Sophia is 6 months old today...

This is so emotional for me! She needs to slow down. This last 6 months went by so quickly that it makes my breath catch.

6 DAYS OLD


6 MONTHS OLD


A few things about Sophia now that she is 6 months:

1. She loves food. You can tell those she is not too sure about (peas, sweet potatoes with corn) but she eats them anyway!
2. She loves her Jumperoo. We see her "asking" to be put in it with body language and sounds she makes.
3. She has her first tooth. The bottom left.
4. She has plans. For the cats. And for the removable shower head. We can tell.
5. She is almost sitting on her own. She can keep her balance for a long period of time and catches herself before she falls - most of the time.
6. She is very vocal. She sings and yells. We call her baby Tarzan.
7. She loves to sneeze. It cracks her up.
8. ...and she knows us. She loves her parents. We can tell. She loves her family and is recognizing her "people". Its awesome.

Its amazing to see that she has gone from this little person who could barely keep her eyes open to a little person who is grabbing things and holding on, learning to hold her own bottle, fliring and smiling.

I love being Sophia's mommy. It is an incredible gift.

Sophie's Jumperoo

A very short video of Sophia in her latest today. River Dance has nothing on our Pookie!

Sophia and the Jell-O Mold

Jello-O makes everything a-okay.

It was the Spring Celebration at Sophia's daycare today and though she is a little too young to particpate in the Easter Egg Hunt (so she slept through the whole thing) she did get to experience the tactile pleasure of a cold jell-o mold in the shape of an Easter Egg. The look and feel mesmerized her, the coolness felt divine on her swollen and teething gums. Overall, the experience was a total success - as you can see from the above series of photos taken with my camera phone.

It takes a village.

Most of the time in the hustle and bustle that is life it is very easy to overlook or take for granted what you have never been without. You cannot miss what you never had, right? Well on the flipside it is easy to take for granted something that you are really used to.

I have a wonderful family. There are not a lot of us but what we lose in quantity we make up for in quality. I have a small amount of cousins and aunts and uncles so we all are really close and see each other quite often (well, before a couple of traitors move far away). The point is - it takes me having my own child and seeing how much everyone else loves her for me to appreciate just how lucky I am to be in the family I am. The reminder of it all puts of warm and fuzzy feeling in my belly.

This weekend my sister came to visit. She is over the moon in love with Sophia and loved spending a few uninterrupted days with her where she only had to share her with me and my husband. This was the second weekend in a row that she got to do this and by the time she left yesterday I realized that there was now a new bond between aunt and niece. Its adorable to see Sophia's face light up when my sister walked into a room.

My grandmother spent the last few weeks knitting a gorgeous dress for Sophia. GORGEOUS. Almost an exact replica, except for color, that she made for me when I was a child. Sophia will not be able to wear it until she is about 18 months old and it hit me - she is only 5 months old and she already has a family heirloom because that dress is one of a kind, handmade by the only great grandmother Sophia will ever know.

My uncle/Godfather spent the weekend painting a 16x20 portrait of my baby. Can we say humbling? I have not even taken the time to sit down and put her photo albums together and my uncle spent a good chunk of his free time painting her. Its beautiful.

Add the three grandparents (my mom, dad, and mother-in-law) into the mix and what you have is a village of people who love this baby from the top of her had to the tips of her tiny toes. All of whom will add so much to her life and enrich each day, month, and year she spends with them.

I am going to have to make sure she really realizes all of this one day - because right now you can tell our little princess takes all of this love and attention as her rightful due. She is already an attention hog, social butterfly, and a flirt to boot - Lord help us in the years to come!

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...are simply irresistable! LOL.




Let me use this moment to recommend www.photobucket.com

First "School" Pictures

Sophia was 4 months old when this photo was taken, almost 5 months.

