6 Months and Weekend Away!

A week ago today Sophia turned 6 months. It's hard to believe because it still feels in so many ways like she was just born. Yet when I look back at early pictures I realize just how much she has changed and grown already. She's so fun and has a real personality now and I just think she's the cutest thing ever! Her 6-month stats:

14lb, 7oz (25% percentile)
26.5" long (75% percentile)

So we've got a long and lean little lady on our hands. I was a little worried about her weight but the dr assured me more than once that she is perfectly healthy and there wasn't anything to worry about. We're starting to run into clothing issues with the waist being too big (in 6-9 month clothes) but the length being too short (in 3-6 month clothes)... not sure what we're going to do about that!


Last week we also tried feeding Sophia cereal for the first time. Baby girl was NOT impressed!



After her 6 month appointment Thursday we packed ourselves up and headed to Pittsburgh for the weekend. Since the winter weather seems to be behind us we finally took our first road trip and, although it was overwhelming at times when she'd cry and I couldn't pick her up, Sophia did really good. We visited with tons of family and friends, many that had never met our little sweetheart, and had a blast. I was especially impressed at how well Sophia did at my grandparents house with literally about 40+ people surrounding her at all times and passing her around. We were also so thrilled to finally meet sweet Cori and celebrate her first birthday as well! Some pictures from the weekend...

Sophia and her big cousin (by 2 months anyway)
Sitting with great-grandma...

And with great-grandpa...

Hanging out with Uncle Dan...

And with her godmom Ame

Pictures!

A few pictures, as promised. Sophia loves playing with her tongue and smacking her lips this days. The girl cracks me up!
Hanging out after tummy time with mommy...

Mothers Day on our way out to brunch. Her dress says "mommy's little angel" and thats just what she is! :)

As always, daddy had to get in on the action. My two favorite people...

Mother's Day

I can't help but reflect on how much life has changed in one (very short) year. Shortly before mother's day last year we received the news that we were finally expecting a baby. It was a dream come true and I was floating on cloud 9 even though we were still early in the pregnancy and understandably worried about what the coming months would bring. This year I was able to celebrate with my two favorite people in the world without worry or fear. This mother's day was amazing. Mike took us to brunch, we went shopping for flowers and just spent the day as a family enjoying each other's company. Sophia has brought so much happiness and joy to our lives. Being a mommy is the most rewarding and challenging and amazing role I've ever had and I can't wait to see what the future with our little angel will bring.

I think we got a couple of cute pics earlier today, I'll upload them shortly!

5 months!

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Gram & Pap (my parents) visited last weekend. They hadn't seen Sophia in about a month and they couldn't believe how much she has grown & changed in that time. Our new favorite is her laugh, though it's really more like a chuckle. She cracks me up so much! It's hard to believe Sophia is over 5 months old now. She's close to sitting up on her own and is really starting to become interested in watching Mike & I eating. I think she'll be thrilled to try her first solids in a few weeks once she hits the 6 month mark.

It's been a great couple of weeks full of beautiful weather and outdoor fun but unfortunately Sophia has come down with her first real cold (or virus, actually). Before this it's just been a runny/stuffy nose here and there. She's been cranky and inconsolable at times but we seem to have turned the bend this morning and she's doing much better. Hopefully we'll be able to return to work/daycare for tomorrow.

Laughing away in the swing:

First drink from a sippy cup:

Playing in her jumperoo:

Easter Recap

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Saturday Mike finally painted the last untouched room in the house. It'll soon become Miss. Sophia's playroom which is a great since it's like a maze trying to walk through our family room these days. We'd originally planned some outdoor activities but it was just too rainy!

Sunday we opened Sophia's Easter basket, attended church then headed over to my in-laws. Sophia was in such a great mood all day, it was so much fun.

Sophia in her dress (I could *not* keep those hands out of her mouth all day!)

Sophia enjoying her new tunnel from the bunny:

Artie liked it too...

Visiting the Easter Bunny

This past Saturday we took Sophia & Artie to meet the Easter Bunny for the first time. Poor Artie's legs were quivering the whole time but Sophia was just thrilled to sit on the bunny's lap and pull his hair!

On Sunday we met Mike's parents, brother, sister-in-law & my niece Olivia for breakfast with the Easter Bunny. Olivia had tons of fun playing with her little cousin "Baby Phia" (aka Sophia) and both enjoyed sitting on the bunny's lap.

More to come after Easter Sunday and the bunny's big visit. I can't wait to get Sophia in her Easter dress next!

Return to Work

It's been a tough week but it's almost over. Sophia seems to be adjusting amazingly well, especially for a baby that was so incredibly fussy and unhappy anytime she wasn't at the breast just a couple of months ago. As tough as it was at the time I'm missing those days where we spent hours back-to-back just sitting on the couch together. Her teachers have reported that Miss S. is a happy little girl that loves to watch the older kids play (by older we're talking 6mo - 12mo old). According to her daily activity sheets she's spent a lot of time listening to her teachers reading and singing, practicing tummy time and rolling over and playing in the exersaucer. It seems they are determined to get her into a nap routine but Sophia just isn't having it, haha! She typically takes 2-3 30 minute naps each day while the other kids are napping a 1-3 hours at a time. Oh well, as long as she's happy and still sleeping at night it doesn't bother me at all!

As every working mom will tell you the adjustment has been much harder for me. I miss my little girl. I think about her constantly which makes it hard to get a lot of work done. Throw in 3 hours of daily commuting, cranky clients and pumping breast milk and it's easy to understand why this has been so overwhelming. It seems as soon as I'm done pumping then sit back down to get some work done it's time to pump again. Ah! It's going to take some time but eventually I'll figure out how to balance everything. Whoever coined the term SuperMom wasn't joking... as mom's we want to do it all but it would certainly take some super powers to make it actually happen.

