoon nap. You are quite happy on most days, but the last hour before bedtime is often hard. You've just plumb tuckered yourself out and start to lose the ability to keep it together. So we take walks, we read books, we cuddle, we have dance parties and somehow, day after day, we make it until 8:00.


You're quite mischievous, just today finding your father's secret stash of dark chocolate and going to town until I found you and promptly put an end to your fun. You have an almost constant gleam in your eye, telling me that you're enjoying life to the fullest. But this gleam also lets me know - in a way that I can't fully explain - that you're going to be trouble sometimes. You're going to test limits and push boundaries, but you'll do it with a happy grin the whole time.


I absolutely adore watching you grow and change into the little person you will become. Sometimes the days are long, but the months and years are short, Sophie Bear. So very soon you will turn one, changing more and more from my baby precious baby into my precocious toddler. And I can't wait to be there with you every step of the way.

I love you lots and lots,

Mommy

Ten Months Old!

Sophie,

Here's something I've learned about parenting - you can never trust what other people tell you about raising children. Everyone always told me that raising a second child would be completely different than the first. But so far, your similarities to your older sister are far greater than your differences. At this age, you both couldn't stand to be left alone in a room, were always, ALWAYS on the go, and had very little interest in age appropriate toys while always angling for ways to get the things I didn't want you to have. You and Emily were/are both social babies: perfect angels when we're out on the go, but often very whiny at home. But Sophie, in little ways, you are definitely your own little person. You're tender, and will almost always give me a cuddle, albeit often brief. Your smile is big, bright, and so frequently on display. And not to knock your sister, but let's just say I have a hunch that the natural athletic ability was more greatly bestowed to you.

You're such a good sleeper, my darling baby. This needing more sleep is both a blessing and a curse though because if you miss a nap you fall apart so quickly it's pathetic. When I started working three mornings a week and at first you weren't napping in the morning- well, let's just say it was a rough transition. But we've found a solution, you seem to adore your caretakers at the nursery while I work, and all is well.

You're still very much attached to your bottles, but slowly warming up to the idea that liquids can also come from a sippy cup. You let us know that you can feed yourself, thank you very much. Baby food fed from a spoon doesn't go over very well with you, but you will pick up cheerios and banana pieces until we decide you can't possibly need any more food. You are finally getting your first tooth popping through, which leaves me feeling relieved that you will indeed have at least one tooth by the time we're celebrating your first birthday.

Unfortunately, Sophie, I am finding it to be true again that this is often a frustrating age. You are very much aware of what you want but can't yet vocalize it with words. You very much want to follow but can't quite keep up by crawling. You desire to be held and explore at the same time and why can't I just figure out a way to let you do both? Still my darling girl, I cuddle up with you before bedtime, you rest your little head on my shoulder, and for a few moments, absolutely all is right with the world.

Love,

Mommy

Nine Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

Today you turn nine months old, my littlest girl! You have left infancy behind, and I fear it will be all too soon before you are saying goodbye to babyhood. Don't get me wrong, I love watching you develop and change, and truth be told, I'm a much bigger fan of most stages after the first year of life. But at the same time you are such a joy right now, just as you are, that sometimes I do want to just press the pause button. It's so easy to get a smile and a giggle out of you, and I know that's not always going to be the case.

You're a crawling fool, having abandoned the army crawl in favor of the more traditional (and faster!) style. After a few strikes, you are finally starting to get the hang of the sippy cup. You are sleeping wonderfully, so much so that I almost didn't want to write that down lest I jinx myself. When it's time for a nap, you will lay your head on my shoulder as I sing a few verses of Silent Night (don't remember how that particular song was started, but it's your cue that it's time for sleeping). It's the ONLY time that you are still in my arms, and I cherish those moments in our days. You have taken a particular liking to a white bunny blanket, and now sleep with it at all times. You terrorize Oscar, pulling out fur whenever you can (but between you and me, he has plenty of extra - I know because I vacuum it up all the time). You are eating many more solids, and just yesterday took a particular liking to graham crackers. You love to play peek-a-boo and perform well when I ask you, how big is Sophie?! (Answer: SO BIG! and you'll raise your arms proudly).

In short, ladybug (or, stinkbug, if you are being naughty), you are becoming such a fun, smart, energetic and spirited girl. You make me smile every day, and though you may not believe me if you read this when you're, say, 12 and your sister is almost 15, Emily adores you. We often go around the table at dinnertime after we've said our prayer and share one thing we're thankful for. Emily will normally say ice cream, or Dora, or something equally profound. But the other night, she paused, looking thoughtful and serious and said: "I'm really thankful for my sister". And I, Sophie, am really thankful for my youngest daughter.

