no longer a baby

Sometimes I notice that Sophie's no longer a baby and is moving full speed into toddlerhood. But in this picture it looks like she totally skipped over being a toddler. Here she looks like she's at least three years old.

carrying her weight

Sophie loves her lunch bag/backpack. Lately she'll carrying it home from day care once it's empty. When it's full, she gets a little top-heavy.

Sophie's first museum

Today as we were walking to the playground, Sophie said “MoMA.” Clearly she was referring to the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Hide and Go Tag

As of yesterday, or perhaps the day before, we have a new game.

She'll hide behind the comfy chair in her room, up against the window, and wait for daddy to come find her.  When she's found, she squeals in delight and watches as I quickly crawl to my hiding place next to the ottoman.

Daddy doesn't hide too well.  My bulk sticks well out from behind the ottoman.  But she's always delighted when she totters over and falls upon me with a squeal.

There follows the ceremonial "I'm a gonna get you!", whereupon she hurries over--all asqueal--and hides herself behind the comfy chair again and the whole process starts over again.

Hungry Helper

Today when her mother put her in her highchair, she grabbed her bib out of her hands and placed it around her neck.

First word?

You'd think we'd be able to tell when/if she said her first word.

Well, as it turns out, not really.

Today she unambiguously signed "Water".  Her "Nyeh!" has morphed into an equally unambiguous "Nuh!"--a short step from the phonologically correct "No!"  And what we had hitherto taken for excited hand waving when the car stopped and it was time to get out--that turns out to have been the sign for "All done!" all along.

Combine that with the somewhat more ambiguous-but-still-compelling "dook!" [dog], "baba" [bubble and balloon], "bah!"/"wah!" [water, bottle, drink], and possible variations on "mama" or "dada" (possibly just the products of our fevered imaginations) and it becomes impossible to say with certainty what her first word is/was.

moment of zen

Now that the weather has finally started getting nicer, we've been going to the park to play before dinner. Yesterday, Sophie discovered pine cones. At first, she noticed one, then another, then she lifted her head and realized she was surrounded by beautiful pine cones just waiting to be plucked off the ground, a lovely metaphor of Sophie's encounter with the world these days. Once she figured out she couldn't actually carry all of them, she'd eagerly bring them to show us and then she started a small pile. Afterwards, she began picking at them and trying to eat little bits of them (not so lovely). Once she tore up her pile, the sun was setting and it was time to go back home.

Bath time

To be honest, we never really washed so much in the early months.  It was more just a matter of sitting in some warm water before bed time.

Now we wash.

She's more mobile, more active, more mischievous by the day.  This means some scrapes and bruises from when she flings herself off playground equipment or when she flings herself to the ground in a rage (yes, that's started).  It also means changing her outfit twice a day, and scrubbing the face and hands in the tub.  She accumulates an impressive amount of grime in just 24 hours.

We've started brushing teeth.  This happens in the tub, with a special baby toothpaste that apparently tastes like candy and doesn't need to be rinsed out after brushing.  Can't say she's actually brushing so much yet.  She kind of chews on the brush instead, inspects it, dips it in the bath water, and chews some more.  But she's only got four teeth (two more on their way, visible on either side of her two top front teeth), and the brush does come into contact with all four teeth, so we'll call it good.

She plays hard; she sleeps hard

The last time Sophie woke up during the night (that is, between 8 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.) was on the 6th of April.  (And that was only for five minutes).

What to Expect

I think it is indicative of something that when I was trying to look at What to Expect: The Toddler Years this evening to see what we could expect, Sophie was valiantly trying to take possession of the book so that she could devour its secrets and make it her own.

BTW--she scribbles in coloring books, she points, she takes off socks, she has started falling down and howling when she doesn't get her way, she loves to put things in other things and then dump them out, she bangs things together that make loud bang-y noises (especially my measuring cups), she's trying to figure out how to climb the chairs, the dresser, other assorted furniture, she's taken to trying to open the lids on things (the toilet, alas; the garbage can, oy vey!).

Ruler of all she surveys

This morning I watched my daughter climb up the steps of a slide--fast--and then stop at the top.

This slide was only 2-3 feet tall, but still I was a bit concerned and surprised (the speed of that child!).

Sophie stood, grasping the railing, and then started to shake violently back and forth while hooting and growling and jabbering.  The other kids, the older kids, piled up on the ladder.  Sophie continued her ululations--those other kids could just wait.

No princess she.  She's queen of the mountain, ruler of all she surveys.

Don't you know the meaning of the word "Bup"?

She's chattering incessantly.  Mostly jargoning, but there does seem to be some intentionality to some utterances.

Her repertoire:

"Buh"--which seems to be the word of choice when gesturing towards a bottle, a sippy cup, a glass of water, a carton of orange juice.  Liquids.  Or perhaps Buh-beverages.

