Eleven Months

Sophia,
You are eleven months old today (January 28, 2013).

You weigh about 19 pounds - which I know since you had a visit to the emergency room after a tumble. It was a precaution and the doctor checked you out and decided you did not need x-rays or a ct scan. Thank goodness!

You wear size 3 diapers.

Most of your clothes are in the 9 and 12 month range, but you still wear some six month pieces.

You have four teeth and lots of drool.

You love to eat. This month there are some days you only want to feed yourself and some days you only want to be fed. You love fruit but usually only eat a few bites of your veggies (broccoli is your favorite vegetable right now). You are a big fan of bananas, cheese, pancakes, beef, and crackers...but you still will eat just about anything. The dogs linger next to you at meal time, especially Hunter. You are not intentionally dropping food for them yet, but you do like for them to lick your fingers while you are eating (gross!)

You continue to be a great sleeper at night and usually get at least 12-14 hours of sleep. You are very busy during the day!

You are not quite a walker yet, but you are getting close. You can take about 8 consecutive steps, but prefer to crawl to get around. You discovered the stairs and race from the bottom to the top (with Mommy close behind).

You have become so verbal this month. You babble all.the.time. Hi is still the only word you consistently say.

You understand most things we tell you and the signs that Mommy and Daddy use. You do not respond with any sign language still but you do follow commands to "can I have a kiss?", "come here" or "give it to Mommy". You have started to point at everything. Your favorite game is to drop something for us to pick up for you. You get very uspet when you do not get your way!

This month marks the end of your time with Ms. Lorena. She needs to have a hernia surgery and will be unable to lift you. I am a little more than DEVASTATED about this. You never cry when you are dropped off but most days you cry when I pick you up because you do not want to leave. We  decided on a center that you will start at when you turn one if we can not find another home-based setting. There is only a few months until the summer when you will get to spend all of your days with me. I can't wait!!

I love how determined and independent you are. You have the cheesiest smile and best laugh. Your Daddy and I love you to the moon and back!

Posted with the help of blogger 4/5/2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dave and I rang in the 2013 with a kiss, prosecco, and watching the ball drop. He got home at 11:30 just in time to celebrate with me.

We had so much fun celebrating Sophia's first Christmas. I only wish we were closer to family so that we could all celebrate together. Our little family had a very special time though.

We have a few traditions for Christmas.

In my family "Christmas is for kids" but we exchange presents with Dave's parents every year. This year Sophie got to make presents for the Grands and I love how they turned out.

Each year we get a live tree. This year our tree was way too big for our little house. Dave trimmed a bit off the bottom, but it was still too wide for the space. The tree place sent us home with the wrong tree - one that was bigger than what Dave picked out but we did not realize until it was home.

We celebrate with a Christmas Eve dinner with our NC family - Jason and Amanda. Dave makes way too much food and we eat until we are stuffed. Alcohol is consumed and shots are taken, but that has gotten tamer over the years.

Dave calls home to chat with his family at their Christmas Eve celebration. I call my family on Christmas day.

We wear Santa hats.

We wear matching pj's when we go to bed. This year I had the hardest time finding a match for all of us so we went with a red plaid. I forgot to put Sophie in hers before I put her to bed and it was very hard for me to not wake her up. I changed her in the morning.

Christmas morning we open presents. Sophie did not really get it this year. She liked holding the presents, especially the ones with shiny paper and pulled off some of the wrapping. I am already looking forward to how much fun next year is going to be!

We treated ourselves to a new camera for Christmas but normally Dave and I just exchange one gift and stocking stuffers. He gets me a teapot and I get him tequila. We decided we would continue the 'one gift' tradition with Sophia and get her charms for a bracelet. We went with Pandora beads but only got her a butterfly bead for now. Not a gift she will be using any time soon, but one that we can continue for many years.

Christmas day is normally just a lounging around the house day - this year it was filled with play. We end Christmas with a trip to the movies but this year we watched a movie at home. We've been heading to the theater since 1999. I'm glad we found a way to keep the tradition going, even if it was a movie in our living room. We watched Savages complete with popcorn, snowcaps and other movie snacks. I was a lot more comfortable on my couch than I would have been in a theater seat.

Those are some of our Christmas traditions. Hope your holidays were special too!