It's been too long!!!

Wow, can't believe it's almost been 2 months since Ive written on here. Well, there's lots of catch up on, but I dont think I have that much time to write here!

Sophia is very much on the move now....she crawls everywhere and is cruising from different piece of furniture! It's only a few more weeks until she'll be walking around! Exciting, yet, I know I'll be running around after here a lot once she starts walking, so it's ok if she takes her time getting there! =)



We just got back from San Diego last night....it was a great trip. Was nice to have some sunshine again and the chance to replenish our vitamin D levels! Unfortunately, a few days up to the trip, Sophia got the norovirus....pretty much its similar to "Montezuma's revenge" which is what you get from drinking the contaminated water down in Mexico. She was well enough to get on the plane thankfully...so at least we made it there ok. She had been vomiting a great deal, I think we went through 5 sets of pjs a few nights before leaving. It was so hard....she is such a trooper though! It took about 4 days or so to get over the worst of it....she was probably back to normal after a week total. After the first night, I felt a little weird in the tummy...I thought I was just tired and had eaten something funny at dinner, but in the early morning around 1 am, something was not right....ended up on the bathroom floor, faint, sweaty, and felt like I was going to pass out! It was just awful! Again, at 3am, but this time I ended up vomiting myself! Lovely! Then in the morning around 7 or so, Paul ended up going through the same thing! I wouldnt wish this on anyone...its one nasty bug! And to have a clingy, crying baby during it was even harder! Luckily for Paul and I, it only lasted the 24 hrs and we were able to enjoy our mini vacay!

Speaking of our little lady on the move....here is one of her around the condo...she managed to sit on a post-it and find a doorstop to chew on!






She also got her first taste of Gelato!! There was a sorbet version which is water based...so we gave her some of Paul's coconut flavored gelato...she LOVED it!



Let's see, well, Sophia started using a spoon by herself! She's taken a few bites with it too! It was really exciting watching her! I have a few of her eating some oatmeal....she loved it with a bit of pure cane sugar and cinnamon....hehe!



Also, she took her first steps while in San Diego....only 2, but she did it! It's so amazing to see her doing all these wonderful things. It goes by so quickly, just a few weeks ago she couldnt crawl around, and now its hard to keep her in one place! To think that in just a few weeks, we'll be celebrating her first birthday! Wow, doesn't that make a Mama feel old?!



Anyway, we took Sophia to her first San Diego Padres game during the week. She LOVED being the in kiddie park area. There's a part where its just a big grassy field next to a "kids" ballpark where they can run the bases etc, and she just had a hay day crawling around and exploring. She had no problem whatsoever leaving Mom and Dad behind and going around to visit our neighbors. Everyone was really friendly and told us how adorable she is! Such a ham! She screamed so loud a few times out of sheer joy, it was so cute!



Mom and Dad had a fun time eating brats and drinking beer....oh and yea, there was pizza too! Only to be followed with a steak dinner just a few hours later. Gluttons??? No way!



and the happy Daddy...



So today, in celebration of Easter...we took Sophia to her first Easter Egg Hunt at Vasa Park near our home. It's a cute little hunt where the split the kids up by age so everyone can have a fair chance at collecting some eggs. Sophia got 2! Woohoo! She had fun playing in the hay where the eggs were and investigating the scene. It's amazing how hardcore some of the parents and kids are though. I mean, I wanted her to get a golden egg too, but wow! They were giving out prizes to kids who got the gold eggs...one guy was explaining to his 2 year old how to look for em and asking the staff all kinds of questions about what color gold it was and on and on. Heck, I was looking under the hay too, trying to find our daughter one of these, but still!

It was pretty close to her nap time, so at the end of it, she was pretty much done and having her sit on the Easter Bunny's lap was stretching it a bit!



Well, at least we got some cute video of her in the hay!

Tomorrow, we're off to brunch at the Newcastle Country Club and they're having Easter Bunny pictures there, so hopefully Sophia will be more in the mood for a cute bunny shot! I have her little dress all picked out and everything. She gets to be a girly, girl tomorrow! Fun, fun!

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!!



(We've discovered our tongue!)

Baby's got a new pair of skills!!

