Getting to Know Sofia

It's been tough over here. Baby Sofia and I are 'learning' about each other, and it's been a challenge. We are together 24 hours a day - day and night. And without a break, it's reallly hard. (By the way, what was my beloved husband thinking -- how dare he have abandoned me in a foreign country with a baby who does not know me well and who is seriously constipated and teething, and in a country with hospitals which threaten to perform surgery in your 8-year old when he can't eat for 3 days complaining of stomach pain, and then change the appendix diagnosis to beginning of pneumonia, but end up giving my son an enema instead?? OK, you know I'm kidding (not about the hospital, though!) -- poor Mike has his hands full taking care of the house, children, and catching up in his work.)

I have tried to continue Sofia's Baby House sleep schedule, but she refuses, and because I am living in a hotel room with her, I hold her a lot if she is tired and when she is whiny, which is most of the time. I'll have to wait to get home to get her on some serious schedule! She continues to be very clingy (although a bit less than before), and I still can't go to the bathroom without a 'visitor' on my lap. At least she has had bowel movements in the last day and a half, and that has made her feel a bit better (and me less worried). Thanks to Lori for some pureed baby prunes she brought from the USA! She also gave me some infant glycerin suppositories 'just in case' things got out of hand. . . When Sofia saw me holding those, her system 'miraculously' straightened itself out!!

SLEEP??? What's that? No, don't get much of that these days. Sofia and I share a room in this hotel, The Hotel Medeo (which by the way is newer, cleaner, has AC, and the toilets don't stink and work properly, and the beds don't have bed bugs like the other hotel!), and because I'm naturally a light sleeper, I wake up many times during the night when she moves around her playpen. So this has made me increasingly fatigued, as you can imagine. But, there are angels in this world, and Lori and Reid have been angels in my life during this whole last week (and Valentin comes over on occasion to help with hotel issues or what not) -- they check on me on a daily basis to make sure I continue to have some sanity left in me, and to make sure I've eaten. Sofia won't let me sit down for more than 5 minutes at a time before she squirms and wants down, so eating in restaurants is something I don't do much of anymore. (Restaurants in this town do not have high chairs and strollers don't fit anyway.)

Isn't it amazing how many things a person notices when you suddenly have a child to lug around everywhere you go? For example, there are stairs here just about everywhere you go (even at the grocery store), so in order for me to go anywhere with her, I have to carry her AND stroller up and down stairs, starting at the hotel. It can be a bit scary and I'm always afraid I will fall, especially with my sore foot. Kostanai is definitely not a baby-friendly town. Besides, people here are not very inclined to help unless asked. And then, because not much emotion is displayed, I never know if they are annoyed that I asked for help. Most of the time I don't want to deal with people because I can't communicate with them anyway, so I just carry baby and stroller up and down, even at the hotel, which has 4 flights of stairs and no elevator.

There are moments throughout the day that I just get out and take Sofia for strolls in the park or just around the streets. Sometimes she will last a bit and I can get some good walking in, and take a good breath of fresh air. Sometimes she starts crying and whining and wants out of the stroller, in which case I rush back to the room because I can't walk with her and push the stroller for too long. When in the room, I realized that if I just sit on the floor, even if we are done playing and I'm just reading a bit, it makes her less anxious. She then feels more comfortable exploring the room and playing with her toys. We play a lot together, as you can imagine. And if I'm exhausted (which is most of the time), I sometimes bring a pillow down onto the floor so I can rest my head, but can still play with her.

Above and beyond everything, though, it's nice to get to know Sofia. She can be sweet and affectionate, as well as funny and playful. She babbles all day long, and if I'm serious and she thinks I'm not happy with her for some reason, she stares me down very seriously, watches me closely and then 'talks' to me! It's almost like she is asking me 'what's going on?'. She seems to be very smart - she will remember I hid a toy in a place long after we have moved on to another game. She is very strong-willed, however, and is also physically strong. When Mike and the kids were here, she grasped the edge of the desk, and in front of me and the kids, she did a pull-up which caused her feet to dangle. She has done those a couple of times. It's amazing. I've never seen a girl of 11 months do this type of stuff!! I think we may have a gymnast in the making, folks. One thing we know for sure, no one messes with Sofia . . .