The idea of my little baby having school pictures taken sent visions of finger paintings and macaroni art coursing through my brain and made me realize just how fast this is all going to go for me. I wish there was a little button I could press to slow down time. I am sure the same could be said for most parents, eh? I am sure my mom and dad freak out just a little when they realize that me, their oldest child, is turning 29 years old this year. I mean - if I remember when my parents were 29 I am sure they remember it, too!

Life moves way too quickly - so take this all as a reminder to enjoy each second and try not to let the small things get to you.

On the topic of "small" things - I hope you are enjoying Sophia Victoria's official "first" school photo.

Could it be?!

We have been coaching Sophia on, "Dadadadadada" and "Mamamamama" since birth so that she knows who we are and so that she learns how to say it one day. In addition, I always ask her, "where is Dada?" Or I point to myself and I say, "Ma-MA."

This morning I was coaching and playing with her and singsonging different versions of "Da-Da" and I SWEAR the kid whispered, 'a-da' in response. A little one and just once and then mouthed it!!!! Thats all she did - but I totally felt like she was picking it up!

To be continued... Hopefully sometime within the next couple of months I will be able to report a full fledged Dada or Mama!

In the meantime, here is my happy, little Pookie at 5 months and 2 weeks old.


(taken with Tia's I-Phone - 3/8/08)

My Saving Grace

Have I told you readers that I have the chance to visit my daughter every day at daycare? Its awesome. My company has a daycare center onsite that goes from 6 weeks to age 3 and then there is also a pre-school. Its amazing.

One of the hardest things to do was to imagine going back to work and not seeing her for over 8 hours. This way, I see her every 4 hours. I also get to feed her lunch most of the time. Its amazing and awesome and I feel so blessed.

Here we are, today during break at daycare:



Me and my girl....

(she loves the camera and looks right at it or the phone or anything that interests her)

What floats my boat....

Here is an interesting factoid that I have realized since becoming a parent. I am wierd. I am odd. I am a freak. At least, that is what I am to non-parents or to parents of older children who have forgotten what it is to be excited over every teeny tiny thing their infant does.

I am by no means trying to say that my husband and I were, err, "normal" people before. Meaning, I was already dorky and would react the way I naturally reacted no matter what my reaction made people think of me. Actually, my husband and I are both dorks which is why we got along so well right from the beginning.

But becoming parents has made us monumentally wierder and dorkier than we ever were. In such a way that even we realize it - but it does not stop us from reacting the way we do to each other or to those around us. If you were a fly on our wall at home you would perpetually be shaking your head at our zaniness. Coo-coo is what we are!

Reasons to excitedly call my husband into the living room/kitchen area before baby:
* A preview for a cool new movie just came on the Television.
* Something monumental has happened in the world and is now on the news.
* One of the burners on the stove is on fire (this actually happened).

Reasons to excitedly call my husband into the living room/kitchen area since baby:
* Sophia is making an incredibly cute face, come see!
* Sophia wants to grab my glasses (but isn't actually grabbing them), come see!
* Sophia has noticed her feet, come see!

Are you following me? LOL. I am not sure if anyone other than another parent can really understand how much you change and how much your surroundings change when you have a baby. They are welcome changes but changes nonetheless. Previously, I was a pretty easy to please gal as it was. I did not need a big "to do" to float my boat. Now, though, I am sickeningly easy to entertain: a gurgle, a coo, a little look is all it takes - from my daughter, of course.

Then again - I have been known to be entertained when my husband gurgles, too...

Sophia's 4 Month Photos

We took Sophia for her 4 month portraits last weekend. Just a little JC Penney photo shoot to see how she did and hope for just a couple of good shots. I may biased - but I think we got more than a couple of good photos. As you can tell, Sophia had a great time and we had a hard time choosing which ones to purchase as prints!

Sophia is eating solids...

This video is of her eating solids for the first time. Unlike most parents, we started with prunes only because Sophia had been suffering from an extreme case of constipation and we needed to get things moving (so to speak).

As you can see from the video, her reaction to prunes was priceless. I think I have seen this video a couple dozen times already and it never ceases to crack me up!