Well, it seems that Sophia has picked up a few more endearing qualities! She's crawling better now....to the point where she's trying to follow after us now...its really cute. I'll be in the bathroom upstairs and she will be in our bedroom and will peek around to see where we are!

We took her to the park a few days ago and put her in the infant swing there...she loved it! I have a little video of that, but I'll spare everyone all these videos of our girl! Here's a picture though!



She's also figured out how to throw things now! Not sure if this a good or bad thing really, but its fun for her. Someone will put either a ball or one of her "shapes" (she has one of those deals where you put the right shape in its hole for it to go through) and will toss it! We got it one video, its really fun to watch her! I've posted a video for fun!





She's become a lot better with feeding herself now too. She eats pieces of cereal and veg or fruit with her fingers! She wont have very much that way, but its a start. She even drank from her sippy cup BY HERSELF today! So proud I am!

We're still mostly on pureed foods still, her gag reflex is sensitive still, but I think that's in part of her being sick at the moment. She's almost back to her normal self. This cough needs to go away though, its making her gag still, especially at night, and she got sick in bed both evenings. It has been SO hard lately, its challenging enough taking care of a baby, but a sick one at that. Im so ready for a nice vacation!!! Most of all, I just feel bad for her....she must be so confused as to why all this has been going on the last few days and why she hasnt felt well. Our sweet little girl. Bless her heart.




Well, I'm praying that by Monday/Tuesday ish, she will be back to old happy, non puking Sophia. I have done so much laundry and gone through so many sets of sheets on our bed this week! I think her record is 3 kinds of pjs for an evening. Oh well, could be worse right?! What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger! But I am really on the edge of cracking! Lord help me!

Anyway, so thats whats going on in the Archer household for now. We're remodeling our downstairs to add 2 bedrooms a bath and a wine and laundry room. Flynn and Shelby are going to move down there, and we'll have another bedroom free for when the next baby comes along. Hopefully, sooner than later! The whole thing is supposed to be done mid March. I can't wait. It'll be nice to have a husband back...he's been working hard to make this all happen for us. Hope everyone is doing better than we are!

She's worth all the fuss though.....can't resist a face like this!

I heart faces?!

Wanted to try this whole i heart faces stuff after reading Heather's fun email about Chad getting into the top 10! Thats awesome. This whole thing seems a bit confusing, but we're going to give it a shot and see how Sophia's pic does in the "Messy" category for this next theme from i heart faces! Everyone should do this too! I bet there will be lots of good pics for this category!





"www.iheartfaces.com"

Our 9 monther!

Can't believe its been 9 months since the birth of our baby girl, Sophia! Talk about time flying! Good grief! She is doing so well, and we are so blessed! Her Dr's appt was perfect yesterday. She was 20.4 lbs which is between the 75-90% for breastfed babies and her height was 29 inches and that's in the 90-95% range. Her head circumference is 17.3 inches.....something like 50-75% range. She's on the right track and is just super healthy, which eases momma's brain a bit! =)We had her take a finger prick test to see if she's ok with her iron levels. Being a breastfed baby, after 6 months, iron seems to get a bit low....so we should hear back soon. But, she got her first bandaid and took it like a champ. I dont even think she noticed that her finger was stuck with the pin at all! Tough cookie.



As much as I loved the newborn phase, this time right now with Sophia is so precious. She is so active and engaged. She's always been so aware, even since day one she never seemed like a "baby" to us. More just like a little person, watching the world and taking notes! It's amazing to see how much she's grown and learned in such a short period of time. Heck, if I could achieve as much as she had in 9 months, I'd be pretty impressed with myself too!

She's just started crawling forwards a lot today! On her 9 month bday even...I think she planned it that way really. She was chasing after this ball earlier today. It would roll away and she would go crawling after it with little sitting breaks in between crawling periods. It was so adorable! She can sit up from lying down now and also stand up from sitting as long as she has something to grab onto. She's also just started trying to stand up from sitting without pulling up on anything today! It was so neat watching her try this....she hasn't quite got the balance for it yet and ends up sitting on her bum...but she will get there no doubt. Sophia is just loving being on her feet right now too. She will hold our hands or climb up on us to get to standing and then will stand by herself for a few seconds before falling over or sitting back down. She is sooo incredibly impressed with herself when she stands there without help. She knows that she's doing something amazing and new for her and it shows in her face! It just really warms my heart and makes me a very proud mama just thinking about all these new things shes learning to do!



