Sofia, Nine Months

PLAYTIME

When Lucas is away, Sofia will play ... with all the big boy toys - saws, cars and remotes. She will play with baby toys for a while, especially if she is putting them into a box or her mouth but her eyes really light up when she gets hold of these ultimate treasures.

I have met few babies who rival her in energy and determination. Today we saw an adorable ten month old boy at the park and it dawned on me that he had been sitting next to his mother for about five minutes. As much as I would love to snuggle up next to her, this would NEVER happen with Sofia. If she is tolerating being held for a few moments her little dimpled hands are frantically reaching around to grab something interesting at this new height. But most of the time she doesn't accept being held for long and she has now mastered "the noodle" - collapsing herself into the shape of a spaghetti strand, arms up in the air, the moment I try to lift her. She is crawling through open shelves, under chairs, over boxes. Carpe Diem is truly her motto.

This being said, she is slowing down in some regards. She enjoys playing in the Pack-and-Play for longer spells (especially if it's outside) and goes for the Exersaucer more often. She still likes the Ergo and Cheerios after a meal are a lifesaver. Her attention span for books is lengthening but still leaves much to be desired. If the book doesn't have fluffy tails and wrinkled noses to touch, forget about it.

She giggles with delight in the baby swing and loves crawling around toddler play sets. In some ways I'm looking forward to having her walk. She will be farther away from all the choking hazards she is still so fond of.

She is pretty rough and tumble, rarely letting a bump or a dive faze her, which will help her survive Lucas's exuberance (never malicious, but often overly playful.) Overall he is pretty good with her. He truly seems to care for her well being and his heart fills with joy whenever they laugh together. Already they can giggle insanely with one another!

TEETHING
Nothing new in the teething department (still two on the bottom and 4 on the top) although she is packing more fingers into her mouth these days and I had to sleep next to her last night (which is a rare to never event) so something's happening!

EATING
She has slowed down in the eating department and is becoming more particular. Her current favorites are cheesy eggs as finger foods and yogurt (I mix half flavored and half plain and add rice cereal to make it stay down better.) She has had ground up pasta with red sauce several times and it's a hit. Today I pureed a fresh batch of chicken soup, this time flavored with star anise, and it looked as if someone had slammed on the brakes the way she lunged into the spoon for another bite. She has finally almost stopped spitting up. I nurse her about 4-5 times a day and do not have to time it before sleeping - she digests it well even when she plays. Adding rice cereal to her foods is helpful. Yogurt followed by nursing for instance will result in a bit of spit up. But nothing compared to the days of old (a hamper load of spit-up blankets EVERY DAY.)

SLEEPING
She seems to be more consistently sleeping about 8-5 and then til 7:30 after a quick nursing at five. But she still often wakes up around eleven or twelve. She goes to bed pretty easily most of the time. I nurse her, burp her and hum "Amazing Grace" as I am lying her down. She immediately turns to one side and inserts the best thumb. If she is really tired and the house is relatively quiet, I don't play any sounds from the stuffed lamb that hangs from her crib. But if she needs a bit of help I play the whale sounds which gives us a laugh - we call it the whale lamb. Then I hum "Jesus Loves Me" as I leave the room. Most of the time that's it. Occasionally she screams and I let her for a few minutes so she can get it out (I don't want her to be perfect after all) then I go in and hold her for a moment. It's such a pleasure because she lets me hold her closely and stays still while I hold her and walk her around in her dark room (by still I mean "Sofia still" which means she is fully upright and looking longingly at the door taking into account all she could be missing.)