Ten Months

Beanie you are ten months old today and your nickname is morphing from Bean to Beansprout to plain old Sprout. This month has been quite a blur for me as I have spent most of it in complete shock that I was indeed quite close to the end of this long road called education. We both haven't been at our best this month...me because I've never done this thing called change too gracefully and you because your mouth finally decided it was about time for some teeth! Your two bottom teeth have both broken through, first the left one about a week and a half ago and then the right one just this week. I guess I'll have to return all that denture cream I've been stocking up on!

You are getting more and more agile on your feet and we are expecting your first steps any day now. You will stand unassisted for quite awhile but when we try to coax you to walk you just dive into our arms. I think you learned that from your walking toys since you get them going by first leaning forward and only after moving your feet. Your feet are so funny. They look far too small to hold up your body but you're proving every single day that looks can be deceiving!

You are delighting in interacting with others and copying behaviors this month. You have mastered the word "hi!" and you grin whenever you hear someone say it. You are terribly proud to carry on this quite complex conversation of "Hi!" "Hi" "Hi!" "Hi" with anyone who is willing to exchange it with you and you usually carry on like this for three or four greetings at a time. Just recently Great Grandma Caporali taught you how to shake your head side to side as if you are saying no and you think that this is also quite a delightful game to play as we shake our head no and then you shake yours.

My grown up Beansprout I have such fun plans for the month to come and I'm very anxious to get to know you better as we begin to spend the time together that a mama and her baby should. I am so very proud of you...and of myself...for making it to this point with only minor bumps along the way. You are my proudest accomplishment of all....

-Dr. Mama

Daddy Day

Daddy, Sofie, and I headed out for a family picnic and bicycle ride today and had a whole lot of fun. Sofie chilled in her "Tot Spot" and let daddy drag her around on the back of his bicycle as a special Father's Day treat. Then she let him buy her a new hammer toy. I think she's got the whole Father's Day concept a little bit backwards...I'll have to set to work straightening her out before next year!


Regardless, Sofia reserves a giant slice of her heart for her daddy. She absolutely lights up when he walks in the door from work and she is so engrossed in her playtime with him. Daddy always allows her to play with such fascinating grown-up things (with plenty of supervision of course) and teaches her the coolest tricks (that she performs over and over and over again just to see him laugh!) We love you Ben! Happy Father's Day to the best daddy one precious little girl and one very proud mama could ever hope to have in their lives.

(Daddy brought this special treat home for Sofie last week. What little girl doesn't love a PDR?!)

Summertime

We took our first walk up to the pool yesterday. The water was frigid and Sofie wasn't so sure what she thought about the whole experience, but we had a fun "first" anyway. While we were there a lone duck decided he might like to take a dip, landed in the water, and had a good old time swimming around as carefree as could be. I'm not sure how sanitary that all is but it was hilarious and Sofie enjoyed the visit. We're looking forward to many (hopefully warmer!) trips to the pool this summer.

Belated Birthday Wishes...

...to Sofie's favorite cousins Lillian, a great big four-year-old girl, and Clayton, a big boy two-year-old! We miss you guys so much and we're looking forward to seeing you sometime soon. We hope you had a fabulous time on your birthdays!! I was really hoping that we could get our resident "baker" to make a cake for you, but as you can see she wasn't really cooperating all that well!

Nine Months

Sofie McGee you are nine months old. That means that you've been hanging out in this great big world for nearly as long as I had you all to myself in my great big belly. This month your development has taken a giant leap forward. So much so that its difficult for me to recall all of the new tricks you've learned. You are crawling, climbing, cruising, letting go and standing for a few seconds by yourself. You are clapping, waving, and giving high-fives on request. You know where mama's nose is, how to turn the pages of your favorite book, and you can't resist that bright red button that shuts off the power supply to the computer. Quite simply, you are amazing!

