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!