And just like that, nothing in the neighbourhood is safe

Was it only a week and a half ago that we were completely flabbergasted that Sophie was starting to pull herself along the ground on her tummy? It seems she has been saving up milestones...

So I was walking her around as is her wont - me bending awkwardly over, holding her hands and her crying "Mush! Forward" as we go in circles around the kitchen. and around and around and around. I had my standard contraption of a pair of teething rings for each hand, so I didn't do damage to my spine. And here's me the engineer thinking "There's got to be a way to automate this process..."

Sophie's Grandma Gerhard had bought her a walker/scooter thing, and we had tried it a month or two ago, and while Sophie liked to hold on to it, when it moved forward it got out of control and she fell to the floor. Well, I figured it was still too early to try that again, so I am running through scenarios in my head (A-frame structures, harness/stabilizer contraptions - I could post the sketches if there is demand) when I figure why not just try that scooter thing again, and I can build my new design on how that one works.

So we put it in front of her and she grabbed on to it and tentatively started to move. The first couple of passes were stressful (for us, not for her) but then we started to relax and broke out the camera...



Her excursions are limited by the short distance from one wall to the next (not so much with the turning radius yet) so we tried it outdoors. The grass was a failure - too much resistance. She tried pushing forward, got nowhere, then turned to look at me as if to say "what gives?" Then we put her on the deck, to more success, but I had to be vigilant what with the sharp drop-offs on all sides and the 700 degree barbecue in one corner.

So we figured the next thing to try (not today) would be to put her out on the front street. Not too much traffic there, so it should be ok, and if she gets to be able to steer we will be able to send her for the mail soon enough!


Another video of the walker-assisted walking. sorry it's sideways...

New Baby Tricks

You know how David Letterman has Stupid Pet (and/or Human) tricks on his show... well, the serial that is our life has it's own Baby Tricks section. I will not call them stupid...entertaining, yes, stupid...no way. Actually, these tricks seem to indicate the genius that is waiting to be nurtured in our child. That's it, right? Genius!? Sophia, as she develops, is gaining better gross and fine motor control, and it is quite fascinating to watch.



Sophie spotted something across the table that she absolutely had to have. So instead of going around the table (which last week she wasn't so good at, but is mastering this week) she decided to try going over the able. Thankfully, Dad was there to stave off the inevitable frustration by offering his child a lift...

It certainly helped Sophia get the item of the moment (which I would like to point out is a REMOTE CONTROL....hmmmm). But then Dad let go...

Then something curious happened...instead of coming back down---

...Sophia happily hung out on the table while giving the remote a thorough inspection. Talk about sticking power! ;)

Sophia is a very curious little girl. And this has extended to finding out what is INSIDE things. This shows us that our intrepid nine month old can no longer be fooled with the "now it's here, and now it's not" method of distraction. She knows that things don't just go away. They've got to be somewhere. Well, that means she needs to find it. She has pulled toys of her basket in the nursery, and from the tupperware in the living room. On this particular day, it was the diaper bag that held her attention. She was very happy to piece by peice pull out all the things in the bag, look at them and unceremoniously drop them (oh yeah, she's good a dropping things, too. Another story...). She nearly got into the bag herself.

Just checking to make sure that everything is indeed out and on the floor...

This might just be an indication of what our future teenager will be like. I am really hoping she figures out that the phone is meant for talking on rather than for chewing or else she's going to be really, really embarassed...

Our happy, happy girl!

Playing Nice

We just spent a lovely week visiting with Tanya and Sheliza. Yup, they made the trek out to our beautiful (and somewhat brown) province to have some one on one time with us. And it was fabulous.

I have to admit, though, before Tanya and Sheliza's arrival, I was a little nervous about having two infants in the house. What if they don't like each other? What if the dog freaks out? More importantly, are we going to get ANY SLEEP? Thankfully, my worries were unfounded, and the babes had a great time together. And sleep? Well, it wasn't any different than normal. Sophia managed to sleep through both parent and baby noises as if we weren't even there. She didn't even change her routine (except one night where she cried for an hour and a half, but that had more to do with teething than anything else).

Mostly the weather held out for us... we did have some rain and it was a little cool, but that didn't stop us from doing some fun stuff. We went baby shopping ('cuz what mom actually shops for herself?). We went swimming --it was Sheliza's first time in a big pool and she did really, really well. In fact I think she kind of enjoyed it! What a little swimmer she's going to be. Sophia was far more interested in trying to climb OUT of the pool, or checking out the other babies in the pool. Oy. We also got the opportunity to go out for ice cream, check out a play at the church, and walk around Wascana Lake without being blown in! All in all, a very good time was had by all. Actually, the adults got some time together as well... we watched a little tv, talked alot and played some Scrabble... ask Tanya and David about my stunning win with "iguana"!

