Boogie Baby

Cute Overload

This kid is at such a flippin' cute age...I just can't resist her charm. I thought I'd share some photos and a video with everyone. Hope she makes you grin even half as much as she does us.

Mama's wishful thinking...this little bow stayed in her hair for approximately 23 seconds. I just can't wait until she has enough hair to fix!

Don't you wish it was always considered cute to have a tubby belly like that? What a bod!

The irresistible ruffled bum!

A customary messy baby photo...

So very proud of herself! And so are we little Bean...you are such a treasure!

Last but certainly not least...she has such a sophisticated sense of humor (I think she gets it from her daddy!)

Sofie's Geese

These geese hang out in our yard all year long eating worms and making messes everywhere. Sofie looks out the window every time she hears them squawking outside. Recently we had a warm-ish day, so we went down for a visit and took them some Cheerios to chase the worms with!

Six Months

Sofie-bean, how on earth can you be half a year old already? It's strange to think that last year around this time my belly was beginning to swell, and I spent my time wondering about what kind of little being you would be. Now here you are, beautiful and strong, and I am having so much fun discovering what kind of being you are!

You have matured so much, both mind and body, this month. You are strikingly aware of your world, your routine, and you're beginning to really grasp cause and effect. You're a big fan of peek-a-boo lately. We put a burp cloth on your head and say, "Where's Sofie?" and you pull it down and giggle. You're happy to pull it off of our heads too, over and over and over again. You love the sight of yourself, you little narcissistic Worm, and daddy holds you up to "see the baby" in the mirror above the couch every night. Seeing your own face in the mirror routinely turns your cranky fusses into grins. You'll sit watching and listening intently through an entire book. Amazingly, you seem to smile and get excited in all the appropriate places.

Your gross motor skills are really coming together, and I predict that you'll be crawling by the end of the month. You sit steadily now (except when you get excited and launch yourself backwards) and you're getting really good at pushing yourself up on your hands and knees. You tend to move yourself inchworm style. First you go up on your hands, then faceplant and up on your knees, then back up on your hands and the knees slip out...before long you are five feet behind where you started!

You continue to enjoy music. You sit and watch in awe when "da da da da da" plays guitar for you. One of my favorite things to do with you is to dance around the living room and we do it together quite often. Today your dad turned on a CD in the living room. You were standing in your bouncy seat and I am so convinced that you started dancing. You started rocking and swaying and flapping your arms around; your face was just glowing. It made me feel so darn proud of you. I hope that you'll always feel free and confident enough to dance.

We are gearing up for a few changes around here, now that you're a six month old kiddo, and as a part of those changes we have begun sleep training you. Up until now, you've been nursing yourself to sleep (or falling asleep with a bottle during the day) and often waking up the moment your body hit the bed. I've been trying to prepare myself mentally for months. I really expected to listen to you cry for hours the first time we put you in your bed and left you there to fall asleep on your own. I hate to jinx myself since it's only been a couple of nights now, but the first night we did it you fell asleep in nine minutes. You cried for less than a minute when I put you down for a nap the next day, and tonight you went down for bed without so much as a fuss. I'm pretty convinced that I'm the mama of the best little girl on earth!

It seems like ages ago that we brought you home, tiny and perfect, and I thought I could never be happier than I was in those first weeks. Little girl, there is something sweet and precious about those first few weeks, but watching you grow continues to make me happier and happier. Being your mama is the best job in the world.

DaDa

New Trick

Not, "dadada" but momentous in it's own right. The concentration just makes me grin!

I've Been Hacked!!

A well-meaning (and not that computer savvy) grandma wrote and published the last post on this blog! Just the same...Sofie has started the reduplicated babbling stage and she is saying, "dada" although it sounds more like, "dadadadadadee" and she clearly doesn't know what it means. She also says, "nainainainainai" along with various other squeals and outbursts. Stay tuned for an updated chatty Sofie video!

Grandma also spent some time on Thursday photographing Sofia, and she is quite proud of the resulting pictures, so I thought I'd post a few

Ben and I are headed out on an honest-to-goodness date tonight, and I am so excited! We have tickets to see Wicked, which I have been looking forward to forever, so we are going to make a big night of it and have a fancy dinner too. Going out for a night on the town is a rare treat these days!

MaMa

Sofie says DaDa.

All Clear

Thankfully, my tests came back perfectly normal! It's definitely nice to know I don't need to worry about any major health problems, but I'm still frustrated that I don't have any solid answers... Oh well!

Sofie has a plain old cold. She's sort of miserable, but it's not serious either, so we're counting our blessings around here! She was weighed in at the pediatrician when we took her in on Wednesday and she is a whopping 17 pounds 9 ounces. Enormous, but according to the pediatrician she's right on track.

Uncle Kyle and soon-to-be Aunt Deanna came over for a visit yesterday and Sofie had a cow. You would've thought Kyle was some sort of space alien who came to abduct her. Now you tell me, does this guy look even mildly intimidating?

(Sorry Kyle...you had to know this picture would come back to haunt you at some point, right?!) She spent a few hours giving him dirty looks and screeching every time she caught a glimpse of him. We've entered the stranger anxiety phase...just another milestone I suppose!

Here's a picture from this weekend. I think it's sort of goofy, but Ben seems to think it's cute!

One Sick Puppy

Sofia's amazing grandma, who shares everything with her, has unfortunately shared her bronchitis/sinusitis germs. Needless to say, Worm's not feeling so hot, and I am home with her today doing my best to console her while we wait for an appointment with her pediatrician. Being home, awake, and not nursing for more than an hour also means that I have half a second (between grouchies, coughing jags, and nose wipes!) to update this old blog just a bit.

I took Worm to story time at the library on Saturday. Unfortunately, the closest library that offers story time on the weekend is in Beachwood (40 minute drive), but it was definitely worth the hike and we had a great time. Worm's attention span was super, and she grinned through forty minutes of songs with motions, rhymes, and stories with props. I have to admit I got a little bit choked up sitting in the story room with my little Bean along with all the other kids, singing songs. I was thinking that I wish we could be involved in that type of activity more regularly. I have such a hard time shaking the mama guilt...I'm definitely looking forward to graduating and seeking a part-time job. Look out Little Gym...we've got some catching up to do!

Monday I had an appointment for a mammogram and breast ultrasound as recommended after I discovered that the blood Sofie was spitting up was coming from me. I'm still awaiting the results of both, but I'll be sure to update when I know something.

Lastly, a picture from this weekend... This is what happens when you leave little girls at home alone with their daddies! Doesn't she look so grown up? I just can't believe how big she's getting!