Evidence

We have documentation of the lurking



just a slight bit of discoloration and a slight roughness to the touch (when she lets us), but it's coming, and it's not alone.


Look closely, it's there, just below the surface. Here. let me zoom in for you...



It's hard to tell on web-quality images, but if you click on it and look closely you will see the beginnings of the end of Gums MacGummy. Also, only very faint and almost not there at all, is a second lurker (we think) just beside the first. See if you can spot it. or it might be some dust on the lens.

Things lurking...

It's there... I've seen it with my own eyes and know it's coming. It sits, just lurking below the surface. It taunts us with its potential for fussing and pain, and yet it is so small.

It's there, and it's coming... Sophia's first tooth.

Video playground

OK, so there have been a few more moments caught on tape, as it were. We've digitally scrunched and munched as necessary to fit through the tubes to YouTube, so straight from there to here to you are these!


babble (00:36)
A little daddy-assisted babbling, or perhaps evidence of our darling's future singing career




Talk with your mouth full (00:57)
Our darling learns valuable lessons about voicing opinions during mealtime



Tomatoes (00:16)
Our darling's Mother has an aversion to tomatoes. Luckily for our darling's lycopene and carotenoid levels, she seems to like tomatoes just fine. Apologies for the sideways nature of the video, apparently the tubes are landscape-only.



Stand on your own two feet (00:21)
Our Darling sure is becoming independent. Only 6 months old and she is standing on her own. ... with a little help from the crib rail ... and daddy.



Well, that's all the youtube that's fit to link, for now. Back to your regularly scheduled Tricia blogging and David not really blogging as such, more like offering punctuation from time to time.

Top 5 New Things

Here are the top five new things that Sophia can do (For good or bad...)

1. Sophia can sit up unsupported for long periods of time. In fact, these days she spends time sitting and playing with her toys, either chewing on them or waving them about while chatting up a storm.

2. Sophia is now a rolling over pro. All she needed was a little motivation to get this skill finely honed, and falling over from the sitting position seemed to do the trick. If she ends up on her back, she expertly rolls over to get toys or what have you. It's great. She rolls over on to her tummy at night, and,thankfully, she doesn't mind.

3. The splash zone is back in the Gerhard house. Stand too close to Sophia and you will get wet. Yes, the famous raspberry is back, bigger and wetter than ever. Along with the return of this dubious friend, comes the raspberry behind the soother. This is a new and fun game which inevitably ends up with everyone nearby being hit with drool.

4. With the soother raspberry came the discovery of the shooting soother. Yup, Sophia discovered that if she puts enough pressure behind the soother she can send it flying from her mouth. This is a fun game, especially when I am trying to get her calm before bed. Or when she's crying. Or when she's angry.

5. David discovered that if you stand Sophie up and have her hands firmly placed on the crib railing, you can let go and she will continue to stand. Please see picture below:

Sophia seems to enjoy this new freedom, while Dad stays near by to catch the falling baby --which usually happens after her knees buckle or she leans too far over.

There have been many other things that she has discovered since Christmas... like her toes. Her toes seem to be particularly tasty, and she spends significant amounts of time trying to get them in mouth. This makes changing her diaper really interesting. Ever tried to get a diaper around a bend in half baby? If you have any tips or techniques, please do pass them along.

Last Friday, Sophia and I started swimming "lessons". Really, it's a class to get parents and babies used to being in the water together. I will write more about it when I have pictures. But I can say that she seems to be enjoying it so far. I mention it now because when we first started the class I thought she would be fine just going in her swimming diapers (which were darned expensive!). Well, yeah, that was fine except that she was mistaken for a boy, especially seeing that the only other babies in just their diapers were boys. So off to Old Navy I go to purchase Sophia's first bathing suit. I am of the mindset that little babies do not need to wear a bikini, which thankfully David agrees with. I checked out the myriad of two pieces, which were cute, I admit, but Sophia was not getting one. Finally I found a cute little one piece, which she models quite well in the following picture:



And finally, the reason why I won't be letting David do Sophie's hair when she grows up:

Three little bruises

With the joys of turning six months old comes the pain of immunizations. Yesterday, Sophia and I made the trek to the Health Clinic to get another rounds of shots. Up until this point Sophia only got two injections, one in each leg. But not this time. Nope, she got three. She got the booster shot for the big five (measles, mumps etc), Prevnar (which always makes her cry, and this was no exception), and we got her first flu shot.

The first injection went well, she merely got a shocked look on her face. Then the nurse had the nerve to give her another injection (in the same leg). Well, that produced a little crying. The third one sent Sophia into big cries, with tears! She was not happy about the last one. It hurt, and it drew blood. Then she looks at me with those teary eyes, seeking help, and I can't explain to her that this is for her own good. Sigh.

As per usual, she was pretty good spirited until about four hours after. Then her legs really start to hurt. We nipped it in the butt with Tylenol and a solid nap in my arms. After that she did pretty good. We iced the Prevnar location to keep down the swelling, and we gave her a nice long soak in the tub (which I fully believe helps to soothe all kinds of ills). Because of the late nap, she didn't go down until 9:30 pm, but that's okay. She and I got some nice quiet time playing on the blanket (rolling around seems to be lots of fun!), and listening to Raffi (thank goodness for his Quiet Time CD). She slept about four hours, got up to eat and complain a bit and then went back to sleep until about four am. I didn't get up to get her and after a couple of minutes she put herself back to sleep.

This morning she awoke happy, and smiling. And on her legs are three tiny bruises from the needles.

Oh yeah, part of the clinic visit included a full assessment. She is healthy and doing well. No issues with hearing, seeing or smiling! Here are her current measurements:

Weight: 17 pounds (and some ounces, which I can't remember right now)
Height: 27 inches (almost on the dot)

She's growing good!