Month 5 Letter

Dear Sophia,
I know I keep saying this every month, but OH MY GOODNESS you have grown so much in the last month! You now weigh more than 16 pounds, and you are 23" in length. That puts you in the 95th percentile for both height and weight! Your head circumference is also in the 95th percentile, and some might say you just have a big head. *I* say of course you have a big head- you have a ginormous brain in there!

Let's see... what are some of the new things you've accomplished this month? First of all, you are now doing a LOT of standing with support. In fact, you prefer standing to sitting, as evidenced by your whining every time I try to get you to sit on my lap. You can even stand up by yourself for a few minutes while just holding onto my hand (this is pretty advanced for your age). You want to stand up and see the world, darn it! No point sitting around, no sireee, not for you! It's true, though, that you are definitely a curious baby. Everyone who knows you mentions how intently you look around at everyone and everything with your big, beautiful eyes.























One of the funniest things you started doing this month is blowing spit bubbles and making raspberry sounds with your mouth. I think you started doing this because you were imitating your daddy and me when we would make funny sounds at you. I even took a video of you doing this one day because I couldn't stop laughing!



You are also really learning how to play with toys- you will transfer them from one hand to another, you will repeatedly shake or squeeze or nudge toys that respond to movement with light or sounds, and you have even learned how to turn pages in a book. Right now, your favorite toy by far is your jumparoo.We put you in that, and you bounce all around, laughing and giggling the whole time (have I mentioned how absolutely amazing and infectious your laugh is? I have? Oh. Well, I can't help it- it IS!!!).








































You've discovered your feet this week, too. Which isn't to say that you didn't know before that your feet were attached to your body. No, what I mean is that you are now actively seeking out your feet so that you can grab them and play with them when you're in your crib. You spend alot of time in your crib, grabbing at your feet and talking to them as if they're your friends. I have no idea what you're saying to your feet, but it is clearly a VERY important conversation.


















One thing that's interesting is that you really like to hold different kinds of fabric with different textures. You will take just about anything- tissues, paper towels, plastic baggies, hand towels, burp cloths, cotton and fleece bibs, mommy's cashmere sweaters- and touch, hold, and squeeze it, the whole time paying very close attention to whether it makes a sound, whether it tastes good to you, or whether it feels good on your face. Unfortunately, you also really love to grab onto my hair, and of course you never fail to give it a good yank. Let me say right now... that HURTS, kiddo!

You are drooling a lot these days, and you've started chewing on your hands. Your pediatrician says that you are starting to get your first teeth already, which is why you're drooling so much. We even gave you your first taste of solid food (rice cereal)this week. You didn't like it very much, and I think you only swallowed about one spoonful because the rest of it ended up all over your face and bib.


















Your daddy and I STILL cannot believe that you are already old enough to eat solid food. We think you are growing up too fast!.

Unfortunately, there is some sad news to report this month. For the last week, you have been in New Mexico with me because your Nino is really, really sick and is in the hospital. He's been sick for a while, now, but he is getting worse and worse every day. I am SO glad that you came home to Albuquerque with me over Christmas and SO glad that you are here with me now, because I am just so grateful that you got a chance to meet your grandpa. He won't be with us much longer, so the fact that you get to spend this precious time with him is such a blessing.























OK, enough of that. I don't do very well with emotional stuff, as you will soon discover. Instead, I just want to say that you bring us so much joy, Sophia, I can't even express to you how much more your daddy and I smile every day since you joined our family. You are one amazing baby, and every day I am grateful that I get to come home to your beautiful, smiling little face.























Love,
Mama

Month 4 Letter

Dear Sophia,
My goodness, how quickly time is flying! Every day I look at you, you seem to be growing so much bigger. If I wasn't so excited to watch you grow up, I would ask you to please stop growing so that I can savor each and every moment even more than I already am. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY love being your mom and spending time with you. In fact, I can't imagine anything else I would rather do. Every new skill you aquire makes me so proud, and even though millions of babies all over the world are developing the exact same skills, I still want to climb a mountain every day and shout as loud as possible "my baby girl is AWESOME!".

You've had quite a month so far! You now weigh about 14 pounds and are 24 inches long, and look almost as big as your cousin Amilia who is 10 months old! This month, we have also noticed that your personality is really starting to develop- you smile all the time, and have started laughing out loud (which, I should add, is absolutely the best sound in the universe). What's really neat is that you are starting to realize cause-and-effect. This is most noticible when your daddy and I are playing the tickle monster game- when you see our fingers wiggling above you, you laugh so hard in anticipation of the tickles soon to come! You are also figuring out that you have an effect on your environment, and this is most obvious when we put you in your bouncy chair and you spend most of your time kicking and touching the little stuffed animals hanging above it just to watch them move around. You even try to talk to them, which is SO funny.

You've been reaching many of your developmental milestones this month, too. You can now hold yourself up on your arms when you're on your tummy, you are learning how to roll over from your tummy to your back, you've started to hold your bottle by yourself, and you are able to support your weight when we hold you in a standing position. Actually, you spend a lot of time "standing", because when we try to get you to sit down, you kick and kick your legs until we stand you up. Only then are you content, which makes your daddy and I feel that you will probably walk before you crawl. Either that, or you are destined to become a world-class soccer player!

In December, you went on your first plane ride (well, the first one after you were born- when you were in my tummy, you travelled all over the place)! We were worried you would get fussy on the plane because you still cry a lot when you're hungry or when you're tired, but you did great! We went to visit my family in New Mexico for Christmas. You got to meet all your aunts, uncles, and cousins! Everyone was SO excited to meet you, and I don't think your daddy or I got to hold you once, since everyone also wanted to hold you and cuddle with you. I was so happy that you got to meet your extended family and start to create memories with them, because they are really special people who will play a big role in your life as you grow up.

You also got to spend a lot of time with your Nina and Nino. In fact, your Nina threatened to hide you from us when we were about to leave because she didn't want to put you back on the plane to Seattle. She sure does love you- she had her house all prepared for you with a brand new pack and play, swing, bouncy chair, and a lifetime supply of diapers. She also spent a lot of time getting everything ready for your baptism, and made sure that everything was perfect for that day. Speaking of your baptism, you were baptised on December 28, the day of the Holy Family. Your godparents Michael and Anne were there- they are such amazing people, and they will soon have a playmate for you since they have a little girl growing in Anne's tummy right now! You had a big party afterwards at your Nina's house, with about 50 people celebrating your very first sacrament.

A few days ago, your daddy and I also celebrated the 1 year anniversary of our finding out that you were in my tummy. On January 1, 2008, we discovered that we were pregnant with you. It seems like such a long time ago, and yet the time has also gone by so quickly (how does that happen?). I know I've said it before, but we both feel so very lucky to be your parents, and we honestly don't know what we ever did without you in our lives. We absolutely adore you and love you so very much.

Happy New Year, sweetheart.
Love,
Mama