Discovery Museum
Sophie continues to produce on the potty! Although she has no problem going when we put her on it, she doesn't know yet to ask for the potty when she has to go.
We took her to the Children's Discovery Museum today. They have an exhibit called "The Wonder Cabinet" especially for babies. It's awesome - there are places for them to crawl, stairs to climb, costumes for dress up, levers to press, knobs to pull, balls to roll, puppets and an art studio. Everything is at toddler level for easy access. It's a great way to wear out a baby! She just loved it.
There is also an exhibit called Water Ways where kids can splash around in little troughs of running water with measuring cups, fountains, balls and whirlpools. Of course, the kids are soaked to the bone when they come out - one mom said she now regularly brings a change of clothes for her son.
As Sophie was pulling books off her shelf, I spied "Mama, Mama" on the floor, and wanted her to bring it to me so I could read to her. I said, "Mama, Mama" and she picked the book out of the pile and brought it to me! She definitely knows which books are which.
Potty!
Yesterday, we got a little potty, as well as a booster seat for Sophie. I have read that when toilet training, you should put the baby on the potty every hour for 5 minutes. I put her on at 10am and got nothing - 11 am - nothing and 12pm.
She sat for a minute, then began to push, and voila! A #2!!!
It was very exciting, so we made a big deal about it, clapping, etc.
She looks pretty darn cute sitting on there!
She has also learned the word "cow" and loves to point out cows in her books. She says "kah" for cow.
Swimming
Today we all went swimming next door when Daddy got home. Sophie was a nut in the water, splashing, kicking and trying to swim away! The pool isn't heated, so it was chilly by California standards. She was shivering and chattering, but she didn't care one bit. She just wanted to keep on swimming.
Hi. . .& airborne
When Sophie wakes up in the morning, and we look over at her, she says, "Hi" with a little smile on her face! Today in the stores, she started saying "Hi" to the checkers. She is reinforced when she gets a surprised "hi" back!
If I'm not mistaken, I think she has taken to saying "Yeah" when I ask her things, like "Do you want some milk, a book, to eat, etc."
I got her first flip flops today. . . .and since we didn't have the stroller, I had no choice but to let her walk around while I shopped. She likes to play hide and seek from Mommy around the clothes racks! As I peeked around the racks to keep my eye on her, she waited very quietly and still for me to look at her. When I made eye contact, she giggled and started to scurry away.
She was hopping with daddy this evening, and got off the ground for the first time!
Also, we went swimming today, and she was playing on the step in the pool. I gave her the swimming cue "1,2,3 Big Breath! Eyes In!" and she squatted down on the step, leaned forward and put her little face in the water. Her comprehension of spoken language is growing exponentially.
ottoman
We have the ottoman in front of the entertainment center so Sophie can't get into the doors that house the a/v equipment. It also helps keep her a safe distance from the screen.
Well, not anymore.
Now, she can climb up on the ottoman, put her hands on the tv screen and push the buttons on the tv. Although she can get down by herself, she chooses to moan when she's up there to get my attention to come get her.
She is also into holding her hand out to me, to get me to give her my hand. She does this when she needs help going up and down steps, or any shaky terrain she wants to navigate.
We went swimming at our neighbor's pool yesterday b/c it's been so hot. She loved it! It was much colder than the heated pool she takes her lessons in, so she took some deep breaths when we got in, but she was swimming back and forth between Natasha and I. Natasha was also amazed that Sophie can snap her fingers, b/c in all her 70 some odd years, she has never been able to snap her own!
Face in!
Today at swim lesson, Sophie started putting her own face in the water! It was very exciting.
Usually, I hold her torso parallel to the water, and she kicks around and I say "kick, kick, kick!" She kicks around to get to the toys that are floating in the water. But today, instead of holding her face up as usual, she started putting her little face in the water. It was very exciting because this is one of the skills they look for to move her to the next level.
Another first today - she climbed up onto the ottoman, then made a moaning sound when she needed me to get her down. . . . like a cat that can't get down from a tree. She'd been putting her leg up on it for a long time, but wasn't tall enough to climb up onto it.
Peasant Girl
Sophie has a habit of opening the kitchen drawers, taking out dish towels, and wrapping them around her shoulders like a shawl. She also puts them over her head and walks around like a ghost.
Tonight, I got an idea. I took the cotton flour towel she was playing with, and tied it around her head, under her chin, like something from a Leo Tolstoy novel. It was HILARIOUS. She was giggling so hard, and loving it! She was cracking up while I was tying it under her chin. She even left it on for a little while. Too funny.
Hair
I finally cut the lock of baby hair to put in Sophie's baby book. The thing that drove me to it is that I think her hair may be changing a bit. For the last week, people keep asking if she got her hair cut. It looks shorter, but only because the curls are tightening.
