Half a Year?!

Sofia will be 6 months old next Thursday! Insane... they weren't kidding when they said time flies. Every day that I have with her I am so grateful for and am amazed to watch her grow and learn before my very eyes.

Lots has gone on in the past few weeks!

Last weekend, Sofia started her first swim lessons! She loved them and I think she'll definitely be a water baby. It was so cute - a Mommy (and Daddy) and Me class. Dad wasn't able to make the first class but we'll be going as a family for the rest of the classes. Thank goodness b/c it was a little intense going at it alone. Just imagine trying to get yourself and a slippery baby in and out of a pool, swimming, showering after (required), and both changing into dry clothes in the locker room. Whew... I did it but it was definitely a challenge! She did great though...

Last post I shared a video of her first solids. She's been doing great with just cereal but the past couple of weeks she's been introduced to veggies. It was definitely amusing watching her face as she tasted avocado for the first time! Avocado was her first veggie and now she is on to green beans. As long as we mix it into the cereal, she likes it OK. She still gets the "what the heck is this" face and an occasional gag which we can't help but laugh about.

On that note, I'm actually taking a stab at making my own baby food. I figure it will be cost effective as well as healthier for Sofia. Only the best for Sofie Lu! I made some pureed green beans last night so so far so good! It was kind of exciting to have it come out just like I thought it would. Green mush :) After a few more veggies we can move on to fruit!

We feel like teeth are right around the corner for her. I am so not ready for them! Mike and I are absolutely in love with her gummy smile and teeth just mean she's growing up. OK, I know she has to grow up and of course I want her to, but this little baby girl is seriously growing so fast. Time for another one? hahaha... KIDDING. Any way - I also am a little afraid of how nursing might change when teeth are in the picture. Considering Sofia already likes to give me little bites now and then, I can only imagine when she decides to experiment with her new teeth. Scary! I can feel them right under the gums right now and she's had some moments where I just know she's uncomfortable from it. But... no teeth yet. Waiting!

Some other new things she is doing are making raspberries with her mouth, sitting up for a longer time unsupported, grabbing anything and everything in her line of reach, laughing more and more, and (my favorite) caressing faces. It's so sweet and makes me feel like she's telling me how much she loves me. She especially loooves to feel Dad's beard, and I just love watching her gaze at Daddy and touch his face.

Next up: a trip to Houston solo w/ Sofia. That's in October and I am sooo excited and also slightly nervous about traveling alone with her! I know we can do it and that she'll be a perfect angel as always...(pray!). It will be so hard being away from Mike all that time but I'm excited to have some quality time at home with Sofie. Can't wait!!

Weight loss: 9 pounds to go. Slowly but surely... I am starting to feel like myself again and fitting into my clothes! Even my jeans! YEA!!! :)

And now for the pics, everyone's favorite part...


Sofia's face after some delicious avocados




At the zoo... she loved the goats!


Sofie and her friend August (We met August and his mom Ali at Mom's Chat through the hospital) . They are one day apart!

At our block party - can you tell she loves to party? uh oh...


Sofie Lu and Bango! She LOVED him...

Happy Weekend!

It's Friday! Sofia is excited! (See video below) :)

And... I have got 11 pounds to go! Woohoo!

I survived my first day care experience with Sofie at the gym and now I can go work out and just drop her off there. It's so nice and now there is no excuse not to work out.

I can't write much more right now b/c it is nap time and Sofie is screaming. I think I had mentioned in a previous blog that we're doing "sleep training" which is so not fun. But, in the long run it is great b/c she learns to get herself to sleep. It hurts my heart to hear her cry but everything I've read and heard says they aren't traumatized by this. Only I am!

Have a great weekend!

Food Fight!

So, big week as Sofie had her first solids this week. She also turned five months! Mike and I have been watching some videos from when she was first born and it is so crazy how much she has changed in such a short time. She's such a blast and we're starting to see that she has Dad's happy disposition and charm, and Mom's flirty smile ;) She also has Mom's impatience!

We are starting to teach her some sign language and we think she's understanding "milk" now. When we do the sign for milk, she gets very excited so it's pretty cool. We can't wait till she starts signing to us. I am excited to teach her so I can learn new stuff too!

On a downer note, we had another scare but everyone is OK!! On Sunday afternoon Sofie woke up from her nap and was pretty hungry/cranky so Mike and I went up to get her and I was holding her on the way down the stairs and somehow missed a step and fell down with her in my arms. Talk about a major scare... I was in such shock I don't even remember what happened, what I did or how I fell. Mike was right in front of me (thank GOD), and grabbed us both as soon as he realized what happened. I somehow completely protected Sofia from any injury whatsoever (the motherly instinct/protection is an amazing thing!) and we quickly figured out her cries were just from fright. It was the WORST feeling - I was in total freak out mode and I'm so glad Mike is so even tempered. He had to tell me 1000 times that we were OK. And thank God, we were. I've only got some bruising but I would rather have broken every bone in my body if it meant no harm done to Sofie. I was having major guilt about it, but learned this is unfortunately more common than you'd think. Now I walk down the stairs like a little old lady, super careful. I am just glad our fall was pretty minor compared to what it could have been. Again, can't think about "what could have been"... we were yet again blessed and lucky to have been protected.

Other than that, everything has been great! She's sleeping about ten hours a night (8PM to 6AM) which is awesome. She still has a night wake here and there, but definitely not an every night thing. We are starting "sleep training" which sucks. A couple of times we have had to let her cry about 20 minutes and it's just not fun. It's important for her to learn to go to sleep on her own though, and I get it - but I can't stand to hear her cry.

She's still nursing and I hope to exclusively breastfeed for a year. That is my goal, and if it works out then great, if not - that's fine too. Initially when I thought I was going back to work, I had a six month goal but now that I'm home, I figure why not go for a year? She loves it, I love it, and it's so good for her so that's what we're aiming for!

Staying at home has been wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better, more rewarding job. I'm not going to lie - some days I'm like "what the heck can we do today?" You can only do so much tummy time, songs, and exersacer :) But, we always find ways to fill the days and I know Sofia is a super happy girl. I'm the happiest Mommy, that is for sure and she's my little BFF.

Lastly, some fun visuals :) Here are all of the pics of Sofia's 4 Month old photo shoot. There are a LOT, so just a warning!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYt2LNw5bN3xg

Here is a video of Sofie getting her first taste of cereal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT_0CKu8dJI

And, as promised - a weight update. Ugh... haha. 12 pounds to go. I started Bikram yoga which took off 4 pounds in one session but... all water weight so it tricked me ;) Working a little more on the discipline/food portions and trying to work out at least 3-4 times per week. It's going well so far, and I feel great but I just have to be patient with the weight loss... these last 15 pounds have seriously been the hardest. Wish me luck on staying strong!