It's hard to believe that we're already commemorating five months since Sophia joined us. It is astounding how much she has grown in what seems like five short months. Sophia remains a happy-go-lucky baby, though she often reminds us that she also has her likes and dislikes. She gurgles, squeals, smiles, and can stare a hole through your soul. Her giggle is the most blissful sound and she is a ticklish one. She flails hands and kicks her feet with excitement, particularly when she wants to be picked up. At five months, Sophia has discovered her feet and continues to be amazed by her hands. Her favorite activity has become standing on anyone's lap and observing her surroundings.
In another week, we'll be celebrating our first Christmas together as a family of three. It won't be so much about the gifts, as it will be to watch her play with the paper: she absolutely adores the crinkle of paper and often throws herself into any newspaper, magazine or catalog you may happen to be browsing.
With 2010 right around the corner, looking back at the adventures of these last five months, it has been a roller coaster of a ride- it has naturally had its highs and lows and moments of utter exhaustion when we both probably wondered why anyone would choose to become a parent. But, often enough you have those days when Sophia smiles, giggles and stares at you with those large, imploring eyes, and it all magically becomes worth it.
went to the pediatrician today. Overall, she got a clean bill of health. She was in quite the good mood, smiling at the staff and cooing during her length measurements; she even blew raspberries at the wall. Sophia is quite the happy go lucky baby-- until she gets her shots, that is...then, she turns a bright purplish, red, screams, and shakes. It's difficult to watch as a parent, but then again, so would be having a child with measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, and the like. So, Sophia is being fully inoculated. I know you're all reading this and thinking when am I going to divulge her stats already?! Here they are: it seems our baby doll is fully average with a large head.
Weight: 13 lbs, 1.4 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: almost 24 in. (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 75th percentile
Sophia, Mom, and Dad survived their first flight from Baltimore to Louisville together and successfully made it to Thanksgiving dinner. Sophia was actually an angel the entire trip, leading Mom and Dad to believe that she is going to be a good little traveler. We all had a wonderful time gathering at Uncle Mitchell and Aunt Sarah's house for the Thanksgiving feast: The food was delicious and the hospitality second to none. Sophia had an equally wonderful time visiting with her cousins Leo, Gus, and Matilda. It was their first time meeting each other. She would like to especially thank cousin Gussy for his assistance with her pacifier.
After a great Thanksgiving, Sophia made the half mile trip to see her great grandparents on Friday. It seems that they were very happy to meet our little Sophitsa. Sophia did her best to carry on her part of the conversation.
Meanwhile, Matthew, Mitchell, Marshall, and Paul decided they needed a break. Thinking of nothing better to do, these fearless men woke up early on Saturday morning to make the 1-hour trek to Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Once there, these fellas took a personal tour of the Four Roses Bourbon Distillery, finishing it off with a bit of bourbon tasting! A good time was had by all. A few pictures for your viewing pleasure...
Later on that evening, the whole family met up at the Heleringer abode to watch the UT v. UK football game. We ate numerous appetizers, drank some tasty libations, and feasted on a delicious beef/vegetable soup. Thanks Cindy and Bob! Unfortunately the Kentucky Wildcats fell to the Tennessee Volunteers for the 25th straight season! Sophia and Matilda were busy staring at each other and spitting up everywhere: they didn't seem to take the loss to heart.
It seems that the Leo man didn't care too much either...
We returned to Louisville from Frankfort on Sunday evening with just enough time for dad to change, pack, and prepare himself for the Steelers v. Ravens game. Thankfully, the Ravens won in overtime, making the late night worth it. Having stayed up until after midnight watching the game, dad was still able to get up at 4:45 am and make it to the airport for our 7:00 am Monday morning flight back to Baltimore. Once again, Sophia proved her travelling prowess and was an angel during the flight.
November 18 marked Sophia's four month birthday. She started out the day in her high chair simply observing breakfast and playing with her Princess Sophia doll. As a side note, Sophia is very interested in our food and even demonstrates eating motions with her mouth while we eat.
After warming her up inside, Sophia was ready for her official four-month photo shoot. Sophia rested her arm on the couch all by herself and looked ready to kick back and chat.
Sophia's four month blog post as well as a truckload of pictures is coming soon, I promise. Work, a bachelorette/bridal shower event, and straight-up fatigue have me side-tracked. I know, I know; these are excuses, but they are all legit. In the meantime, I'll let my sister-in-law put me to shame with her nightly blog posts on Little White Whale after taking care of 3 children under 3 years old all day long!
