Sleeping & Standing

Not at the same time, of course. Two (maybe three?) weeks ago Sophie starting sleeping through the night. A solid 10-12 hours without a peep. It is marvelous thing and I am grateful every day that this miracle randomly came upon us. I don't have any fancy tricks--it just kinda happened. I'm so blessed. Also, nursing has come to an end. This past week our little family has been ravaged with sickness and Sophie's inability to breathe made nursing an ugly battle and she just gave it up. It was unceremonious and a rather grumpy end, but I am proud to have lasted fourteen and a half months and seven--yikes--rounds of mastitis. It also interrupted our perfect sleep schedule, but I think we are back on track. Looking back I've learned a lot from one year of parenting, like:

 

Breastfeeding is hard, really hard. And it's okay to do something else. It's also okay to have a maniac-obsession to keep trying despite your body's willingness to comply.

Don't worry about the milestones. I kept thinking, "Oh, she should be sleeping through the night." or "She should be able to do..." or "I need to get her to..." etc. Babies are in no rush, and you shouldn't be either.

I'm smarter than I think. I read so much material on everything before and after Sophie, but in the end, I know what I know and I am my own kind of mom. It works.

 

This age is really tons of fun. Sophie is hilarious to watch and becoming a little toddler. She started standing up independently a couple of weeks ago. She does it quite often. She will push herself up and just stand there. We can't get her to take any steps, or hardly walk with us holding just one hand. I suppose she may be cautious like her dad and won't walk until she is good and ready. Which is fine, her crawling is still pretty dang cute.

 

Sophie likes to put things over her head and wear them. She frequently has a shirt of mine or my car keys draped around her neck. She loves to wrap blankets around herself as well. We still go to the many great parks around us often and she loves the slide! It's only a matter of time before she scampers off head first before I can catch her. 

 

 In an effort to be more active in our tiny apartment, I built a playground inspired obstacle course from the couch cushions---one of my better ideas. Sophie climbed up and down, over and across, and chased the ball wherever I threw it. After playing for twenty or thirty minutes, we cuddled up for a movie and she fell asleep in less than five minutes--gold star for me!

 One day while brushing her teeth, Sophie scooted off the edge and into the sink. It was the happiest ten minutes of her life playing in that running water. Followed by the unhappiest ten minutes of her life when I took her out. The hardest part of being fourteen months old is learning that you can't always get what you want. Even if you say "peez" over and over with a darling, expectant look in your eyes. Speaking of words Sophie has mastered "Dada" (which I think includes me too), "Peez", "hi", and "buh-bye". We cannot get her to say "mama" which is awful, but I get more hugs and kisses than Dad so I guess that evens out.

Kisses

Classic Sophie Hug

Sunday Sophie and I went to church without Dad. Daniel has been hit with this sickness worst of all of us and I figured he could use a quiet, empty house. I was pleased we made it through all three hours just fine. Sophie is becoming adorably social and friendly to anyone who sits behind us. One girl got roped into playing "fetch my binky" through all of Relief Society. Sometimes I feel bad, but then I think I probably would have enjoyed playing with someone's baby before I had my own and most people seem to feel the same way (you can usually tell who is a little less entertained by your child). I'm looking forward to see how Sophie handles Nursery this summer.