You are such a social child. I find it rather intriguing because its no secret that your daddy and I are quite introverted. I'm embarrassed to say that sometimes I find social activities to be physically exhausting. I HATE talking on the phone and I often need time to psyche myself up before I feel ready to spend time with friends. But you, little Worm, are so interested in interacting with people. This week at gym class you were dubbed, "the entertainment." You love to check out other babies (your favorite one is still that cute chick in the mirror) and you usually show your affection by ambling up to them and shoving your hand in their face or pulling their hair (we are practicing our nice touches). You will do almost anything to get someone to laugh at you, and if it worked once you better believe you're going to try it again and again and again.

You are really into inspecting things this month. You'll spend minutes intrigued by a tiny string you've found on the carpet and figuring out how to pinch it and pick it up. Your stubby little index finger has been busy poking buttons and wiggling into holes. You're interested in the smallest things. Even mama's freckles have been the object of your index finger's curiosities!

You love to eat and you are quite the little beggar girl. You are quick as lightning to the side of anyone who might be willing to share something tasty with you. You're quite interested in grown-up food and continue to tolerate spicy and sour treats without batting an eye. I'm pretty convinced that you'll never grow teeth. Perhaps you'll go down in the record book as the youngest person ever to require dentures!

Beanie, you are such a treasure, but I find myself overwhelmed with the weightiness of parenting you more and more as you grow. You deserve to have a positive mama who knows how to encourage your development and reward your accomplishments. A mama who has your well-being at the center of her world. I am too often distracted by "life" to give you one-hundred percent. I have been counting down the days until I can stop working so hard (just 20 more!) so diligently, but as the end draws nearer it is starting to occur to me that I might never feel like I have enough to give. That no matter how much time I have to spend with you I might always feel like you deserve much much more. That perhaps, just maybe, these feelings are all a part of having the most important job ever. Perhaps no one ever feels quite qualified enough for the job of being someones mama.

Big Shoes to Fill

WAHOO!!

It's official...I will never have another project to complete for school again...EVER! (Unless, of course, I choose to go back for some crazy reason. Like, for instance, one day I wake up and think, "Gee whiz...21 years of school just doesn't seem like enough!") All I have to do now is pass oral comps on July 2nd, and finish 6.5 more weeks of my externship.

Let the Games Begin

Take 8

Why it took me so long to get the photos published on that last post...

Eight Months

Wormy McGee, you are eight months old, and this month you seem like such a little grown-up to me. Something about your demeanor this month has just really made it sink in that you are not a wee baby anymore. Instead you are a wee little girl with such a personality and opinions, good grief do you ever have opinions!

This month you're a Bug, as I've finally found a class that is convenient for working mamas on Wednesday nights at The Little Gym. You, and your other Bug friends, have a good ol' time playing with parachutes, balls, bubbles, hula-hoops, bells and much much more. You love seeing the other babies, and everyone seems to think that you are quite sociable and happy. They're right Beans. You are such a fun kiddo to be around!

You are still not quite crawling, but I'm absolutely certain that you will be by this time next month. You do it occasionally, by accident, when you're going after something, but you haven't figured out how to do it volitionally yet. You are pulling yourself up on everything now though, and you continue to be quite proud of yourself each time you pull off a new trick.

You are not much of a food critic and seem to enjoy most everything that lands in your mouth. Doubly so if it came off of one of our plates. I can almost see you thinking..."Ooh! Grown-up food. What a big girl I am!" This month you tried lemons, french fries with vinegar, and pickles. All with little to no reaction. You also figured out how to use a straw. Mama's chocolate milkshake was good motivation for that one!

You use your voice constantly, and "mama" has finally slipped out of your mouth a few times this month. You say something that sounds like, "Hi!" (Hah! Hah! Hah!) quite often, and you thinks it's fantastic when we say "Hi!" right back. I've also noticed what I think is your attempt at singing. You have a consistent, monotone, vowel-like croon that often coincides with music playing or with me singing to you. I can't say much for your range, my dear, but it tickles me pink to hear you use your voice musically.

As I come to the end of the schooling that is taking me so often away from you, I am considering all of the fun things we'll soon have time to do together. I just can't wait to be able to spend more time with you in the summer sunshine, Worm. We'll be chasing the ducks, swimming like fishies, and jogging down the towpath trail in no time. Just you wait and see...!