I'm tired of mommy complaining about how she doesn't take good pictures even with a kick butt camera. So, instead of telling her how her pictures are fine, would you mind giving her some tips on how to take a better more creative picture? She definitely needs it and I would be ever so grateful. Thank you mucho.
Kisses,
Sophia
A sizeable part of my brain is preoccupied with sleep: how much I will or will not get tonight; what potential sleeping pattern may emerge; how to best maximize the sleep I do get; stages of sleep, etc...you get the picture. I'm clearly over-thinking sleep. It's major for me since I'm still adjusting to functioning fully on much less sleep. So, the truth about sleep and babies: we have found that the better Sophia sleeps during the day, the better she sleeps at night. It seems counter-intuitive, but it's the way it is for us. If she gets overtired during the day, we're usually in for a long night of wimpering and playing the "I-spit-the-pacifier-out-you-put-it-back-in-repeatedly" game. We did not get one of those babies who sleeps peacefully through the night at one, two, or three plus months. The best we can hope for is uneventful until about 6 am, meaning I wake up, feed her, lay her back down in her co-sleeper, and fall back asleep quietly and in the dark. Major diaper changes are reserved for daylight hours as long as there are no blow-outs. Isn't this picture hilarious?
Other than sleep, what other changes have we seen in Sophia? Well, she loves the bumbo seat we borrowed from friends. She looks so grown up sitting all by herself.
She has recently started forgoing her pacifier in favor of her fist, fingers, thumb and sometimes tries to do a combination of the two. It's entertaining to watch and quite a slobbery process. She absolutely adores all dolls (see Princess Sophia pictured)/animals with big eyes and smiles, giggles, and chatters with her newfound friends incessantly.
Sophia looked pretty in pink yesterday. She donned this hat for our walk and thoroughly enjoyed looking at the world front-facing in the Baby Bjorn. She cooed and smiled for her admiring onlookers. Doesn't she look like a rose petal? It's hard to believe that she's started drooling even more, making bibs a daily necessity- we do our best to match her outfit.
Dad and daughter continue to have a love affair. She cuddles with Dad all the time and he is the recipient of countless smiles.
October 18 was a landmark day in the Reinhart household: Sophia and Paul celebrated their birthdays together! Just three months ago, we brought Sophia home in her carrier- she was a tiny little thing- and our adventure as new parents began: We madly changed diaper after diaper, attempted to calm her crying, and tried to keep ourselves sane. Since then, we've come a way and so has Sophia. She now has entire conversations with her hanging animals, namely her snail and with her favorite hanging doll, Princess Sophie (who we've re-named Princess Sophia).
At three months, Sophia
- *still* is not sleeping through the night- not even by a long shot. I can already tell that she and her cousin, Tillie are going to be fast friends.
- spits up quite a bit, but loves to eat.
- has started looking at her hands and sometimes goes cross-eyed in doing so.
- has markedly more coordinated movements.
- And finally and most importantly, two days after her 3 month birthday, she started rolling over! At first we thought it was just a fluke; she didn't know what she was doing and it just happened by accident. Several roll-overs later that theory faded. When she rolled over again this morning, I caught it on video, so stay tuned.
Sophia was lucky enough to have Nana and Papa drive in for a visit to celebrate the dual birthdays. During their visit, she also met her third cousins, to whom she took an instant liking.
And what's a birthday girl, without a new outfit? Here she is modeling her new reversible jumper Nana made especially for her. The plum colors really accentuate her skin tone, don't you think?
Just for kicks, Mom decided to have a little Swiss Love photo shoot...and good thing I did because moments after snapping these photos, Sophia had an explosive poop and moved into her second outfit of the day...And yes, that is an "apple" wool hat; one-of-a-kind and handmade.
Recent Comments
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little white whale said:
Happy 5 months Sophia! You are cute as ever! read more
on Sophia at Five Months -
Kelly and David said:
It was fun seeing you all! I'm glad that I got to meet Sophia...she's so adorable! I gave Marianne discs... read more
on Sophia's First Thanksgiving - In Louisville -
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Kelly and David said:
Happy four months, Sophia! She is beautiful, Daphne! I love her eyes! read more
on November 18
Goodness...her sweet little face has filled out. Enjoy her with all the lights, wrapping paper and joy of the Christmas... read more
on Sophia at Five Months