Milestones, challenges, & more!

First off, I want to say I wish I had more time to work on this blog. I am always in a rush, typing with the small few-minute breaks Sofia unknowingly allows me here & there. So please, excuse any errors!

Milestones

Smiling: The more I get, the more I fall in love.
Talking: Boy does she have a lot she is trying to get out. She is doing great with simple vowel-consonant sounds!
Laughing: This has only happened a few times while awake. The best giggles are when she's asleep.
Supporting her head: She has been great at this from the beginning. But I'm really starting to notice major headway in this section. She can even lift up her torso. I have to be careful sometimes because she will lift half her body up and fling herself backwards!

Challenges

Sleeping in her bassinet, or anywhere besides my arms. No matter how hard I try, no matter if she's awake or asleep, she will not stay in her swing, bouncer, or bassinet for longer than 5 minutes. I swore I would never "co-sleep" but poor Sofia would rather cry all night than spend it in her crib. So I hold her... All night. As a consequence, I think I will need a really good chiropractor by the time she gives her bassinet a chance. I'm willing to hear any suggestions you might have for convincing a princess to sleep in her own bed.

Sometimes I can catch a break this way... Not that carrying a 10 lb baby feels like much of a break!

Having "me-time". Well, not really me-time, just time to get things done around the apartment, like cleaning and laundry. Once we can accomplish the bassinet issue, then we'll have to work on her having "play-time" in her swing and bouncer more. This girl would rather just be held all the time. So that's what I do. Our apartment is suffering the most from this! However, I do usually get about two to three 20-minute blocks a day in which she will play in her crib, completely mesmerized with her music mobile.

Pictures

We took Sofia on her first stroll earlier this week. Keith and I were so excited. The weather was nice. Normally it’s so cold that we have a blanket over her face when we go out, so she’s not really seen “outside” before. We were thinking Sofia will look around with wonder at all the new things she’ll see. But... she slept. The whole time. Oh well, maybe the fresh air was good for her anyways :) Better luck next time!

Even though the weather was warmer, we still had to bundle her up. This particular bunting suit completely swallowed her! 0-3 months my butt!

Bath time! Keith loves giving Sofi her baths (notice the swim suit he’s wearing)! She never receives my bath-giving as well. I guess that will be a daddy/daughter thing- well, at least for a little while.

Trying to soothe Miss Fussy Pants

Sofi & Daddy on Valentine’s Day. Like the card I made her? I made her like 5 cards actually- this is just the one that didn't end up in the trash! It took awhile for my creativity to find it’s way back to me.

Sofi helping her dad study ;)

Shut the front door! She’s sleeping in some place beside my arms! I’m sure this probably lasted long enough for me to take this picture!

6 week dress up pictures!

Next Monday, we’re going to Alabama and are so excited! But we’re also really nervous about taking Sofia out of our safe little nest for so long. But (fingers crossed) hopefully all will turn out well. I think our biggest adventure will be the flying. I always hated babies on planes, now it will be my turn to catch all the stink-eyes from her wails and probably my nursing her. It will all be well worth it when we can finally show her off to the rest of our family and friends. The weather & traffic (or lack thereof) will also be a nice change!

Maybe if I think optimistically, she'll sleep the whole plane ride down!

This is what I'll envision :)

Someone finally got noticed!

For the first 5 weeks of Sofi's life, she didn't see the cats even if they were staring her in the face- not that that was a common occurrence. But just the other night, Ash finally caught Sofi's eye! She just kept staring at her. I think they'll be friends after all :) I can already tell that Ash likes Sofia, or at least is somewhat curious about her, because Ash will always go and check on Sofia every time she cries- isn't that sweet?

Today’s topic: Respect and how our cats don’t have any!

Once upon a time, there were two cats who were taken in by a very nice young couple. They lived happily and felt very secure. They loved being spoiled and became completely domesticated. They never had to compete for attention- there was 1 parent for each of them. All was perfect... Then one day all that changed...

Before Sofi was born, both of our cats (Cat & Ash) would just walk on my tummy like they didn’t notice a little human growing inside it. After awhile, I convinced myself that they were actually protective of Sofia the way they would lay on my belly.

Now, they try to walk all over her!

When we brought her home from the hospital, the cats came and checked her out and then proceeded to ignore her for the next few weeks. They just moped around looking dejected. Gradually their curiosity got the best of them and they began to approach her, stare at her, and sniff her, then usually walk away. Now, when Sofia cries, Ash (the gray one) will hurry over and check her out- I like to think that she is making sure she is okay, but experience says differently... Anyways, when I am holding Sofia (23.5 hours a day!) and one of them wants attention, they will try stepping on top of her to get to me. They don’t even try to step around her... I literally have to push with effort to get them off. They have no respect for this cute little human. But I know that, in time, Sofia will more than get them back. :) She will eventually have revenge by pulling their ears and grabbing their tails.

Sofia is a little over 5 weeks old and is growing rapidly! She had her 1 month check up and the doctor said that she isn’t just growing, but excelling by going up in growth percentages :) He said that she looked great which is a relief because she’s had a slight fever lately and a cute little cough here and there. Hopefully she won’t get sick!

Sofia is now in 0-3 month clothing which excites me because I have so many more outfits to choose from! And boy do I love to dress her up! What’s funny is her onesies are actually a little snug around the crotch (loose in the tummy though) and she is too short for her pants! We’re still in newborn pants. I guess she takes after her daddy- long torso and short legs. Maybe she’ll get his thin, muscular thighs too, instead of my chunky ones!

Sofia continues to stay awake more and more and gives me more smiles each day :) I love her smiles. Occasionally she smiles so big that my insides turn into mush. I can literally feel the butterflies whirling around inside of me :) She has such a cute, big, takes-up-her-whole-face smile! I knew in the womb, she was going to have a goober smile like her daddy :)


In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are a few pics... No, she is not a present and you CANNOT have her! Although, you are more than welcome to come and visit her in Pittsburgh!! We have room and would love visitors :D

Isn't she a cute sleeper?

Anyways, have a wonderful Valentine’s Day! We won’t be going out, sigh... I wish we could see The Vow but my grandfather kindly told me that we are on DVD status now... So, Keith will be spending tomorrow babysitting Sofi while I’m at my dental appointment (yuck!) and then he will be in class until 9:30... And I will be spending the rest of the day with my little Valentine. Hey, I guess that’s not so bad after all! :)