Love you,

Mommy

Eight Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

In only eight short months, you have managed to make yourself the center of this family in so many ways!  And not in bad ways.  I am just trying to tell you how much we all love you and can't imagine what it would be like without you.  For example, the relationship you already have with your sister is amazing.  She just adores you, and has pretty much from the moment you were born.  She always seems to know just what you need.  In fact, she often anticipates my moves and will hand you a different toy when you begin to fuss, or tell me she thinks you want to eat when I just went to the kitchen to make you some solids (sidenote: why do they call it beginning solids for babies when everything is still pureed and clearly a LIQUID?  Sorry, that's always bothered me a little).  In short, your older sister is pretty amazing to you.  You seem to adore her right back though, and I swear on occasion you look first to her for comfort when things aren't going your way.  The growing relationship you two have - and the ways that you can make each other giggle - has been my single biggest parenting joy this month.



You enjoyed your first vacation recently, as we ventured to Michigan to visit Grandma Evonne and Grandpa Don, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kara, and many of our old friends.  You did pretty well, all things considered.  The biggest discovery was that you love the water.  And not in a "hey, this is kind of fun" way, but more of a "oh. my. goodness.  why don't we live in here ALL the time!?" kind of way.  Splashing in the water just didn't seem to get old for you.  Perhaps you'll be a little more adventurous than Emily, who still acts as though life as we know it will come to an end if the water gets anywhere near her eyes.  Oh the drama!



You're sleeping well (only waking in the middle of the night on rare occasion), and pretty much regularly taking two 1.5 hour naps.  Seriously, I can pretty much set my watch by you.  Not that I'm complaining because only recently 45 minute naps were the norm, but it's a little strange.  You're eating well, trying pretty much everything we give you though you have recently vetoed carrots, which at first you seemed to enjoy.  But Sophie, we need to talk about how loud you are when you eat.  It's as though you are having an entire conversation with your food, and I can't decide if you're frustrated, happy, annoyed, or maybe all of the above.  It sounds a little like a baby soap opera.  Let's just say that between your noise levels and our constant negotiations with Emily about how many more bites of dinner she must eat, our meals aren't quite as relaxing as they once were.



You're always on the go, always ready for a laugh, and very eager to find new ways to entertain yourself.  I am predicting that your spirit will be a bit more adventurous than I've grown accustomed to, and that gleam in your eyes assures me that we're in for a fun ride over the coming months and years.  We love you BABY Sophie!

Love,

Mommy

Seven Months Old!

Sophie,

You are seven months old now, and whenever I see you in recently taken pictures, you look so big to me.  Maybe that's because your head really is giant (95th percentile last we checked), or maybe it's because I simply can't understand how you changed so fast from the tiny, skinny newborn that we brought home from the hospital.  But whatever the case may be, you are learning and growing and changing everyday, and occasionally I struggle to keep up.



You can crawl now, not the classic style only hands and knees crawling, but the just as effective army crawl style.  It gets you (much too quickly, in my opinion) from one side of a room to the other.  We've started to hear cries from Emily along the lines of "Mom, Sophie's eating/slobbering on/tearing apart my (fill in the blank)!"



You're eating so many different kinds of solids now, and love them all.  At least, I think you do because you don't spit anything out.  You are, however, a very vocal eater!  You had your first taste of puffs (aka cheerios that dissolve slightly easier), and did very well getting them into your mouth all by yourself.  You love to sit and take out every toy from a box or bin.  You look at each object, put in your mouth, turn it around in your hands, studying it the way that only someone who is discovering new things can do.



You're sleeping pretty great, most days still taking two naps, unless they are exceptionally long and then it's just two.  You sleep 11 to 12 hours at night, waking up by talking to yourself or shrieking happily.  You're always a little disgruntled when you're left alone in a room for any length of time, but other than that, you're really pretty darn happy.  I love you little ladybug!

Love,

Mommy

Six Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

You have been a part of this family for half a year now!  (And on a related note, yes, I realize that is a sufficient amount of time to change our blog header to include you.  This is one of the many things you can hang over my head as proof that I'm a terrible parent when you are a teenager.)  What a difference a month makes.  It is amazing how pleasant you can be when you aren't busy trying to fight off all of those viruses.  You're sleeping better, eating better, and for the most are a lot happier.  For that I'm so thankful!  I praise God that you were born with a good, strong, healthy set of lungs that fought so hard for so long.



We went on our first road trip this month to Baltimore to visit Susan and Peter and your future best friend, baby Lydia.  The two of you hit it off pretty well, though I did have to remind you on more than one occasion that it wasn't okay to grab her face with the same enthusiasm that you grab mine.  Still, I think you enjoyed it.  And you did very well during the car ride, so that made for an easier trip for everyone.



