Running with the Bulls

It is hard to believe that in one week, Sophie will be 10 months old. What is also amazing is the leaps and bounds she has made over the past few months.  It is really quite surprising how fast time has gone by since I have been busy watching Sophie grow.

Sohie is now walking, correction, running around the house while holding only one of my hands.  I don`t even need to go to the gym with the amount of exercise I get, accompanying her everywhere.  She doesn`t seem to really need my hand for balance; it is more for reassurance.  Because she is still so young, she isn`t quite ready to let go of her mommy yet.  She made a big break through last week, when she mastered transitioning from lying down to sitting up to pulling herself up on anything within her reach.  The unfortunate part is she is short like her mom and doesn`t have as many options to pull herself up on as some might.  But there is enough to practice with.  Sophie was so dedicated to learning these skills that she would practice them in the middle of the night.  For several nights, I would wake to find her not sleeping but sitting up.  I couldn`t quite tell if she was asleep or awake while doing this.  She seems satisfied enough with her new abilities now that she has stopped rehearsing at night.  However, it has made nap and bed time a bit more challenging.  Sometimes I put her down in her crib and a few minutes later when I peek in to make sure she is asleep, she is standing with her arms outstretched, waiting for me to rescue her. 

Sophie is so much fun to play with. She loves to mimick the sounds and actions we make, and enjoys when we copy her as well.  Sticking out and clicking her tongue, and making kissing noises are just a few of the noises she likes to make.  Once she gets going she can be quite silly and is all giggles.  This, of course, gets us laughing which she loves more than anything and encourages her to continue. 

Other things Sophie loves to do:
stare, point and coo at the Christmas tree.  Surprisingly enough, "no" has worked pretty well so far at keeping her hands off the tree;
open and close doors and drawers, which makes me jump in fear if it happens when I'm not looking, I then wait for the howl to know whether her fingers have suffered or not.  So far it hasn't happened but it is only a matter of time;
pick up and carry things from one end of the house to the other, especially shoes.  We are constantly putting things back where they belong;
dance (which is mostly bending her knees and bobbing up and down) to music, especially Christmas music which her mom loves to play all day long when Dad isn't home to complain.  We tried to include a video but she was more interested in the camera;
blow bubbles in the tub;
babble to herself or to us.  She is going to be a chatty one;
read the same book over and over and over.  Flipping the pages is the most fun.  Sometimes I don't actually get to finish reading what is on the page before she is ready to move on.  She will actually, more often than not, choose a book to read instead of playing with her toys, provided there is someone around to hand the book to and read it to her.

One thing that hasn`t changed is Sophie`s teething situation.  She still only has two teeth although she continues to have restless nights, is constantly pulling on her ears and chews on everything.  However, the really bad nights aren't nearly as often as they used to be.  She seeems to be a bit better at ignoring the pain.  Ryan started giving her a bottle of formula just before bed and this seems to help her sleep better at night as well.  I thought we would have to fight her to take a bottle since she has never used one up until now but she took it no problem.

Ryan and I went on our first date since having Sophie a couple weekends ago.  We went out for lunch and then to a movie, while leaving Sophie at home with Mamie and Pepere for the day.  Oh, and Ginger came to help as well.  It was great.   We only called home once and it was because we saw that someone had called from the house.   Of course, I needed to know what was going on, there must be something if they are calling. It was only Hunter who wanted to know if he could open the bag of Christmas jelly beans.   Phew!  All went well and Sophie was pleasant enough for her sitters that they even agreed to do it again for us.  Yeah for us!  It was nice just having some time alone with Ryan.  I tried to make an effort to not talk only about Sophie the whole time, but it really is difficult when she is the biggest part of my life right now.  I am sure this will get easier as she gets older and more independent.

Here is a link to our December Photos so far.