4 Months

Yesterday Sophia turned 4 months! I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. Stats from her 4 month appt this morning:

13lb, 3oz - 50th percentile
25" - 75th percentile

She's laughing, smiling, rolling, grabbing and kicking like crazy these days. It's so much fun! This weekend my parents will be visiting... we're looking forward to it since they haven't seen her since her Christening on Jan 18th.

We're rollin!

I can't believe it but my little girl is rolling! We actually missed her very first roll (almost a week ago) because of Artie, I could've killed him! She was on the playmat on her belly, Artie walks by and as soon as he passes we see her on her back. So it took her a couple days to figure out how to do it again but now she's rolling belly-to-back and back-to-belly pretty easily.

This is my last full week home with Sophia so I'm really enjoying every moment with her even more than usual. Next week she'll be going to daycare a couple of days for practice and the following week I'm headed back to work full-time. I'm not looking forward to it at all but I'll save all the saddness and complaints about it for later. For now I just want to enjoy every minute we have left.

Weigh in!

Things are good here. I'm hoping Mike & I have gotten through having our final colds the season. It's so hard taking care of an infant, especially breastfeeding one, when you're sick. Speaking of BF, Sophia & Iwent to a BF support group the other day to get some help with some minor issues we've been having. It was really helpful and I was able to weigh Sophia while we were there. She's up to 12lb 6oz which is just about what I would've guessed. If you get a chance to comment, please let me know much did your little one's weighed at 4 mo. Our ped doesn't tell us the percentile's for height/weight so I'd love to compare Sophia's to other babies I know!

We're really looking forward to the next few days as it's supposed to get up to 70 degrees! Hopefully that means we'll be able to spend some time outside playing and walking.

Sophia loves her Bumbo now:

And her crib mirror...

And hanging out with her big brother...

But she's not wild about hats, ha...

3 months!

Yesterday Sophia turned 3 months old. I can't believe how quickly time has passed, it seems like she was born just yesterday. Here's a few things she's up to lately:

• Weighs about 12lbs (won't be at the ped until next month to find out for sure)


• Sleeping about 10/11 hours each night


• Finally starting to take bottles without putting up a fight


• Loves to smile and "talk" to us


• Her favorite songs are Take a Bow (Rhianna) and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, haha. No nursery rhymes here!


• Reaches out and grasps toys in front of her.


• Sitting up in her bumbo seat and loving it!


• Still loves tummy time and lounging on her playmat far better than her swing or bouncy seat.

Picture Day!

Yesterday we took Sophia to get her first set of professional pics. Actually, thats not true. We did attempt newborn pics but it was a disaster.... so much so that we didn't end up ordering any prints! So the first session was spent crying but this one was much better and we ended up with lots of great shots. Here's a few of my favorites...

What we've been up to...

We haven't been up to too much on our end. Just lots of relaxing together and some visits with friends and family. Our niece Olivia just recently turned two and we had a great time at her birthday party last weekend. Sophia is doing better and better outside of our house. In fact, everyone at the party kept commenting on how she didn't really cry at all.... two months ago thats not something I ever thought I'd hear! Here she is just lounging around at the party:

And while a part of me is a little sad to see my baby girl growing so quickly already, another part is loving how much more fun she is becoming! Sophia loves to laugh and smile constantly these days. The biggest smiles come from daddy singing and mommy reading to her. It really is wonderful... this is the best job in the world!

Here she is in her new dress and boots from nana & poppy:

And just taking a nap with her big brother:

Christening Day

Sunday was Sophia's Christening Day and it was wonderful. I was so happy that Sophia was able to wear the same gown that I did when I was baptized. It's been in my my family for nearly 60 years. My mom (the oldest of 7) was the first to wear it and many aunts, uncles & cousins have worn it as well.

Sophia did well and, although we did have a couple of screaming fits early in the service, she absolutely loved when the priest poured holy water over her head. It actually soothed her to sleep! Afterwards we had a small party back at our house which turned out great.

Mommy & Sophia:

Daddy & Sophia:

With her godparents Ame & Anthony:

My little girl wiped out at the end of a long weekend:

Our weekend

Although we didn't have nearly as much snow as the weatherman called for (as usual!) it was just too cold to take the baby girl out so we just relaxed at home all weekend. Both Sophia and Artie are loving her new playmat which leads to a fun game for me of trying to keep our 80lb baby from squashing the head of our 10lb baby! He's such a sweetie but Artie really has no idea how big he is! Here he is at Christmas just posing away... tell me he isn't adorable?!

This week I need to get things together for Sophia's Christening next weekend. We're looking forward to it but there's a lot to take care of before our 5 house guests arrive!

Happy New Year!

This update is a little late but better than never I suppose. We had a wonderful Christmas & New Years! I've always loved Christmas but it was so much better than ever before this year. Having Sophia in our lives seems to make everything more special and the holiday was no exception. It was amazing waking up to her beautiful smiles and cooing Christmas morning - the perfect gift from Santa!

We spent Christmas Eve with Mike's family and then hosted my parents for dinner on Christmas day. My cooking was better than expected (even with having to stop to feed Sophia so many times along the way!) so it was a huge success! Santa and our families were very generous and Sophia shouldn't be needing any clothes or toys for months, maybe longer.

And now I've got to show off the little one...

In her Christmas dress

Getting ready for her first trip to the mall. Wearing her new gingerbread lady outfit

Laughing during tummy time!