Sofia, Four Months

I took these pics about a week ago and she has already changed so much.

I'm feeling rather uncreative due to all the work I've had around the house lately. One big thing on the agenda is setting up the basement playroom/crawling area/guest room once and for all before I get busy with chasing and feeding Sofia. So here are the stats.

From the 4 month checkup:
16lb 1oz - 95%
26.5 inches- above 95%
Head circumference - 75%

Milestones: No teeth. I thought she was getting them at 3 months, and was sure I felt two points. But now those two dots are still there but no progress has been made.

She sucks her thumb and fingers to comfort herself and is grabbing things very well now.

She rolls around everywhere and is starting to lift herself onto her knees.

I stopped swaddling her a few days ago and thankfully she has transitioned ok.

She wakes up 2-3 times a night to eat and often an additional time with gas. But thankfully she is in her crib for the majority of 7:30pm - 7:30am.

Still a joy!

Lucas & Audrey

Once upon a time, Audrey came over to Lucas's house. After rearranging all the toys in the basement playroom and a bite of grilled cheese and fruit, they went into the backyard to see what they could find.




Audrey wanted to use Lucas's Bulldozer which led to a very civil disagreement. In the end it was suggested that Audrey go to the front and get the backhoe loader for herself to use.




She carried it with her pinky lifted, as any true princess would.



Later, they enjoyed honeysuckles off the vine, and collected extras to have in a special spot in the yard. They decided on a large mossy rock where earlier:

A: (Standing on the rock) "I can see the whole world from here!"
L: "No you can't!" (He climbs on the rock.) "You're right Audrey. It's beautiful!"



Audrey requested a baggy to take the honeysuckles home to mom, but then decided to indulge herself.



A: "It's a beautiful day."
L: "Yes it is."
A: "Actually it's a horrible day."
L: "It's so boring! It's an awful day."
A: "It's awful because we don't have much desserts. (All I was able to offer was hot cocoa - not too exciting it seems.)




They got over it.



The end

First back to tummy roll over

Sofia has been trying for over a week to roll over, to no avail. She's been kicking her legs to the left, gnawing, grunting, using all of her momentum to almost make it. Then she just flops back over to her back. It looks like fun actually. I was pretty sure I'd be reporting this new milestone to Chris sometime before his Thursday return.

Today after our playdate with Finnan and Jude, Sofia passed out on her playmat. I think just watching the boys push their dump trucks for hours all over the yard was exhausting enough. After a while, she woke up and called out drowsily. It seemed like she might doze off again, so I left her for just a moment. And when I came back, she was on her tummy, gnawing her little fist as if nothing had happened. She had even rolled in the opposite direction that she'd spent all those days practicing. Expect the unexpected - a great reminder for me when it comes to my children!

Spring Break

Lucas loves school, but he really loves weekends and breaks. This spring break we were on our own for most of the week, the three of us. We planned a few excursions, but I wanted to have at least a day or two without any agenda.

We started off with a trip to the Decatur park (still a hit and I'm thrilled he still finds joy from these "little kid" toys.) We met Christi, Elsa and her Aunt Michelle, Shelly & Christian, and Alison Finnan & Jude and then walked to Farmburger. Yum! (It's hard writing about farmburger and not follow with a mmmm or yum.) I wish I had a picture of Lucas and Finnan laughing and holding hands on the walk.


The next day was one of our "no agenda" days. So I brought up the paints and brushes from downstairs and Lucas created a masterpiece on his easel. Lucas usually chooses cars, legos, or anything else for that matter, over art. I haven't really seen him draw much except for circles and tornadoes. So I was shocked when he revealed a painting with vases, flowers, people and, if you look very closely, a table and bench. The blue figure is me and the small black figure closest to me is Sofia. Then comes Lucas, the other small black figure and Daddy in green, larger and above everyone else. Wonder if it has anything to do with him spending so much time North of us in New England lately?

Wednesday we went to the Hubbells new house and Lucas played his heart out with Carter while Anna and I caught up with each other and enjoyed Sofia and her adorable 11-month-old baby girl Jordan. Lucas and Carter seemed to be better at conflict resolution this time. We noticed that when we interfered (or where even in the same room) they would start whining and arguing. But they seemed fine when we left. I set up a game of Hi-Ho Cherry-o and they started bickering and about something. Although I was ignoring them, they were turning their little bodies completely towards me while arguing with each other. It was obvious they wanted me to step in. More out of fatigue than trying to prove a point I got up and walked calmly out of the room. Before I had gotten down the stairs they had figured it out.



