March Madness

Spring has brought some exceptionally warm weather and with it our little girl continues to blossom!  Our house has become a running track and Sophia is definitely on the move and into 'everything.'  She is walking so effortlessly and discovering how fun it is to be independent!  She loves to get up and go and the 'going' never stops.  She has learned how easy it is to get into the kitchen cabinets and pull out all of Mommy's dishes, which means the baby proofing madness has begun!  So we enter the world of cabinet locks, electric plug covers, and cord covers as well as keeping all the bedroom doors shut to quarantine our little monkey into one, supervised location.  She has learned how to push all the buttons on Daddy's DVD player and TV, enjoying all the of the lights/sounds they produce!  Our living room has become Sophia's "playland" with each corner of the room holding baskets of books and toys with all the bells and whistles!  We have said goodbye to all of the 'baby' toys, and paving the way into 'big girl' toys with baby dolls and shape blocks, which are much more fun!  Sophia has also realized she can climb... and climb onto anything!  It doesn't matter if it's her toy box, the dining room table chair, or her toy stroller.  She will climb on it! 

Sophia demonstrating her climbing skills!

She is discovering how great it is to eat 'real food,' with some of her favorites being blueberries, grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese!  Note the continued love of CHEESE! 

We made the transition from nursing to whole milk without any trouble, giving Mommy a little more freedom!  No check up at the doctor this month, so we aren't sure exactly how much she weighs...but we know she is certainly growing.  Wearing 9-12 month clothes and needing extra long pants shows that Daddy's height will surely be passed down to Sophia!  We can do a little sign language now, saying "more" when more cheese is needed, but still working on "please" and "thank you!"

More food please!

In March, we also celebrated Easter.  Sophia really seemed to enjoy all of her new goodies from the Easter Bunny, and couldn't stop smiling finding Easter eggs. 

Sophia sharing Easter eggs with Mamaw and Papaw

As each month passes by, I say how amazing it is to see how much she has grown.  But this month feels like a whole new turning point.  I'm not sure if it's how easily she can walk, or eating/drinking table food now, but she certainly seems more like a toddler, than a baby.  Mommy is a little sad about all of these new milestones, but watching her blossom and grow into such a beautiful, smart little girl, makes me so proud.  She seems to pick up new things so effortlessly, and I know that she will excel in anything she does.  And I can't help but stop and just stare at her and observe how much of a blessing she truly is to our family.  She lights up the room, smiling and laughing at just about anything, and can just melt my heart every time she looks my way. 

It may be madness in the Young house, but such sweet madness is just what we need!

Easter 2012

Little Valentine

Dan and I are very happy to have a new Valentine this year...we are so enjoying sharing new holidays as a family!  And this month has surely started off with a bang!  Lots of birthday parties for Uncle Matt, Connor and Megan, Mommy and Mamaw Best, has got our little cutie on the move.  Sophia is now more happy on her feet than sitting and we just can't stop her! 

Pulling herself to standing is a piece of cake...and cruising around the furniture is the most fun activity in our day!  But the newest achievement is 6-7 steps...all by herself!  We hadn't tried it in a while and Daddy wanted to see if Sophia had gotten any better...so we stood her up thinking we could get her to just stand independently, but our little mobile munchkin took off and took 6 steps right to us!  We thought it might have been a fluke, so we tried again, and then again...and still she just marched herself right over!  YEAH!  Sophia can walk! Well...just a little!

Even though she hasn't mastered the art of walking just quite yet, she has certainly begun to discover the art of climbing!  Within seconds, she has herself up on a step, or under the table, or half up and half down! 

"I got myself up here...now what?"

Our future gymnast!

 We do love seeing her discover new things she can do, but after a few falls and lots of tears...I'm beginning to wonder how long this stage will last!  She is gaining more and more independence with each day, or at least she thinks she is.  Which leads to more falls and more tears!  But one of these days she will figure it out and will continue to get a little more steady on her feet with each step.   She loves doing things herself but occassionally needs a little help after she gets herself in a predicament! 

I guess at the ripe, old age of 10 months, changes in baby hair occurs!  This month we said goodbye to the "crazy hair" and said hello to our long haired cutie!  It is finally long enough to wear clip in bows, and lays just perfectly when parted to the right!  Isn't she just so cute?! 

Cutie pie

It seems like this month has brought so much maturity to this little girl...her smile is different, her motor skills are much more advanced, her speech is evolving every day, and it seems she is embracing the world with such grace.  Well, not so graceful all the time!  Sophia has discovered her little attitude and begun throwing tantrums! 

First evidence of temper tantrums!

They only last a few seconds, but she is certainly finding her own way of telling and showing us what she wants!  I hope as Sophia continues to grow, that she can keep this new found independence and grow into a strong, self-sufficient, successful young woman! But for now, we will continue to enjoy the new discoveries that each month brings, and try to keep our little girl, "little" for another month!

