News Update

Changes happen so fast in Sophie's life. now. I guess I was supposed to know that, but somehow it still takes me by surprised.
I need to ammend some of the statements I made in the blog I posted about a week ago...it's quite outdated it seems.

Sophie crawls - well and everywhere. she crawls around the house, exploring it. She opens drawers and cupboards, pulls everything out and throws it all into a pile. Occasionally she stacks it into a neat pile - if it's something wide and flat like books or dvds, and if she's in the mood. We are quickly catching up to all the baby-proofing we'd put off, thanks to our somewhat lazy baby. Something has switched inside her, and suddenly she wants to move- to follow us, to climb up things and people...and to stand on her feet! she actually seems to enjoy it. I go to set her down in her favourite sitting position, and she chooses to stand instead. with something or someone to hold onto still, but she's happy. She will stand there and chat to me, sing with me and dance to the music. Is this my baby? the same one who just one month ago screamed at me for making her bare any weight on her feet at all? she is gaining confidence and leg muscles...and speed!

Also, she can stack a block on top of another. Just all of a sudden.
She stacks nesting blocks and cups inside each other.
She scribbles on paper with Jumbo Crayolas. Quite happily and confidently. Her first 2 scribble drawings are proudly displayed on the refrigerator. You should come by and have a look!
:)

11 months...and counting

She's so smiley these days. This was a stay-home-with mama day.
Enough hair now for a hairclip... such a big girl. she doesn't even pull it out...usually.
Sophie just adores her Nanna and Granddad!

We wanted her on her tummy for a cute baby shot with cousin Oskar, but She was determined to push herself back up into a sitting position. Thus, the face!

Wake up Sebastian! Time to play with me!

Cousins, clapping...cute.
My mothers' group had a birthday party for all the bubs, in the park about 2 weeks ago. Sophie got so excited being around all those people and other babies. She loved ripping up the wrapping paper. and she got her own mobile phone. she likes it, but it doesn't really stop her from trying to ring people from mine.

Some of us mums & bubs pose for a shot. Sophie tells us all a story, very noisily. I think it has something to do with the big tree.
Sophie and a couple of her girlfriends.

This video was from a couple of days ago in the backyard. We were thinking about calling family on the phone. Sophie shows off a few of her tricks.


It is a time for reflection...nearly a year. So far gone from that tiny premmie we brought home from hospital. So her own independent little person. Messy, needy, curious, smile-y little person.

Some of the things Sophie does these days...
She crawls! she does not Bottom shuffle. She crawls to get toys and then backs right back up to sitting to play with them. She tries to climb up mama's leg.
She feeds herself. and her hair. everything is finger food these days...even porrage and pasta.
She drinks from a cup without spilling (finally! for months her favourite game was to hold a massive mouthful of water in her cheeks, swallow the bit she wanted, and then shoot the rest out like a fountain. and laugh. ugg. and she needed a whole new outfit after every meal. We were just about to try wrapping her in a garbage bag before giving her a cup...but then she matured! ;)
She eats dinner with the family. It's a messier event than I ever imagined, but she's happy, so we're happy.
She plays lovely original compositions on her xylophone...and she beats out her own rythm on anything that could be a drum.
As you can see in the video of course, she claps. been doing that for months, loves it! She also waves hello and goodbye (sometimes upon request)... to people she likes...to the house, to the car, to the childcare centre... :)
She shakes her head no and possibly says "na." more and more she seems to be trying to use words...using phrases that sound purposeful and undeniably close to English... but whether or not she actually "has" these words, we're unsure. One of these phrases is "what's this?"
But she definately says Mama and dada.
She picks up several things with one hand and throws them behind her. she's trying to learn to throw, but throwing forward is still tricky. She mostly drops from as high as she can reach.
She is a champion lift-the-fapper.
She sings. nobody's sure what she's singing, but we're sure that she is :)
She makes me laugh.

Oh- a cute story: We were playing with paper towel on the floor. She wanted to rip it all up into tiny pieces...which was fine with me as long as I was with her, so that at the first sign of "I-wonder-what-this-tastes-like.." I was there to snatch it up and pull a face and say "Yucky Yucky!" She found that hilarious. It worked. She held up another piece and pulled the same face, saying "Kak-Kak" (or something like that.) So maybe that's a word too. not sure. she did the same thing the following day with handfulls of dirt & grass in the backyard. but those were the only times she said it.

But there are a few other people in this house besides her majesty! Her dad flies aeroplanes every day! (YEAY!) He loves it. He's got one more month of training left to be a flight instructor. It's very difficult work. He looks awesome in a pilot uniform!

I've been writing report cards as usual at this time of year. Doing the fine balancing act between demanding/rewarding job and demanding/rewarding motherhood. The last month or so the balance has felt a little askew... it usually does at the end of semester, but this year has been full on with new arrivals and heaps going on at school. Things seem to be coming back into balance a bit now though. And I have 2 weeks off for winter holidays next week.

Better go...never ending working and playing to be done :)