You're sleeping through the night again for the most part.  For the past few nights though, you've decided you need an extra snack at some point in the middle of the night.  Growth spurt perhaps?  You're eating lots of solids now - from pears to peas to sweet potatoes.  Currently we have not found a food that you don't like.  I'm trying not to get my hopes up that you'll be a less picky eater than your sister.  Though, in fairness to her, she is getting much, much better at trying new foods.  Except for hamburgers.  Clearly those are still too much to handle.



You still laugh and smile with ease at just about anything.  Your smile is one of the best smiles I've ever seen.  You get this glint in your eyes that makes your whole face light up.  It's really one of your best features and someday you are gonna break some boys heart with that smile, I'm quite sure.  You are so active when you're awake, always kicking or trying to grab the nearest thing in sight.  It's fun to watch how curious you are, and how big your eyes get when something surprises you.  You still adore being in the baby bjorn and going for walks, having your sister sing to you and dance around you, and listening to all kinds of music.  You're an absolute joy and I'm so thankful you're my little ladybug.

Love,

Mommy

Five Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

Where to start this month?  It's been a rough few weeks kiddo.  You've been sick for the better part of the past four weeks with RSV and bronchiolitis, and it hasn't been pretty.  There were a few days where you seemed to be better (and I think actually were better, before you re-infected yourself somehow), and I was so happy to have you and your fabulous personality back!  And then we regressed, and it's back to wheezing when you breathe, coughing round the clock, using the snot sucker several times a day, and putting that mask over your face for the nebulizer breathing treatment on the off chance that it actually provides some relief for you.   You don't know this, Sophie, but when your dad and I were in college, he and his friends used to play this computer game called "worms" a LOT.  Each player got a team of little worms, and an arsenal of weapons.  The point of the game was to kill the other team's worms and one of the weapons you could use made the other team's worms sick.   I remember hating it because for several minutes all you could hear were these cute little sneezes and coughs, and I felt so bad.  For the animated bugs.  So you can imagine that hearing you cry so often and seeing you unhappy has just about killed me this month.  Plus we haven't been sleeping that great.  It's been a little emotional around here lately.



But, despite this, you are still an amazing, lovely little girl.  You'll still shower most people with smiles, and are still often content.  I think you're generally feeling worse than you let on.  You really like the exersaucer these days, and are bearing more and more weight on those little legs while you're in it.  You grip toys much better, and for longer periods.  Everything you can get your little fingers on - from toys to clothes to our hands - goes straight into your mouth.  I'm pretty sure this doesn't help us control the germs that we're trying to keep away from you, but there's just no reasoning with you.



We're really trying to successfully get you on a schedule of three naps per day, and for the week that you were healthy, you were pretty amenable to this.  You're eating rice cereal with more regularity, and have also tried pears and sweet potatoes.  You are becoming more and more squirmy, which I can't tell is just because you're uncomfortable lately, or just not really interested in being still but rather want to see how quickly you can wave those arms and legs.



My absolute favorite part about you lately is that when I pick you up after a nap, or after you've been crying, you burrow your little head into my shoulder.  You don't stay there for long, but it's as though that's your way of saying "oh good, I'm so glad you came back.  I love you."  Perhaps I'm reading a little too much into that, but I don't think so.

I love you too, Sophie.

Mommy

Four Months Old!

Sophie,

Four months old already?!  Boy oh boy, time just keeps moving right along.  You're still a happy girl, and are still content to do just about anything.  Your favorite things to do right now are try and stuff every possible object into your mouth, roll onto our side as often as possible, and giggle hysterically when we bounce you up and down or fly you around the room.  Your sister continues to adore you, and I just can't wait until you can actually move around or talk.  If she loves you now, she's going to go completely nuts over you in a few more months.



Your sleeping is going pretty well.  But you have this thing with 45 minute naps.  You almost always wake up 45 minutes into your sleep, whether it be a nap or at night, and cry.  At first I'd rescue you pretty regularly, but then that got old so we moved into a little bit of cry-it-out bootcamp this week.  You're getting better at putting yourself back to sleep now, which is great.  And if you're really struggling, I move you to your swing to finish out your naps.  Keep up the good work.  I anticipate that you'll drop down to three naps soon, and will probably start eating some rice cereal and other foods in the next couple of weeks.  You are still consistently sleeping through the night with no problems, and you and your sister generally wake up around the same time each morning, both bright eyed and ready to start the day.



When we take you to church, we get swarmed by old ladies telling me you are the cutest baby they have every seen.  Truly, they do.  And you probably are.  Cute and content as can be most of the time.  As I said, you enjoy being on your side, but have yet to roll all the way over by yourself regularly.  You've done it once or twice, but I think it was an accident.  My theory on why you're a little slow to master this particular skill is that you don't care enough.  If I put you on your back, you're happy.  If I put you on your tummy, you're now happy too.  There's no reason you need to change anything, so why bother trying to roll?!



Anyway, we love you like crazy Sophie.  Thanks for being a part of our family.