New Year, New Discoveries

The countdown to the New Year has come and gone, but certainly this new year will bring more and more new things to enjoy in the world of Sophia.  This month brings 9 month milestones, in which our not so little baby is surely becoming a big girl.  She has loved trying new foods including oatmeal, waffles, crackers, turkey, cheese, and many more.  But her favorite seems to be cheese and any kind of cheese will do for this little lady!  It's amazing to watch her gain more and more of her own little personality and become slightly more independent each day!  She is beginning to pick and choose what she "wants" to eat off the plate, instead of just opening her mouth to whatever we give her. 

Along with becoming a little more independent, Sophia has also become more mobile!  She is officially crawling and getting into EVERYTHING!  She is pulling herself up on just about anything and loves to be chased!  Our hardwood floors are slippery, but this little machine manages quite well.  She is laughing and giggling at just about anything...and now we have learned all of her little tickle spots! 

This month has also brought the official sighting of "crazy hair."  No matter what we do, or how we try to style it...her hair ends up like this!  As crazy as it is...I still think she is the most beautiful little girl in the world!  She has also outgrown her infant carseat..and graduated to a big girl seat!  She absolutely loves it and being more upright to see all of her surroundings. 

Another one of her favorite things is playing with some adorable little kiddos...the Miranda's. 

Cooper is just so gentle with her...there will surely be a genuine friendship when these two grow up!  And Connor, Megan and Cole just love taking care of our little sweetie and she loves them right back!

A few of her favorite people!

She is so interested in Daddy's DVD player and XBox and she is instantly drawn to the remote controls.  And not just any old batteryless remote...she wants the "one" that controls the TV!  Needless to say, she definitely has us contemplating new strategic ideas for babyproffing to keep our little detective safe!

This month also included a trip to Muddy Creek Pediatrics to see Dr. Habel for the 9 month well check.  All the stats look good, except our little peanut seems to be a little small!  Her length is great (thanks to Daddy's 6'4 height), but her weight is a little on the low side...only in about the 25th percentile.  So we have to just let our little munchkin eat anything she wants...so you guessed it...more cheese!  Also, her hemoglobin levels are a little low (10.6), which the doctor said is typical with breastfed babies.  But since her weight is a little low, and her hemoglobin is low, we have to start daily iron supplements.  No big deal...just another step in the bedtime routine and she takes the stinky iron like a champ!  But she's not a champ all the time.  Sometimes that cute little body just can't keep up...especially when we get croup!

Croup Day 1

So 1 week after the 9 month check up, we go back to Muddy Creek to confirm Mommy's suspicion that Sophia had croup!

Croup Day 3

Deep, barking cough along with a bad runny nose proved to be a long 10 days, but she eventually kicked the nasty bug and was quickly back to her normal happy, healthy, little self!



We couldn't be luckier to have such a happy little girl.  She loves to jump and swing with Daddy and spend cuddle time with Mommy, and she is simply growing up just way too fast.  She is smiling and giggling all the time...which makes my world turn upside down.  The days go so fast and the months are a blink...sometimes I just need to stop and basque in the beauty of Sophia!

The Magic of the Season

Christmas is finally here! And of course this Christmas is extra special because it's Sophia's First Christmas! We embraced the season and tried to make lots of holiday memories, filled with Christmas parties, cookie baking, Rudolph books, a trip to the Nutcracker and visiting Santa!  We didn't know how excited Sophia would be about presents and the big man dressed in red,  but Mommy and Daddy could hardly contain their excitement to make all of these "first memories." 

Sophia meeting Santa for the first time.

 Our first big project...to decorate the house with all of our wonderful holiday decorations!  I was so excited to see Sophia's face look at the tree, all lit up, and expected her face to do the same.  She didn't quite light up like I thought, but she was definitely interested in it.  Mommy and Daddy didn't realize how different Christmas decorating would be with a baby!  The festive silver reindeer statue has now become a pointy ear weapon...

the tree needles have become a choking hazard, and the ornaments on the bottom branches have become toys!  But we made some adjustments, hung our stockings, put on some Christmas music, and enjoyed the decorating task, while watching our little angel discover Christmas for the first time.

Next project on the holiday checklist...christmas card pictures.  We undressed our small package, down to her diaper, plopped her in front of the tree, threw on a Santa hat, and tried to get that perfect smile.  We managed to get some really cute, unforgettable shots, and then we also got some not so fun shots when this little Santa had just had enough pictures!  Which are just as unforgettable in Mommy's eyes!

Enough pictures already!

It's not to hard to get a good picture of this little cutie! I tried really hard to get the finished project on here, but I must not be tech savvy enough for that.  So here are some of our favorites that we put on the card.  Not too bad for a unprofessional, home photo shoot!

 

Finally, the time had arrived!  Christmas Eve was upon us.  We packed up the car with LOTS of presents, and hit the road to Indian Lake for Christmas with the Young family, and then later the Best family.  The festivities started at Grandpa and Grandma Young's house with breakfast and lots of presents.


Reid and Sophia...anxiously awaiting present time!

Sophia was surely not going to go without this Christmas!  Here are some snapshots from the Young Family Christmas.