Paul and I had another date night tonight...lucky us! We were in Seattle this afternoon and I asked my mom if she wouldnt mind watching Sophia for an hour or two while we went to our fav Italian restaurant called Salvatore's. We hadnt been there since I was 7-8 months pregnant, so we were due for a visit. Sure enough, she was excited to have her granddaughter for a few hours and we "paid" my parents in italian take out! They enjoyed having a good nibble, so it worked out perfectly. We may have to make it a more regular type of trade off. =)




We also got some passport photos done and took her application to the post office for her passport. We're thinking of heading somewhere this summer, but not quite sure yet...either way, she's going to need one down the road. So that was exciting! Trying to get her an Irish one too, but that seems to be a bit more complicated unfortunately.

Sophia has been sleeping better too.....naps are getting longer and sleeping at night seems to be going well too. She's not sleeping through the night or anything, but the 3 hour chunks are a huge improvement over the 1-2 hour ones she had a few weeks ago! I can function at least now. It's amazing how the body adjusts to being sleep deprived....I dont know what I would do with a full nights sleep really....wow, Id probably feel like super woman or something Im sure! I just think that at this age, she's going to get more easier, not in the sense that I wont have to chase after her or anything....there will be lots of that and making sure she doesnt get into things she shouldnt....but she is just even more happy now....very laid back and pretty easy going. Even more so than she was before. It really feels like we just moved over a milestone....Im sure thats exactly what happened too! I think getting this crawling thing down is really going to help her nervous system take a break for a bit...until we start walking at least! Then it will be a whole new ballgame! I dont think its too far behind either. We shall see! So very proud of our little smarty pants!

Sophia cracking up!

Valentine's Baby

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. It was the best ever! Paul and I went up to the Salish Lodge to spend the night and have dinner at the Dining Room. Its our favorite restaurant in the area and the best food hands down. So, if you havent been and are interested, I really recommend it!

We had a sitter come in to watch Sophia. It was a bit hard getting her down for the night just cause she was so intrigued by the new place, people, and the fire place roaring lol...but once she was down it was fine. She slept 3 hrs straight until she woke up, but we had just got back right then, so I was able to get her back down without and fuss.



The evening was wonderful. It was SO nice to have couple time with my honey. We havent been on a real date really for a few months....at least one without interruptions or calls asking to come back to the hotel room to help our poor little girl get back to sleep. What can ya do? Since she nurses to sleep, its hard to get her back down any other way.....and Paul doesn't lactate so, hehe!

Dinner was amazing as always and we had some champagne, well, I had champagne and Paul had his vino. He surprised me with these beautiful Sapphire earrings that match a bracelet he had bought for me for our anniversary. I just got all teary eyed and was so thankful for my beautiful, unexpected gift. He designed them himself even, which makes it all the more special.




Sophia signed her first word earlier that day.....she signed "milk" twice, she didnt get enough the first time I guess...but we were pretty excited and proud of her new accomplishment. She's said a few things too, or at least what it sounds like to be "Hi" and "Up". Ive been saying up to her every time I pick her up, so shes probably figured it out...but it so cute, cause she will be sitting in front of me or standing, and I'll hear something come out of her mouth that sounds exactly like "up" its hard to believe really, but she keeps saying it, so it can't be a random thing right? She said "Hi" a couple times a while ago....I didnt know if at that point it was just a fluke, but now shes said it a couple times....so Im thinking she's getting it a bit. It's really exciting, shes always vocal in general, so I think getting this whole talking thing down is what really interests her!

She will be 9 months here soon, I can't believe its been that long already. Heck, she was in my tummy for that long, although, this time has gone by so much faster!!! I'll blog about her 9 months soon! Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day. For me, it was the bestest ever!

More teeth are coming!