Thursday I had planned to visit my dad, but with having the power out for 2 nights and a day and a half (storms) and waking up a lot with Sofia, I had to recover at home. We rested in the morning and embarked on another adventure in the afternoon. We picked up a kids' gardening book a few weeks back at the library that has really captured Lucas's interest. I decided to take advantage of this and plant a little garden with him. So we dressed up Sofia in a butterfly jumper and headed off to Lowe's. On the way back, we stopped for a snack at ZenTea in Chamblee, a great discovery! I'd driven by it a thousand times surprised each time that it was still there. But wow! It is a beautiful, peaceful little teashop that offers about a hundred selections of tea, delicious treats and a great atmosphere. Both Lucas and Sofia loved the calm environment. And the trains passing by outside were a plus! Later at home we planted a tomato plant, basil, banana peppers and flowers while Sofia played on a blanket in the grass.



Friday was my birthday so it was good we got to visit my dad. (He's a big "see you ON your birthday" guy.) He gave me flowers and some magical pomegranate dark chocolate candy and by magical I mean I've been over-indulging in them for days now and still have relatively clear skin! But I've cut back now that they seem to be affecting Sofia. While Sofia took a nap, I ran to Trader Joe's which meant "Lukey - Dyedushka" time at my dad's house. One big highlight of my day was taking a good nap with Sofia before we came back home.

I came back to an enormous bouquet of orchids that had been sent to me from my amazing husband. Then, in an impromptu gathering, Sasha, Maria and my mom came over for dinner and to help us celebrate. Music, sparkling wine, Lucas gone wild, late-night philosophizing and fruit tarts...I really couldn't have asked for a better birthday and spring break!

Sofia, Three Months

Sofia turned three months yesterday. And it looks like she is getting two teeth for her birthday! Sunday at the park someone asked if she was teething yet and I said "oh no, I'm not ready for that yet!" Maybe that's what prompted me, or perhaps it was that her fist/finger gnawing had increased from 10% of the time to 80% over a week or so. But I checked her gums and found a little, sharp white dot. I can feel the outline of both bottom teeth preparing to poke through. She's taking it pretty well. Nursing more and pretty much sucking her hand off in between. It's so early that she doesn't even have the skill to properly hold a teething ring.

Despite it all, she is sleeping well. The last two nights she slept 9.5-10.5 hours straight, woke up to nurse and then back to sleep for several more hours. I actually felt human today! She's also a pretty good napper. When she's tired, she just lies there with open eyes, swaddled in her crib looking around and thinking for a while before falling asleep. It's so sweet!

She likes her bouncer seat and playmat. Her swing days seem to have come to an end. She can reach out to touch things on her playmat, but is not interested in grabbing onto much else (except for my hair.) She doesn't do much rolling over, but likes tummy time. And she absolutely refuses to sit back and relax. Even when nursing, she can't stop moving. Although with a belly full of milk, she will sit still in her bouncer and, with fists placed expertly in her mouth, observe the world around her.

She has exhibited a strong connection to me early on. When she doesn't see me for a short while she gets anxious and then she smiles and returns to equilibrium when I come back into the picture. But so far, she doesn't mind being held by others.

It's easy to make her smile and she LOVES to have little baby conversations. She says "goo" sweetly when she is happy and an exasperated, low-to-high pitched "GAAAAA" when frustrated. No matter what she does I just want to grab her and kiss her.

We couldn't have dreamed up a more lovable baby. Lucas is just head over heels for her too. Whenever she wakes up from a nap his face lights up and he runs over to give her a kiss. And if, Lord help us, we can survive his exuberance (think bouncing her in the bouncer at 90 mph, but only briefly) I know he will make an incredibly fun, protective big brother.

Beautiful Sunday

This amazing, sunny day was the perfect backdrop for a little Sofia photo shoot. Here she is wearing a onesie from Feather Baby in Decatur. The owner (and mother of triplets!) designs her clothes to bring out the baby's natural beauty instead of compete with it. I'm going to have to say, it works :)

Candyland

So, I got the ice cream card when we were playing Candyland. I didn't realize that the rules say that it is ok for Lucas to get the ice cream, but not for mommy to. Lucas shrieked, "You're not playing 'dair.' That's not what the rules say. I know better than you." With authority, he put the ice cream card back into the pile and moved my man way back to his previous square. Four -year-old logic just kills me.

I have to commend myself on my poker face during Lucas's rant. On the surface, I appeared cool & calm. On the inside I was (a) dying laughing and (b) balancing grace and justice to come up with a positive solution since Lucas was not changing his stance.

In the end we decided that we would start the game over. This time, no matter who got the ice cream, it was legit. Lucas agreed. And about a third of the way into the game, I got the ice cream card again. Lucas's waivering was almost unnoticeable before he graciously smiled and took the next card. Gingerbread man - ouch, like salt in the wound. He crumpled into a ball of tears. But he recovered, and even won the next one. Funny, he used to be distraught when HE got the ice cream because it meant we were closer to the end of the game.