Here is photographic evidence of the fun we had:
Sheliza and her mommy, Tanya. Once they arrived we took a little time to get accustomed to each other, and then the full on exploration began. Sheliza is a busy, smiley, giggly six month old who brought a laugh to each of us.

All introductions must start with the customary hair pulling. Or in Sheliza's case, the reaching for the hair but not quite getting it because she doesn't have a lot...it's sort of concentrated on the bottom part of her head. Sheliza spent some time trying to get a grip on Sophia's hair instead. In any case, the girls got along pretty good, and I am sure that we won't have too many problems with hair pulling in the future!

Sophia's looking pretty proud of herself and I am very suspicious of why.

Here Sheliza is checking out some of Sophie's toys. It was kind of funny, but when one girl had a toy the other immediately wanted it. This need extended even to the toys that Sophia hadn't looked at or touched in a while. Thankfully, no tears were shed. Although trying to explain sharing to a nine month old is kind of like impossible...I had a better metaphor a minute ago, but it was lost when I discovered that Sophia had a pen in her hand. Yikes!

Another creature that needed to do some adjusting was Haley. For her it's bad enough to have one little thing around, but two? She adapted well...lucky for her there are plenty of places for her laze around on, and Tanya likes her. Now, Sheliza was a little harder to convince. She hasn't had a lot of experience with dogs, and I know for a fact that my parents' Schnauzer, Missy, spooks Sheliza a little (she's a much louder, more vocal dog!). So it was understandable for Sheliza to be a little cautious. This picture was from earlier in the visit... by the end of the week, Sheliza was a-okay with kisses from the dog!

I think this was Princess Sophia giving a royal lesson on waving... after all it is the older child's prerogative to pass on important life lessons...

Okay, each baby to her own side of the table... actually, the two girls played together (and apart) very well. The table was not an effort to keep them separated. Truly, it's the best drum in the house!

See, how well they got along? (This was Sheliza's first time sitting in a shopping cart. They are both pretty happy with their accomplishment!)

Okay, so it looks like my child is trying to pry Sheliza's hand off the cart. It's not because she didn't want her there. It's because that particular part of the metal rail looked tasty. Really, no violence in this kid at all...no, really!

uncanny

Everyone says Sophie looks like me. I kind of see it, depending on the day. Sophie also looks like Todd and sometimes even Adam if the light is just right. A couple days ago, Mom discovered that some of the recent photos we sent her (Sophie showing off a new outfit) bore a strange resemblance to some other photos she happened to have in her collection:











That's me when I was Sophie's age. Hard to believe, no?

And just like that, nothing in the house is safe

It really was an all of a sudden thing - good that we had the camera around when it happened. Suddenly she was making forward progress. Still "creeping" as my mom calls it - pulling herself along the ground commando-soldier style (too bad there's not a less military-inspired metaphor) but soon it will be crawling and then walking and then "can I borrow the car dad" and MAN I am just not ready for THAT yet...

She still prefers to roll to get where she's going, although she's getting tired of the trial and error nature of that particular method of travel. Algorithm follows:

1. want that
2. too far
3. roll randomly
4. goto 1

She's starting to see that there might be a more direct way to get somewhere (or, more often, something). And we're starting to see that we have procrastinated for far too long in getting those gates up, those cupboards secured, and all those little chokable goodies away from baby-level. The honeymoon is over.

Life with Sophia

Life keeps on keeping on. Sophia is growing and learning at an amazing rate. Her latest stats (from Friday's doctor's appointment) are:

Height: 30 inches
Weight: 20lbs (8.5kgs)

I thought I would share some of the most recent photos we have of Sophia and give an update that way...

Sophia still enjoys her baths...currently, her favorite way to bath is on her tummy, kicking and splashing around. Occasionally she thinks its fun to try to catch her toys with her mouth, which usually ends up with her sputtering water and a little red in the face. It's kind of funny but she keeps on going, no crying or complaining.

These pictures show Sophia in her after bath glory. She loves sitting around without any clothes on. The other thing that brings her pleasure is ripping apart my magazines. I am not sure what it is that is so attractive about them, but on that day she ripped the back cover and pages off my most recent Chatelaine.

I am grooming my girl to be a shoe lover. Currently that means that she shows her affection by giving her shoes a good chewing. These little shoes are Adidas runners that her Uncle Todd gave her. They're great and look fabulous on her. And apparently, they taste good.

My two girls. Sophia and Haley continue to get along really well. Haley has her own pillow in the nursery and likes to hang out with us whenever we are in there. Aren't they sweet?

A potential soccer fan? Sophia likes to kick this ball around when she's walking around with her adult assistant.

Would this count as physiotherapy for Grandpa's knee? Yet another male family member bending to the whims of this little powerful girl. Grandpa and Grandma Mantel were here for Easter and we all had a good time. David and I even got the chance to go for High Tea together without Sophia. It was a great treat.