Sophia Eating Prunes

Sophia and Mommy

Sophia is 4 months old.

We went to the mall this weekend to get her first set of professional pics taken this weekend but before we stopped for a quick photo op of mommy and baby. I love this kid.

She did so well at the photo studio. Smiling and laughing completely on cue like the good little girl she is. They got some great shots because of it. It was a fun outing with my mom and my sister who eat up every little smile and giggle my child puts out. But then again - who wouldn't?

Biased? Me? No way.

Guess who is flipping over?

You guessed right! Sophie is regularly rolling over. She is still in the early stages of getting accustomed to it because every time she does it she gets this, "wow, did I do that?" look on her face.

I am so proud of her! Okay, I was not as proud at 4:15am when she rolled herself over and demanded an early breakfast - but once I shook off most of my sleepyness (and really only another mother can understand how you can do that) and looked into her smiling face it did not take me but a second to genuinely smile back.

First cold, check! First stomach bug.......check?

What is worse than a baby with the sniffles? A baby who is throwing up, that's what. MY GOODNESS. I can type all of this now with some thread of humor because it is over but while we were hip deep in vomiting and fevers I can tell you that no one was laughing in my house.

No one was laughing because we all had it. Sophie got hit first at daycare. I learned now a few kids through out the daycare caught this during and after the holidays and so my kid, new to daycare and all those germs, got it almost immediately. Then a few days later my husband fell down with the bug. And then I did.

What a way to spend a long weekend. Yes, when my baby got sick I prayed that I would get sick INSTEAD of her. Not that I would get sick WITH her. There are some crossed communication lines with the big guy upstairs, I think. ;-)

But hey - my hubby and I could not pay for better experience. *insert a dab of sarcasm* We have dealt with her first cold and her first stomach bug - all before she turns 4 months old. I can practically see her little body building up those immunities.

I HOPE! Please?

Officially a "Working Mom"

My day this morning started at 6:30am with the first of many little heartbreaks - waking up my little sleeper an hour and a half before she would have woken up at home. Yes, I realize its necessary to get my child up and fed so that we arrive at daycare happy - but it still hurts me to do so. I can only hope that she can tell the difference between weekends and weekdays and does not start waking us up at 6:30am on Saturday mornings.

I was actually fine all morning - I was starting to think that I would make it to work without crying one bit. Sophie had a smooth car ride to daycare - we sang along to Shakira and she sang to her little stuffed Monkey (yes, it is as adorable as it sounds to hear my 3 month old chatter away to her toys). We arrived at daycare without a fuss, I settled her in, spoke with the caregivers to give them an update on her and left to head to the office.

And then the crying started. Okay, let me be blunt - sobbing. I SOBBED. I called my husband (and then MY mommy) and sobbed like my heart was breaking and could really not pinpoint the exact reason why but it literally felt like my heart was breaking into tiny little pieces. I knew she was going to be fine; she is a good baby, a social baby. I knew that her caregiver was lucky to have such a good baby to care for and that, in turn, Sophie was going to be well cared for. But at the same time - I want to be the one with her all day, making her smile, feeding her, changing her diaper. I finally calmed down. I got to work and started counting down the hours until lunch time when I could go and visit her.

Best part of my day? Walking into that infant room to find my baby in a bouncer and to see the smile on my baby's face when she focused and saw that it was HER MAMA there to see her. We spent a half hour together cuddling and smiling at each other and I swear it was heaven on earth. There is nothing that comes close to the feeling of your child recognizing you and being thrilled to see you. Lunch was over all too soon.

Second best part of my day? Right now - it is 30 minutes until quitting time which means I get to go snatch my baby up and take her home with me.

Sophie's first un-well Dr visit....

Sophie has been battling her very first cold for the last week and a half and is currently at the tail end of it. In fact, the three of us have been sick. What a wake up call - to be sick and have to care for your sick child is no joke. I'm just glad that the first time happened before we started daycare so that I was still home to care for her and get my "sea legs" so to speak. But anyway, that is another blog for another time.