"Dook"--repeated insistently, urgently, and carefully upon sighting canines big and small.  And goats.  A bitter pill to swallow when there are no "Mamas" or "Papas" forthcoming, but there you go.  "Dooks" are generally more of a novelty and therefore more urgently interesting, I imagine.

"Bup"--the two armed salute accompanied with a plaintive look and urgent noisings is hardly equivocal.  Especially when she's stuck down there in her Exersaucer, on the ground, in her crib, and we're way bup there in the air.  But now she accompanies all this with an insistent "Bup!"

This morning, when no picking ups were immediately forthcoming, there was "Bup!!!" and a glare.

Today we set out for our first Easter egg hunt at a local petting zoo. I'd say that the kids outnumbered the animals by about 100 to 1. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many kids at once. Quickly it became clear that Sophie not only wasn’t going to “find” any eggs, but there was a good chance of her getting trampled. So while everybody was off on the egg hunt, we went to pet the animals. We knew we were going to be in for a good time because recently Sophie has started noticing animals, especially dogs, and wants to touch/pet them. The zoo is quaint and has the typical pigs, goats, llamas, cows, rabbits to pet, but Sophie’s favorite, hands down: Grey Goat. We bought her some carrots to feed the goat and she immediately knew what to do. She grabbed a carrot and held it out for Grey Goat. Grey Goat was particularly gentile and sweet. She was eager to get food, but never nibbled Sophie’s tiny fingers. This all thrilled Sophie to no end. She loved feeding the goats. After about 20 minutes of feeding/petting/poking at the animals, we were all getting cold and running out of carrots. As we left, the whole mob of kids poured in after having snatched all the eggs to be found. I think we should count ourselves lucky this year, because in another year or so, telling a child she isn’t going to hunt for eggs like the rest of the kids is borderline abuse, even if you do get to pet Grey Goat.

Brought to you by the letter 'B'

You never realize--sighed her mother--how many things start with the letter 'B', . . .

Sophie says "Buh!"  She would like you to realize, "Buh!" Because I don't think you quite realize the urgency "Buh" can take on--especially when your parents are so dim witted as to think you might mean "Buh-all" or "Buh-ottle" or "Buh-bye" (maybe that means she's done?) or "Buh-aby" ("--would like you to do your silly dance again now please") or maybe "Buh-lanket" (a long shot) or possibly "Buh-water" (grasping at straws).

She Peed!!!!!

We've taken to putting her on her potty, right before putting her in her bath.  Not because we expect anything (we're not trying to potty train yet) but just on the off chance something happens.

Something happened tonight--and Sophie seemed delighted with the resulting song and dance and effulgent praise that was forthcoming.  So who knows, maybe she'll do it again soon, just to see the poopie-peepee dance.

twelve hours and counting

As I write this, it's 8:02 in the morning. Sophie has been asleep since I put her down at 7:58pm. We haven't gotten up once to put her back to sleep, although Mike did get up at 7:30am to make sure she was still breathing. She has been asleep for 12 hours and 4 minutes. This is just short of a miracle. While today is especially amazing, she has been sleeping uninterruptedly for a quite few nights now. We both wake up asking if the other got up in the night. Increasingly the answer is no, nobody got up and nobody heard a peep from her. Which means either we are sleeping harder and don't notice Sophie or she's sleeping better. I think it is more likely the latter. I'd like to think that she's sleeping so well because we've been almost militant with her sleeping habits. In the last six months, she's been put to sleep within 15 minutes of 8:00 probably 95% of the time. Her bedtime routine is sacred and we don't veer from it. Is this is our reward for our diligent work maintaining a reliable schedule for her? Probably not, but I'd like to think so. Regardless, it's now 8:21, twelve hours and counting.

Charming

Waving + a grocery store full of appreciative old folks = lots and lots of positive attention for Sophie.

She was surrounded by adoring multitudes.

Bite-y

Probably just teething.  Or misplaced affection.  Or possibly just experimentation.

But she's become decidedly bite-y as of yesterday.

Sophie does not like it when I yelp and pull away.  I'm sorry, but it's an unmediated action.  Those are sharp little teeth.  I had to hug and reassure her the first time it happened--she gave me a confused and stricken look.  I'm sorry, but--man!

I never imagined that fatherhood would involve getting bitten on the nipple.  Motherhood, sure; but fatherhood, no.

Boom!  Right through the shirt, like she had a homing beacon or something.  Just latched right on and giggled.

Rocking horse

Sophie has a bouncy seat in which she loves to bounce. 

She has a Zebra that's supposed to bounce up and down, but she hasn't quite gotten it yet.

She has Blue Horse: a little plastic rocking horse that she has hitherto used just to climb on and off of.

Today she learned to rock back and forth.  She rocked and rocked.  She got really good really fast.  She almost got air.