Love,

Mommy

Three Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

You are turning three months old already.  And even though I am looking forward to all that you will be able to do as you get older, your dad and I both think you are growing too fast.  Slow down already!  You're so much fun to be around these days.  There are actually days that a few hours go by before I can recall hearing you cry, and you often have trouble eating your entire bottle because you won't stop smiling.  (Your dad nicknamed you Smiley Cyrus, and I'm afraid it stuck).  And on top of that, you often giggle at me as I am trying to rock you and calm you down before naps.  You can't seem to fall asleep because you're too busy being happy!


Not that we don't have our issues, because you're still not napping great.  It's clear that you're tired, but also that you enjoy being around people too much to want to stay in your room by yourself for very long.  You nap just enough so that you won't pass out from exhaustion, and then want to come back downstairs and bat some more hanging toys or gaze adoringly at your sister.  And speaking of your sister, you clearly think she's pretty special because some of your biggest smiles are reserved for her.  And I have to say that seeing you smile at her like that, that's the reason having two kids is amazing and worth the exhaustion that I feel at the end of each and every day.  It melts my heart to see the two of you interact together!




You still don't like being on your tummy very much at all, though you'll tolerate it for a few minutes at a time as long as you can find your fingers to suck on.  You enjoys baths, as long as you don't get too cold.  And just like your sister, you are content as can be anytime we put you in the baby bjorn.  You prefer to nap in your swing, though I'm trying to convince you that the crib is okay too (it's not going well).  You do, however, sleep excellently in your crib every night, often sleeping 10 hours straight without a peep.  Thanks for that, sweetie!  You tend to get a pretty crabby only in the hours before you need to poop.  In fact, if you're fussy at all, it's usually for a good reason.


We love you so much Sophie Grace!

Love,

Mommy

Two Months Old!

Dear Sophie,

We have reached the end of month two already, and boy is it going fast this time around! I mean, to honest there are some days when I look at the clock 20 times in the afternoon, counting down the minutes until your daddy will get home, but in general, your infancy seems to be going quite quickly. You are growing well, I think, though we won't know for sure until we have your two month check up on Wednesday and get your official stats, but you seem to getting bigger and you no longer fit in your size newborn clothes, so that's a good sign.



You are sleeping well, generally going to bed for the night around 9 o'clock and then sleeping until 5ish, at which point you eat and go back to bed for another two to three hours. And once, you did sleep the whole night through, so I know you can do it. But your napping is a bit more of a struggle. You seem to be the queen of the cat nap these days, often only wanting to sleep for about 30 minutes at a time during the day, which makes it a bit more challenging. But you are SUCH a happy and calm girl. You will sit contentedly in your bouncy seat or lay on your play mat for very long periods of time. You are quick to give smiles and I swear that you giggled at me the other day (as I was trying to rock you to sleep).



You are not a fan of being on your stomach, so I sense that you will be slower to roll over than your sister was. She loved her tummy time. You are gaining head control, but pretty much refuse to lift it up when I place you on your stomach, choosing to immediately wail instead. But other than that, you are a LOT like your sister was as a baby, and it makes me wonder whether your personalities will become more similar or different as time goes by. I very much look forward to the days that you will spend playing (and probably fighting) with her. Right now she adores you, but I wonder if that feeling will remain once you try to play with her toys and imitate everything she does. We'll see!



You are a joy to us Sophie Grace, and I'm glad you're in this family. I already can't imagine it without you!

Love,

Mommy

One Month Old!

Dear Sophie,

You are turning one month old today!  As was the tradition with your sister, I will try to remember to write you a note every month.  Thus far, I have to say that you are a remarkable baby.  You seem to generally be pretty content with life, and happy to relax in a bouncy seat, swing, or someone's arms and take it all in.  When your eyes are happen, which is happening with greater frequency, they are so big and round.  I wonder what color they will end up being, dark like mine and your daddy's or bright blue like your big sister!



You sleep like a pro, generally going three to four hours between feedings at night.  Also, you are happy to accept both breast milk and formula, which has been wonderful.  I pretty much expected that I would not be able to feed you with only breast milk, as was the case with your sister, but unlike Emily, you will take either without much fuss, which has been great for both of us.



When you do fuss, I have determined that you like to swing sideways and I am glad that your cradle swing, which we lovingly selected for you, has this feature.  You also can often be found with several toys at your side because whenever Emily sees you awake and without something to do, she loads you up with baby toys.  Also, you poop.  A lot.  Well, whenever you decide to poop, there is a lot.  Enough said.



Sophie, this has been a hard month, but it is not because of you.  We have packed up our entire home and moved to a new house in a new city in the first month of your birth.  And through it all, you have been (mainly) a source of joy.  I can't wait to get know your personality more in the coming weeks, months, and years.



Love,

Mommy