In an attempt to organize my life...

I have migrated (yes, again) and merged both of my blogs to http://lifeasyourmama.wordpress.com/ . 

Why the switch? Well, with the two of them together, things can overlap.  This IS my life now - the mama.  It isn't *all* I am, but to have the two blogs I didn't know what to put where and it resulted in my not writing for several months.  I switched to Wordpress because I think if it is easy for me to blog from my iPod, I am more likely to do it more.  And there's an app for that.

I'm constantly thinking "Oh hey, I'd like to write about this" but it doesn't happen because I feel bad that I'm not even caught up on writing Sophie's 10, 11, and 12 month posts. 

So I write nothing.  Anywhere. That's not good.

I have notes to help me go back and write what was going on at the time, and obviously pictures galore. 

See you there.  Or not.  I write for myself, and for Sophie...but a small audience is fun too.

PS...Eventually those 10, 11, and 12 month posts will show up and I will be backdating them as if I wrote them that day.  Then, 10 years from now, I can look back and think "Damn, I sure was on top of things!"  because no one can lie to me quite like I can.

9 months!

Dear Sophie,

This month has been a little crazy but a lot of fun.  You're still clapping all the time, but now you're also waving "hi" and sometimes "bye"!  You even make a sound that sounds a little like "hi" so the cuteness is almost unbearable.  You're also starting to associate words.  Mama isn't exactly me yet, but you definitely realize it is the thing to say when you are upset, angry, frustrated, or want something.  Although I guess that is me and likely will be for the rest of our lives.  At least I hope that "mama" is who you call for those things.  I won't always give you what you want, but I'll always help somehow.  You're having a little bit of a clingy phase right now too.  In some ways I love it, but it's pretty inconvenient when I have to do something important...like go to the bathroom.  No peeing for mama this month.

"Dada" has been coming out a bit more, but it seems that you actually prefer the word "papa" over "dada".  You don't necessarily say it towards daddy on your own, but when we say it to you, daddy is who you look for.  You are also well aware of what "kitty" is and you are making a sound like "key! key!" when you see Zoey up to no good (which is almost all of the time).  You also say "key!" when you see grandma Linda's dogs.  They are smaller than our cats and much more annoying.

You are pulling yourself up to stand on EVERYTHING.  Sometimes even on nothing, but that is a bit harder.  I thought you were doing this before, but it's got nothing on how much you do it now.  You're thinking about crawling, but mostly you act like crawling is super inconvenient when you can just pull yourself up to stand and take a few steps that way.  I almost wonder if you are going to skip this step altogether.  You've started dancing when music plays on any of your toys.  I use the term "dancing" loosely, but you start rocking your head and hips a little bit and get the cutest little half-smile on your face.

Speaking of smiles...your top two middle teeth and the one to the right of them broke through, bringing you to a total of 5.  3 more look like they will be making an appearance in the near future too.  You're using these teeth very well now.  You eat everything, but the more grown-up the food, the more you like it.  Pulled pork, tofu with teryaki, pasta with pesto sauce, eggs in any form - we might as well hand you a shovel because you can't get them in your mouth fast enough.


Last month you started nodding your head "yes" at the funniest and/or most appropriate times but I somehow forgot to mention it.  At your 9 month doctor appointment with your new pediatrician, as we were discussing things you would nod your head once in awhile as if you were totally following along.  The doctor looked at you and said "You've got mommy and daddy wrapped around your finger, don't ya?" and you (of course) gave a VERY enthusiastic nod "yes".  Smart girl!


This month also brought your very first plane ride.  We headed to California to visit grandma Lori, grandpa Tim, auntie Alexis, and auntie Bailey for a week.  You were pretty fascinated by the people watching at the airport and on the plane.  You were so good and many people told us so.  I don't think any mom will ever get tired of hearing how good their baby was on a plane.  By the time you are reading this stuff I'm writing for you, you will probably have had an experience with a screaming baby on a flight.  They are a dime a dozen.  The flight attendants may have been your biggest fans.  On every flight we sat in one of the first few rows and you would just smile and wave and make cute faces at them constantly.


You were good in California too, for being in a strange new place and a couple time zones off.  Your grandma and grandpa and aunts had lots of fun spending time with you too.  Auntie Alexis wasn't around much, and she's not a big fan of babies, but she promises to be a bit more into you when you can walk and talk and don't poop your pants.  She's 16 years old, so we're all a little glad babies aren't her thing just yet.  Bailey, on the other hand, could hang out with you all day.  Auntie Bailey and grandma Lori also really love shopping for you, so we headed to Babies R Us and you got a bunch of cute new outfits.  Bailey also picked out a big for you that says "My aunt is hot and single" (or something close to that). 


Hopefully they will be able to come visit us in Wisconsin soon.
Til next month, Little Bear.

Love, Mama

It's just a flesh wound...

Don't lose the baby's nail clippers.
Originally uploaded by jessiemo

Dear Sophie,

I don't think I've ever mentioned how your favorite pastime (in your whole 8 months of life) has been to claw my face off or try to gouge my eyes out. This is great fun for you!

Well...the clawing had died down a little, so I wasn't getting a constant reminder to clip your nails and I've misplaced the clippers a few times recently.

You can bet I won't be making THAT mistake again for awhile.

Love, Mama

Your first time in church.

Dear Sophie,

Tonight is Christmas Eve - your first! We aren't regular church-goers - though sometimes I think about becoming more active in church.  I felt like tonight was a good night to try out the Lutheran church here in our little town. 

You were in awe of the big room and the big stained glass windows and candles and, of course..the ceiling fans.  Have I told you about your love for ceiling fans yet?  I will.  Soon.  In another post.