Back to the topic of this blog, to be on the safe side, I took her in to her doctor today so that I can make sure that the cold is not in her lungs or bothering her ears. Luckily, she has not had a fever so I did not have to take her in before this. Sophia is all good and other than the sniffles/congestion got a clean bill of health. No fever. Lungs are clear. No ear infection. So, just keep doing what I am doing and the cold should be fully gone in a few days.

My little baby is long and lean! In the last month she only gained 1/4 a pound but grew a whole inch. LOL. So, she is 12.5lbs and 23.5 inches long.

The dr pissed me off again with two comments. *sigh*

"Oh, she starts daycare next week? Oh no. You will be in here every day."
Uh. Thanks.

"But you are still breast feeding right? No? Oh. Hm. You stop - and now she's sick."
Ummm. Bitch. I know plenty of breastfed babies who are sick all the time.

Why is she my doctor? Because my Sister-in-Law goes to her. Am I looking into changing? Hell yes. Especially when she says things like this.

Sophia Cooing & Playing - 10 Weeks Old

Dual Blog: Weight Gain/ No Longer Nursing

+1.2lbs.

I expected it. I did not do very well last week with even attempting to stay on points. Combine that with weaning the baby off the breast and having to recalculate my allotted points in addition to cutting down on the water to keep my milk from rushing back - I totally expected to gain some weight. This week will be a better week. Heck, today has already been a better day! I stayed on points all day long and I can already feel how less hungry I am since I stopped nursing.

Don't get me wrong - I did not stop nursing Sophia so that I could really start losing weight. I have already dropped 40lbs in the 10 weeks since her birth. It just sorta happened that since she started sleeping 12 hour stretches at night my milk supply just sort of fizzled away. And since I did not start pumping to make up for it - I had to start supplementing more and more formula which made things inconsistent for her routine-wise. That led me to the difficult decision of weaning her. And then just stopping altogether. It actually went really smoothly and now she is doing great. She is a lot more full than she had been the last couple of weeks which makes her notably happier - which makes mommy happier, too. Even though I have to admit that I really miss nursing her. It was a wonderful experience.

Lots of changes. Sophia is gaining weight as she should, eating well, sleeping well... Mommy is gonna be losing weight as she should, eating well...and (hallelujah!)...sleeping well, too!

Life is good!

Sophie is 2 months old today!

I can hardly believe that the time is passing as fast as it is. I was pregnant just a few months ago. Then Sophie was suddenly here. Now she is smiling and cooing and on the verge of laughing. So much has changed and will change so I am going to take this opportunity to record some things about her so that I can look back and remember.

1. Sophia's favorite way to be held is over one's shoulder as if she is about to be burped. She loves to see what is going on and taking it all in.


2. She is smiling really big now! She has her secretive little smiles and then the big ones she reserves for when she is really having fun.


3. Sophia has noticed the cats! She follows them around the house with her eyes - actually she follows everything around the house with her eyes but you can tell the cats are a special curiosity to her. We think she has plans for them.


4. She loves ceiling fans and smiles at them as if they are waving at her. We are thinking of naming the one in the living room.


5. She now loves her swing and the bouncy seat enough to spend more than 10 minutes at a time in each. Mom loves them, too, because she can now get some blogging done while Sophia is awake!


6. Lastly, because I need to stop myself before I go on and on, Sophia is starting to recognize faces. She knows her mom and dad and their voices, of course, but is spreading herself out to the rest of the family now, too. We swears she was playing peek-a-boo with her Tia the other day!

What is a blog about Sophia without a picture of Sophia?

BORING, I say!

Here she is sporting the teeny, tiny tiara that her Abuela brought her back from Disney World...

Delusions of grandeur? I think not!

MAMA's LITTLE ELF...

Sophia at 8 weeks old...