Sofia is doing great!! By beginning of August she was exploring the house on her own, no longer afraid to go into rooms, or to lose me. While she is at it, she babbles non-stop. We don't understand what she says, but one would think she is carrying full conversations! She points and carries on like she truly understands what she is talking about. She loves to explore areas, play with her toys, go into drawers and pull things out, close and shut doors many times in a row, etc. etc. She is very active. She has finally learned to go up and down the stairs sitting on her behind, as opposed to launching herself right off. We have a gate at the top of the stairs, and when we train her to go down, we stand in front just to ensure she won't fall. She is smart and witty, and picks up on things very quickly.
Her schedule is the following: wakes up between 7:30 to 8 am, is changed and has breakfast. Then we do errands, or go to a park, and by 11:30 she is down for a 2-hour nap. After she wakes up she eats lunch, plays for a few minutes and then it's time to pick up the kids at school. From then on it's car rides to the children's activities until 5:30 or so. She has a small snack around 3:30 like fruit or applesauce. At 6pm we all have dinner, it's bath time and some play time, and then it's time to go to sleep at 7:00 pm, and she sleeps all night, with no interruptions.
Sofia loves our food, and she eats everything that we do. So for breakfast she may have scrambled eggs, sauteed green beans cut up small, and some cut up melon, followed by a bit of oatmeal or yogurt, and then a small cup of milk. She has great appetite, and eats every three hours or so. She no longer uses the bottle throughout the day, and likes the sippy cups. At night, though, I give her a bottle of milk right before she goes to sleep, and then we rock and sing songs for a few minutes before I put her down. She loves her crib, and hardly ever cries when it's time to go down. She still uses the pacifier at night, but does not want them throughout the day. At 18 months or so I'll get rid of the pacifier and bottle at night. I can see it's already affecting her new teeth, of which she has 7.
Sofia is a happy, well-adjusted child, and seems to enjoy different settings for play. I started taking her to a Mommy and Me gymnastics class once a week for 45 minutes, and she seems to enjoy that. But her favorite thing to do is to be outside, kicking the balls and on the swing. She loves to roam free, and keeps me very busy!!
We have been home for almost 9 weeks and we have gone to the beach on several occasions, and the pool, and she loves the sand and the water. She was reluctant at first and did not like the feel of the sand the very first time she touched it, but now she truly enjoys it. The only thing she seems to dislike is sitting in her car seat, strapped in. She whines and cries a lot and pushes her body against the straps in attempts to get out. IT's tough, especially when we are running around in the afternoons taking Alex and Dominique to their activities.
A few weeks ago we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a barbecue and we had a great time there. Here are some fun photos:
At the end of August we went to Kauai for about a week. Sofia cried in the airplane, and wanted to be down a lot, so that wasn't fun for anyone, especially me. Six hours of that made me exhausted. But, while there we had a great time. She loved the beach, and the pool, and enjoyed her meals at the restaurant. She slept well during the night and during her naps.
to get Sofia and the kids to bed early was no easy feat! But after about a week everything fell into place, and everyone is sleeping through the night, and going down at the right time. Phew!!
aking a walk with my brother!