Eating wrapping paper...her favorite Christmas pasttime!



Fashionista baby!

Riding in Reid's John Deer...thanks Uncle Jimmy for the ride!

Pink pony from Grandpa and Grandma Young!

And later that day we got to Mamaw and Papaw Best's house, and Santa had already made a stop there too!  More and more presents!  Sophia did good politely tearing little strips of paper of the package...but really she was more interested in eating the pretty paper!


Learning Home from Mamaw and Papaw Best...she loves it!



Eating paper...yet again!

We had so much fun celebrating with all of our family, it was hard to end the night.  But we packed up again and headed home to Cincinnati, for our first Christmas as a family. 

Christmas morning came and little Sophia was up right on time, (even though we had a very late night).  It's almost as if the anticipation of Santa's arrival has already began in this precious girl.  We set up the video camera to capture all of our memories, and tackled the stockings and presents! 

Christmas morning!

Again, Sophia was more interested in eating the wrapping paper then playing with her new toys, but it didn't matter.  We were together, and we were a family!  The magic of this time together was simply priceless and I still am in awe of how blessed we are to have received the joyous gift of Sophia.  What an angel!  Our first Christmas...we will surely never forget!

Sophia's First Christmas

Forever Thankful

So here we are again...admiring at just how much Sophia is growing up and amazed at how much we have to be "Thankful" for. Sophia has forever changed our lives and we are so grateful that Dan and I have been blessed with the responsibility of parenthood. And I must say, this little girl makes it so fun!

This month brings a 7 month birthday and a whole lot of new skills with it! Our girl can definitely get to wherever she wants to go, in a very thought out, creative combination of rolling and scooting across the floor! She absolutely loves eating big girl food, along with drinking from a sippy cup. It's so amazing to see her sit, play and discover things totally on her own. She is so curious and loves to read books! We are also noticing that our little peanut can be very mischievous! Look at this face and can you see that she has definitely figured out how to manipulate us already?!?!

How could we not give her anything she wants after looking at this face?

 We have also encountered our first official virus this month...making Sophia an absolute "Mommy's girl" and bringing back memories of sleep deprivation to Mommy and Daddy!

But after a few sleepless nights, lots of late night snuggles and a little bit of patience, Sophia is back to her normal happy, smiley self! And oh, how glad we are to see her return!

We continue to be simply amazed with how blessed we are to have this "turkey" in our lives! And are so lucky to be able to watch her discover life, each and every day. We just can't wait to see what next month brings!

Our Little Pumpkin

As the weather cools down and the leaves begin to change, we watch our little Sophia change just as much. She is now 6 months old and she continues to amaze us with her joy and that captivating smile! Well check this month went very well...Dr. Habel is stunned by what a strong girl we have. She can stand tall and very proud and has begun to sit all by herself. She weighs 16 pounds and 4 ounces and getting taller every day, measuring 26 1/4 inches long. I look at this little face and just can't believe that the days can go by so quickly...and then the months...and before I know it we will be watching her walk and then go to school and in just a blink graduating from college. The gift this little girl brings is so amazing, I can't believe how God has blessed our lives.

We welcome Sophia's first Fall season with open arms, enjoying trying lots of new foods including Mommy's homemade sweet potatoes, honey crisp apples and carrots. We aren't so sure if our little Princess will like honey crisp apples as much as we do or did we know how tight her little mouth can clamp shut when there are carrots on the spoon.

But what we do know is that this girl likes sweet potatoes. I'm a little partial to think that it's just because Mommy made them, but I made the apples too and she's not much of a fan. We will keep trying new things to discover our favorite tastes, but for now I guess sweet potatoes will do!

To appropriately bring in the fall season, we put Sophia in the cutest outfit we had and went off in search of a pumpkin patch. Let's make a long story short...70 minutes and a full tank of gas later, we arrived at a "produce stand," a little farther away from home than planned, which just had a few bails of hay and a pile of pumpkins. It wasn't really the adorable pumpkin patch environment I was hoping for, but by this time, we figured we'd be better off to make the best of it.

We got some great pictures and had a wonderful day enjoying Miss Sophia, despite the change in directions and near empty gas tank experience.

Sophia seemed to enjoy herself too, except for these round orange things we kept posing her by...she was not so sure these looked safe!

And along with pumpkin patches, who can forget Trick or Treat! We continued to enjoy the spirit of the holiday by carving pumpkins and trick or treating with some adorable little friends.

A # 1 carved in Sophia's pumpkin, symbolizing her 1st Halloween!

The days were filled with hot apple cider, pumpkin seeds, and lots of fellowship and laughter with our favorite friends...The Miranda's!! They graciously opened their home to a pumpkin carving mess and hosted the most fun Halloween party after canvassing the neighborhood for candy! We dressed Sophia in a pink piggie costume that she seemed to love, then wrapped up the night in PJ's for a dance party with CJ, Meg, Cole, Cooper and neighbor friends Sofia and Marisa!

So, as the days of October pass by, we will try to remember to be present in the moments of today and simply basque in the happiness of this joyful little girl!