Remote control & Recorder
We have a new routine which revolves around a naptime of 11:30 instead of the old 10am. When we get home from the gym, I put on Barney or Sesame Street for Sophie so I can shower.
She has figured out that the remote control is the magical tv controller. Today, she got hold of it, and pressed a button that made TiVo stop. I heard her call out, and heard her little footsteps on the wood floor. She presented me with the remote so that I could make her show come back on.
Today I gave her the recorder for the first time. She walks around tooting on it!
Hiding & Animals
Yesterday, Sophie hid for the first time! She was in the living room one minute, but gone the next. I quickly looked in the dangerous places for her - the office with the litter box - not there. The bathroom, toilet - not there. Daddy's bike room, not there. . . . .
Daddy said "She's hiding from us!" I said, "What do you mean?"
She was quietly peeking out at us from the crack at the hinge of the bathroom door! Daddy said he saw her peeking out at us while we were looking for her. Hilarious.
It's official - she loves animals. Her favorite book is called "I Love My Daddy Because. . " and each page has a picture of a different animal daddy and animal baby. She loves the art work and the animal pictures! I have a small book of b/w photos of animals, not meant for babies. She loves it! She continously chooses those books from the shelf for us to "read" to her.
And, she knows the "sign" for gorilla or monkey. Whenever she sees a primate in either book, she beats her chest and makes a "hoo hoo hoo" sound. She recognizes cats, dogs, goats and monkeys so far.
Bedtime?
She is crying like crazy right now in her crib. Usually, she goes to bed without a hitch, but tonight, she is protesting every time we put her in the crib. She is going to have to cry it out. She's exhausted and can't last long.
She was a picky eater today, but finally ate a good portion of a chicken egg roll. The rest was popcorn and a banana and a few bites of oatmeal.
Uh-Oh!
A couple days ago, Sophie was walking along and dropped a book she was carrying. Then I heard a small voice say "Uh-oh!" It was very cute. She learns a new trick every day.
I held her at the window last night when Daddy got home, and when she saw him, she started laughing with delight!
Cat Poop, flowers and gorillas
Today was the day. I knew it would happen eventually, and here it was. Sophie presented me with a piece of dry cat feces. I am only praying she didn't get it from the litter box, and that it was somewhere on the floor, dried up. God only knows if she tasted it. Needless to say, I drenched her hands in Purell, then ran the bath water!
We have 2 rose bushes - one is very fragrant, but is a rose tree, so I hold her up to it, and let her sniff. Well, I demonstrate sniffing to her, then I hold her in front of the flower to let her sniff. The first time, she put the rose right in her mouth and had a petal sandwich. But pretty soon, she started making a "huffing/puffing" sound through her nose!
Later, she was buzzing around the yard, over by the other rose bush. She bent down, put her little hands on her knees, and started making the "huff/puff" sound thru her nose! Now, whenever we see flowers in a book, the nose breathing sound is her sign for flowers.
She also has another sign. She beats her chest when she sees a monkey. She learned this from one of her books "I Love My Daddy Because".
One nap
We slept in today b/c I wasn't sure if she was feeling well, and I didn't want to rush her from jogging to swim lessons. She did fine at swim lessons and had a great nap afterward, completely in her car seat. She didn't do any nursing in the middle of the day.
I was able to cook dinner (YAY!) while she watched Barney. Then we went to watch Daddy's lax practice. She is really into taking things out and putting them back - like things in bags, in zippered pouches, bags, pockets, anything. Today, she kept putting a bag of Hochiboro in the bottom of the stroller, then taking it out, putting it back, etc.
She dozed off for about 30 min at 4:15pm, but that was it. Not a real nap. At bedtime, she nursed for a while, then rolled around and when I put her in the crib awake, she didn't cry at all.
She has also pulled a book off the shelf that is not a baby book. It's called Motherhood, and was a shower gift for me. It's filled with photos of animals and their babies, and she loves looking at the pics of the animals! Whenever she gets to a cat of any sort, she screeches in an ear piercing scream, "Kiiiiiiiih Caaaaaaaaaaah!" She gets such a kick from any animals at all - she just loves them. Dogs running across a yard, birds flying, people walking dogs, the goats, etc.
Her bug bite welt was just about gone this evening.
1st Bug Bite!
Sophie is a little bit sick. She was very calm in her stroller ride during the jog today, and even took a nap. She has wanted to nurse many times today, and each time she naps, her little head is sopping wet with sweat.
Her temp was 99.7. She will barely let us put her down without crying a river. She is either very tired and zoned out, or else clingy and crying.
We are putting the new sliding doors on, so our living room has been open to the outside most of the day. All kinds of bugs have gotten in. While nursing her tonight, I noticed a hard red welt on the outside of her right thigh. It is some kind of bite and she keeps itching it.
Right now, she's watching her newest Barney episode called "It's Showtime!"