I was noticing in the last couple days that Sophia has really been biting on a lot of things, including her fingers! So I decided to take a peek at the top of her mouth, and sure enough, her top right front tooth is starting to show. You can see the white peeking through the pink of her gums, but hasnt broken through yet. Im guessing in the next week or so, we'll have her 3rd tooth! Quite exciting, Im just hoping that nursing doesnt become a problem with the new addition! =)

She's been doing great and is moving a bit more each day. Shes really into "walking" and wants to be "walked around" by Paul or I a lot during the day. She's starting to really get the hang of it and every once in a while, she will let go of one of our hands and sometimes the other, and stand for a few seconds before having to hold onto us again. Its awesome, she is a little dare devil. We love it! She's starting to crawl forward a bit, its not a lot of movement, but some. She does this thing where shes on all fours and shuffles her bum frontwards and backwards for momentum I guess? Its the cutest thing though!



We're still having great success with her potty chair. She does her business every morning upon waking and at least once again during the day. I havent been great about putting her on before and after every nap, but Im hoping that every little bit helps her to understand the whole concept. She's really a great sport though and loves looking at what she's left in the pot aftewards....its hilarious!

She's really "talking" more. I think she said "Up" today. It sure sounded like it. I always say it to her before picking her up....almost like asking her if she wants up. Most of the time after I say it, she looks at me like "Yea, Mom, pick me up please!" Its amazing what they understand at this age, even though they arent able to vocally express it, they sure know whats going on! We're still introducing sign language to her, a few new signs at a time. She hasn't done any back yet, but we only started 2 months ago, and I've heard it takes about 2 months to see them respond to it, so hopefully she will try to sign soon. She really loves to express herself though, and her laughs recently have been so big and from the gut. We treasure our little princess.

We're off to the Salish Lodge for Valentine's Day. Flynn and Shelby are off to their grandparents home for a fun sleepover and we're bringing little lady with us and having a babysitter come in for a few hours while we go to dinner. It will be very nice to have a few hours alone with my hubby! I'll post some pictures of our evening later. Happy Valentine's Day early everyone. Hope you all are doing well! =)

Look Mom....No Hands!!!

Well, I don't know if she could have done more on this 8th month birthday! We had quite the busy body today. Sophia had her baby aquatics class that she loves this morning. She did great and is the best kicker ever. She really likes the "Humpty Dumpty" rhyme we do before she gets to "fall" off the side of the pool and go for a little "swim". Later this afternoon we had our Little Pepers group meeting. She just loves being around people and other babies! I swear, they have their own language or something. I really wonder sometimes if they can understand one another. Why not, right?! Well, earlier this week, she had figured out how to crawl backwards, yet today, there was a bit of forwards motion. Shes really creeping a lot more now too. More of a slider really. But, just today you could see her get her knees under her and really try crawling. Paul has been training her to be a bit of a dare devil! He had her stand up and then tried letting go a few times, with his hands near by of course in case she started to fall. She stood, by herself, for a full 5 seconds! You should see the look on her face...she is concentrating so hard, yet is so proud of herself and excited that shes on her own!!! Then after she couldn't hold herself up anymore, she sat down!!! It was amazing, the other Peps parents were quite impressed with our little Sophia and clapped for her. I know shes going to be some sort of entertainer! She did it a couple more times, but not nearly as long. Lord knows it takes a lot of concentration and energy on her part to do such a thing!



And here she is playing with a "baby"....she's already nurturing!



She's truly a gifted little lady. We're so proud of our daughter and can't wait to be wowed by her next "talent". It's just so remarkable what she has accomplished in a few short months. Seems like she was born just yesterday, and how shes close to walking! Soon, I'll be running after her like mad! Thank God we have baby proofed the home already! Good luck to us! Here comes the calorie burn for sure!


A few pictures from earlier in the week....

Feeding her Granddad with her spoon! It was absolutely adorable!!!





We are truly blessed! Thank Heavens for Little Girls!!

Amazing little Sophia

I am so excited today! Sophia has done so much just today! So, I have a friend who has been putting his son on a little potty since 6 months old, usually after he wakes and naps to see if he'll do anything. He's now 11 months old and will now communicate to his parents that he needs to "go" and they'll take him to the potty and he goes! When I heard this, I was astonished and thought that I could try it with Sophia!

Well, our 2 baby bjorn potty chairs came yesterday and this morning, she started her little grunts, which is normal right before she'll go #2. I took her to the potty, which is kinda difficult to prep for since you have to undress her and take the diaper off. But, once we got all that situated, she sat there with her toes barely touching the floor and did her business!!!! She stood up afterwards, I held her there, and she took a peek in the pot and saw what she had done. A huge smile came across her face. I really think she understood the purpose of the potty chair! I was over the moon and still am!