We sat near the back.  We weren't sure how you were going to be since it was past your bedtime and kind of a long day for you, but you were in great spirits.  Smiley, too.  You kept staring at and pretending to be shy with the lady sitting behind us.  I think you made her day. 

Anyway...at one point in the service the pastor had all the little kids come up to the front.  They were going to sit and talk about the scene in the manger the night Jesus was born. 

The pastor says, "Ok...so there were some animals there...can any of you make animal sounds?"

Right on cue, you let out the biggest, loudest, funniest squeal you had in you!

The pastor exclaimed, "OOH! There's one!" and of course you drew a whole room full of eyes and smiles.

If you've seen any videos of yourself around this age, by now you probably know how loud and cute you can be. 

For now though, you are tucked in to bed in your red & white striped Christmas jammies with the reindeer feeties and reindeer butt with visions of sugar plums dancing in your head.  Mama and daddy can't wait for tomorrow to spend our first Christmas morning with you and in our new house.

Love you, little bear.
Mama

8 Months!

Dear Sophie,

Today you are 8 months old and, as usual, things are happening so fast.  I'm sorry I missed 7 months.  If I blink my eyes again it will be your 16th birthday.

You are so wiggly!  I can't imagine how this is going to go as you get stronger or learn to crawl and walk.  Mama and Daddy are going to be in trouble!  You are sitting up by yourself all the time once we sit you down, and you'll stay that way and play for a very long time now.  You can't get yourself to that position on your own just yet, but it's definitely coming.  You are also starting to pull yourself up to stand on us or anything you can grab, so I went ahead and lowered your crib mattress to the lowest setting this month.  We don't need you taking any nose-dives out of the crib yet.  Or ever.

You have learned how much fun it is to clap your hands and you do it for just about everything you like.  Sometimes all we have to do is say "yay!" and you will start clapping.  It's too dang cute.  Your high chair is a fun place to clap too since you think food is pretty fun.  You pretty much ONLY want to feed yourself now and get pretty pissed off if we try to feed you.  I've discovered that the only way to make this work is to give you your own spoon and sneak bites in with the spoon I'm holding.  We are trying to figure out what kinds of finger foods you like best and can handle best, but chances are if you couldn't figure them out today, we could try them again tomorrow and you'll be a pro.

We are still breastfeeding.  I think my goal was originally 6 months.  Then, before you were born, daddy and I went to a breastfeeding class and I was gung-ho to make it to a year.  Then we had some problems early on (never-ending thrush, latch problems, clogged ducts, etc) and I decided my goal would be 9 months.  Then things started going MUCH better so I was all about the year again.

And then you got teeth.

Now...with a proper latch, they can't really even be felt.  But when you decide my boob is your favorite funny chew toy that is another issue altogether.  You think it is just SOMUCHFUN to chomp down, then pull off really fast and smile up at me.  While it's painful and you definitely shouldn't be doing it, it's still almost impossible not to want to laugh or smile at you when you're grinning up at me.

It didn't stay quite that cute though.  I actually decided that it was never going to stop and we would transition you to formula.  We tried a few different kinds, but you hated them all no matter who gave them to you or what bottle they came from.  So while most people give up on breastfeeding, mama had to be different and give up on formula.  That stuff is expensive - there was no way we could afford to try every kind there was and take the chance of them not working out.   I don't have that kind of patience anyway.  We'll just work on the biting thing or I will suck it up.

This month brought your first ear infection.  You think your bubble gum flavored antibiotics are delicious.  I am so paranoid about missing an ear infection with you because when your teeth are bothering you, you swat at your ears a lot.  This time you seemed extra miserable and screamy.  I hate that you weren't feeling good but man did I love how snuggly you were.

You're saying "mama" and "baba" and "dada" and a few other random syllables here and there, but it's pretty easy to see you don't associate them with us yet.  They are just really fun to say!

You've started putting your hands on your hips when you don't like something.  Is it even possible for this to start so early?  Is it some kind of built-in instinct women have from birth?  Oh well...either way, it's darn cute.

Til next month, Little Bear.
Love,
Mama

We voted.

IMG_6022
Originally uploaded by jessiemo

6 months!

(Whoops!  I wrote this months ago, but forgot to hit "publish")

Dear Sophie,

Happy half-birthday!  You continue to amaze and amuse us every day.  It's been a pretty exciting month!

You started playing peek-a-boo with us!  It's hard to stop once we start, too...just because it's so darn cute.  Your favorite place to play this is on the changing table.  We keep a clean cloth diaper there just for this purpose.  You grab it, cover your face, and then yank it down really fast and smile.  We act surprised and yell "Peek-a-boo!" and you think this is the most hilarious thing ever. 

We borrowed a jumperoo from a friend of mine and you think that is pretty great too.  I love watching your little feet kick like a ballerina when you get going.  You started tripod sitting too - so now it's only a matter of time before you master this without falling over and discover all kinds of freedom and independence.  Don't be in too much of a hurry, ok sweet girl? 

You've re-discovered your hands and the cool stuff they can do again. You think its really fun to lay down and wave them back and forth and laugh at them and move them in weird ways.  Your feet and giraffe continue to be your favorite things to play with and eat...with your new teeth!  Yep...you have your two bottom front teeth now.  Remind me to tell you someday how fun the couple days leading up to those suckers popping out was.  Actually...I think I'll wait and let you be surprised with your own kid's teeth before we have this conversation.  Let's just say I'm not looking forward to the rest. 

Last, but definitely not least - your great-grandpa Les & great-grandma Marge came to meet you.  I think you are just as much in love with them as they are with you.  It was so fun to watch you all interact together and for all of us to spend time together. While they were here, we went the fish fry (your first!) at Lakefront Brewery and you got to see a live polka band for the first time.  You LOVED watching everyone dance and were kicking your feet non-stop along with the music. 

Til next month, Little Bear.
Love, Mama