Sofia's First Christmas

Baby's First Christmas PJs:

... and exhale. Whew... what a whirlwind it has been! We have officially survived Christmas of 2010 :) It was wonderfully chaotic and crazy and I don't even know where to begin!

First off, Sofia attended the Bucks Holiday Kids party which was awesome. She got to hang out with Bango and meet Santa for the first time. The highlight was definitely meeting Santa - she would not stop staring at his beard! When she went to sit on his lap, she seriously was mesmerized! She was so excited to be partying, kicking and squealing and laughing. And of course Mike and I were totally giddy and proud parents. She even got to eat some mac n cheese and big people food. She was so excited to do this that she did not chew and proceeded to puke in my hand at the party... again unphased :)

Family pic with Santa (Sofie staring at the beard)

The next week was spent finishing Christmas shopping and getting ready for our trip to Houston. Everything was stress free and smooth sailing until the day before we were scheduled to leave Milwaukee... that Sunday Sofie woke up with a fever and had been a little more irritable than normal. So, since her dr's office was closed, we had to take her into urgent care. Turns out the poor baby had a double ear infection and yucky cold virus that likely caused it :( Fortunately we were able to get her some antibiotics before we took off on our trip and all was good. I think this ear thing is going to be a constant struggle due to her dad and I'd histories.

Once we got to Houston, it was 100% excitement and insanity for all! I think we finally figured out why Sofie doesn't sleep great when she's at Grammie and Grampie Lu's house and that is all of the excitement she doesn't want to miss out on :) It was a wonderful trip as always and she got to meet her Great Grandparents on my mom's side which was very special. My grandma was crazy over Sofia (literally :)) and Sofie handled it well although sometimes needing some quiet time. I learned that Sofia really does enjoy her "me" time while we were in Houston b/c if I took her into the room and read her some books, she would immediately calm down.

Sofie chillin on the front porch with Grampie Lu. What a sweet moment.

Once Christmas Eve day came, we were all able to relax a bit more and enjoy it. We went to church as a family and then had a little gathering at our place complete with family, friends, delicious eggnog, delicious Mexican Christmas fare (tamales :)), wine, and an appearance from Santa, or as I called him - Pancho Claus. Sofie was a little unsure of Santa this time but probably b/c it was past her bedtime and she'd been pretty much overstimulated the whole day! But, she was a trooper nonetheless.

With Great Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas Eve:


Santa's visit. She was OK once she got her gift!

The next day was Christmas Day and Sofie was so excited she got up at 4AM! Not the best considering we were traveling that day to Chicago, but hey - it was Christmas, what could we do?! :) We woke up, opened a few more gifts and just enjoyed each other that morning. Then, it was off to Chicago for Round 2! Unfortunately at this point, I was catching Sofie's cold and not feeling so hot so I did not bring my A game to the Schnieders Christmas although I definitely had a blast, despite having a head full of snot.

Christmas Morning with Grammie Lu

Cousins opening presents in Grayslake


We headed home the day after Christmas and although it was decidedly the best Christmas ever - we were so happy to be back... home sweet home. Even Sofie settled into her bed (for 12 hours) our first night back and said "ahhhhh"....

Opening her gifts at home:

Some updates:

She is definitely waving and doing "La Linda Manita" which is a Spanish song where babies learn how to wave their hands.

She got a 5th and 6th tooth.
She is starting to clap.

She is reaching for people to hold her.

She immitates laughter.

She throws tantrums, fun fun! Don't take her toy away from her!

She cracks herself and us up :)

Happy New year everyone! Cheers to a wonderful 2010 and to an even better 2011!

8 Month Photos

Lots of pics so you have fair warning... enjoy!

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=cb83280c8ac321476276141d224b0f78&sid=8AYt2LNw5bN31w

Sofie Rocks

As I mentioned before, Sofie is attempting to crawl and now doing lots of rocking. Check it out in the video below.

Also, just a couple of pics from December so far. It's been a cold, snowy December so we're looking forward to some warm weather in TX! :)

August and Sofie in their snowsuits:

Sofia's new favorite toys - kitchen bowls and spoons

Trying to crawl:

Other updates:

She is on a much better sleep schedule. Great naps and nights. Of course b/c I "said" this out loud, things will change again :)

She cut a fourth tooth! so, she now has two bottom fronts and two tiny top front teeth.

She kind of dances now. When she eats she kind of does this jive move with her head and it's pretty funny. She also did it in the store today while we were shopping and she heard the Christmas music. Baby's got rhythm!

She looooves to eat and will try and stuff as many Puffs/Cherios in her mouth as possible.

She is in her big girl car seat. This is a relief in that it's way more comfy for her but definitely poses different challenges for me as I don't have that awesome infant carrier to rely on any more! Plus, I lost my car and now drive the family-mobile :)

She is currently getting over her THIRD cold. Ugh! Snot all the time...

...and the dreaded weight update - nothing lost, nothing gained. I'm stuck. Going forward, I'm only going to give an update if I have lost b/c I'm tired of saying the same thing each time! I suppose I can more or less say I've met my goal. 3 pounds away. My clothes fit and I feel great. I do have to say my body is totally different now, kind of crazy how things are redistributed! I'm happy though, and have come to terms with my new bod :)

We are Thankful!

So we hosted our very first Thanksgiving and also celebrated Sofia's first Turkey Day :) We are thankful for so many things this year. Of course at the top of that list is the best blessing we've ever recieved and that's Sofia. I also continue to be thankful that I get to be with her every step of the way, each day. I could not imagine it any other way, honestly. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who I love watching be such an amazing father. There is so much more we are thankful for and I won't bore everyone with a list ;) When things get a little challenging, I always remind myself how blessed we really are.

A few new things Sofie is up to:

• Waving - not always in the right context but she's learning!
• Making sounds with her mouth - whether razzies or flicking her mouth with her hand to make blubbery noises - so funny
• Immitating certain things we do
• New upper tooth just came through
• Rocking back and forth on all fours - wants to crawl so bad! I think her little gut might be making this more of a challenge :)
• Eating puffs by the handful - kind of how Daddy eats popcorn. Baxter hangs out under her high chair -smart dog!
• Putting her hand down to Bax while she is eating and then cracking up laughing b/c his whiskers tickle her
• LOTs of squealing - she talks to herself for a good 10 minutes before going down for her naps

I wonder if I've been putting off writing this blog b/c I don't have a weight update. I guess at least I did not gain anything over the holidays but I still have 3 lbs to go. I'm so complacent about it b/c my clothes all fit again and really what is 3 pounds? Still, I really hope by the next update I can say "I'm back" but we'll see!


I'm in full holiday mode now ... and P.S. it is snowing here. YAY! :)

And now for some photos (if you click on them you can see them larger - sorry, experimenting with picture sizes):

Sofia's first Thanksgiving


Playing with spoons on Grandpa's lap

Yummy dinner


The table all set, complete with a container of Puffs





Our turkey - delicous! Thanks for the help, Mom :)

Post Thanksgiving lake trip - trying to get a pic with the Grandparents = comedy