We're going to keep at it and hopefully it will become more of a habit for her! Im hopeful that if we teach her now, early enough, then pull ups wont be something she gets too attached too. I think when the get to the point where they know its easier to just go in the diaper than to use the potty, then its harder to train them, but if we do it early enough, maybe she will learn before she knows any better =)I took pictures even, me being the overly proud mother that I am, but won't post them for all you're sake and Sophia's too!

This afternoon I went to have a shiatsu massage and Paul watched Sophia. He calls me while Im on the road and tell me that Sophia just crawled backwards about 4-5 feet! I was so excited and bummed that I had missed it! I hear babies will crawl backwards before the crawl forwards, so maybe she will try the other direction soon? Paul got it on video, its pretty cute. She seems to be complaining about it while shes doing it, but then smiles once shes done it. I guess one of the times she ended up underneath her play pen! Her little head was sticking out and her body was underneath.

Well, we're pretty proud parents over here in Bellevue! Its so exciting to watch our little baby grow and achieve new skills! Soon she will be walking!! She's napping right now...Lord knows shes a tired girl after all the energy used this morning/afternoon! Yay!

Christmas and New Years

Phew! I can't believe its 2009! Didn't we just celebrate 2008?! I know years go by quickly when you get older, but man, what's it going to be like 10, 20 years from now?! Don't even want to think about it!

So Christmas was great. Sophia got a lot of fun toys from Santa! She had fun with the bows and had her siblings to help her open her presents. We definitely had a white Christmas! Bing Crosby wouldn't have known what hit him! We were quite worried that we wouldn't be able to get out of our driveway for San Diego on the 27th, but luckily, thanks to my poor husband who had shoveled the driveway 5 times prior, we got out!



The flight down was great, Sophia is always a pretty good traveler when it comes to airplanes, thankfully! She seems to make "friends" on the plane rides too. Always checking out who is sitting around her, makes eye contact and gives them huge smiles. She seems to win over their hearts. Such a ham and social butterfly we have! She had a nice nap on the way down and up...and had fun playing with the curtain that covers us from the first class cabin. You can see in some of the pics, its adorable!



New Years was pretty laid back at our condo. Mommy fell asleep at 830pm with Sophia! Big party people we were! But, I must admit, I felt pretty good from all the sleep the next morning! I woke to the sound of fireworks at midnight. Since our condo is downtown San Diego, there were lots of hotels, etc celebrating the new year. Whispered a little "Happy New Year" to our baby girl and drifted back to sleepyland!
Paul and the kids stayed up for the New York blast off, so that was good at least! Someone saw something happen.

The next morning I put a party hat on Sophia while she was playing in her baby gym. She looked so cute! It's strange though, I dont feel like its a new year...seems just like a continuation of 2008, but maybe that's because all this snow keeps coming back! Cannot wait for Spring! Hopefully we'll have better weather and a real summer this year!



We went to Hollywood for a couple days and showed the kids around town. We took a picture of Sophia next to her favorite star! It was cute. Hasnt changed much there, but it does seem dirtier around the city than it used to! Blech! We stayed at the London hotel for 2 nights. Gordon Ramsay just opened a new restaurant there, so we had a nanny come to watch the kids and we enjoyed a dinner together which was something we hadn't done in a while. Gotta get couple time in too!




Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years and that all our new resolutions for 2009 are accomplished. I havent really figured out what mine are yet. I just want to continue to be the best Mommy I can to Sophia and accept that I'm not a perfect being and that I do make mistakes and its okay. I try so hard to make things perfect for her, in terms of napping and making sure that she's sleeping as well as she can, (it seems to be our only challenge with her) and its a lot of pressure. As soon as I think "Ah, ha! That's the problem, its not! And then Im racking my brain for another reason as to why shes not sleeping well at night. But hey, they are only this little once, and all I can do is enjoy the time with her and not focus on all the hard challenges so much that it takes over my motherhood joy! What truly matters is that shes happy and healthy and gets all the love and kisses she needs from her family! That's something I know I can do! =)




Happy New Year everyone!!! Love to all!