Who's here? Can you see who's here? Is it anyone important? Did they bring toys, food? Sophia and Haley both love looking out of the upstairs window. Usually, Haley watches for our return from this window, and was willing to share her space with Sophia just this once!

We had an absolutely glorious spring day yesterday (ut was about 17 degrees), so David and I decided to have a family outing. We packed a lunch and headed out to Wascana Lake. The Geese were out and Sophia enjoyed checking out the wildlife (both two legged and otherwise). Haley enjoyed the opportunity for a nice long walk (about an hour). We had such a wonderful time. We plan to do this regularly, especially during the good weather (you never do know how long it will last!)

Haley (the white fuzzy one, if you haven't met her), Sophia (in the hat and sunglasses (which she kept on)) and me. We took a break to tease the geese. What a good looking group, hey?


The battle of the food seems to be lessening. Sophia has taken to eating solids and seems to be enjoying them. We have moved into more complex tastes like broccoli, potato and cheddar. These pictures (taken tonight) are the remnants of the prunes she had with supper. Dark brown seems to be a food colour that spreads easily...it was up her arms, up her nose, all over her face, and down her shirt (she did have a bib on, but it seemed to have a hole! yikes). I think she enjoyed making the mess.

Only 5 more sleeps

Only five more sleeps until Tanya and Sheliza arrive in Regina for a visit. I am thrilled and excited to have them come, and I am sure that if Sophia knew what was going to happen she'd be happy too! I can't wait till they are here. It's going to be interesting having two babies in the house!

Unhappiness

Little red rimmed eyes, running snot, pitiful and heartbreaking chest cough, and teeth. These things all add up to a somewhat sorrowful looking little girl. Sophia is still struggling with the cold she had last week. I thought she was getting better, but I was mistaken. Even though she has all these symptoms she continues to smile and play, particularly with Grandma and Grandpa Mantel, who are here for a visit.

She is daytime cheery and night time frustrated. Last night was the worst we had had in a very long time. She went down at her normal time of 8:30 pm, slept for two and a bit hours and got up for her top up feed. Firstly, she wasn't expecting her daddy to come and get her, so that made her unhappy. Then, finally when the food supply dragged her butt out of bed, Sophia ate and tried to settle but for some reason couldn't. This lead to a two hour full on meltdown... tears, sobbing, gasping, snot, drool and red face. We tried everything: tylenol, ovol, new pjs, diaper change, water, and playing. Eventually, she started rubbing her eyes and calming down to the point where I could cuddle and rock her, getting her to fall asleep and stay that way for several hours.

Now, all the books I have read on sleep issues say that parents shouldn't get frustrated or angry or upset when their baby can't or won't sleep. It's nothing personal, the experts say. But what parent can keep from feeling completely helpless and mildly frustrated when their precious little one is crying non-stop and can't tell you what is wrong. Yes, I was frustrated, angry and definately helpless feeling. All I could do was try to comfort Sophia as she cried and try to make sure that she knew that I was trying my very best.

It was a humbling experience, one that I know will repeat itself a couple more times, but deep in my heart I know that the little life I hold in my arms, no matter how red her face may be, loves me and looks to me for all that she needs. In the end, the cuddling of a completely trusting sleeping baby is reward enough.

Floor to Ceiling Squash!

On this evening's menu for Madame Sophia was strained strawberries, custard with apples and strained squash. As a dutiful mother I took the amounts I needed out of the baby food jars and placed them into individual microwave safe containers and zapped them for 15 seconds. Sophia does prefer her food warm. When the buzzer went off, I grabbed the three little containers from the microwave and proceeded to move toward the highchair. I really should have known better...

One of the containers escaped. I watched in horror as the squash container fell from my hands and hit the floor with a determined "splat". I took a moment to survey the damage. David came over to see if I needed help in the clean-up. It was then that we both discovered the "Splat radius" of squash. It didn't just get on the floor, but also on the cupboards, the pantry door, the counter top, the cookbook, the toaster over (on the counter), the wall behind the toaster, the upper cupboards, the teapots on the ledge over the cupboards, the wall behind the teapots, and the ceiling. Yes, the squash got the ceiling! There was nothing to do but laugh and then sigh about the clean up process. But because our dinner was on the table and Sophia was sitting in her chair, we left it. Well, we left Haley to clean up what was in licking reach and I would get the rest of it later.

Note to those of you who happen to have reason to clean your plaster speckled ceilings... squash shows up from far away (darn that bright orange) and using a damp cloth to remove said strained staining veggie will not only remove the orange, but also the plaster used to create said speckled ceilings. Oh the things you learn when you have an infant!

Celebration

Happy nine months, little one! So many things to Celebrate, and so many things to look forward to.

We love you to the moon and back.