Sophie's Party Pics

Sophie Is One!!

6:02pm today marked the one year anniversary of Sophia Rose Thomassy's birth. We can't believe a whole year has gone by already. People say it goes fast, and they weren't lying! Everyday she grows more and more of her personality shines out. She's just an amazing girl.

We celebrated by having a small party at home on Saturday with family and close friends.

We had taco bar for dinner (her favorite because it includes taco meat, cheese, and avacados), and dessert consisted of an organic carrot cake with organic cream cheese icing, frosted sugar cookies, and chocolate chip cookie bars.

I had put together a slide show of pictures from Sophie's first year, and I wanted to share it here so you call could see how much she's changed this first year of her life.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'll post some pictures from her party.

This first year has certainly been a learning experience for us all. We are so proud of Sophie for everything she does everyday. She is an amazing little girl and teaches us more than we teach her. I know she came here to do something great, and we are here to support her in that. Thank you to everyone in her life for supporting her too and sharing your love with her.

Photo Shoot

I'll write more next week after this weekend with Sophie's first birthday and party, but I wanted to post a quick entry with a few things.

I did want to post some pictures from her 1-year photo shoot though. My good friend Shelly, whose an awesome photographer, got some cool pics at the park on Wednesday. It was the hottest day so far this year, but Sophie did great and loved it.

ps. If anyone's up Saturday or Sunday morning around 7:45 or 8:45, you might turn on Fox 4 news and try to catch the First Birthdays segment...you might see someone you know!

Some pictures

Here's some pictures from the last few weeks.


Sophie coloring. I was making some cards, and she picked up a marker and started running it over a piece of paper. So I took off the cap, and art was born.



Can you tell she loves it?

This is after a long day...we were at my sister's, and she fell asleep in the swing right before dinner. Poor girl.



This is my friend Jen and her son Jonah. Jen and I have known each other since we were 2, and Jonah is 4 days older than Sophie. We went to visit them at Jen's mom-in-law's house in Jeff City.

I liked this picture, because she's banging on the xylophone so fast her arm is a blur.

Reading with Aunt Shelly at the lake.

A day on the boat (after first falling asleep on the boat).

Her first swim! She was too small last summer to go. She loves it.

Swimming with Aunt Shelly.

Competitiveness

So, when I still worked in the corporate world, I was a fairly competitive person. I wanted to do better than the other people doing my job, and I wanted people to notice it. When I first became a mom, I found myself comparing Sophie to other babies and feeling that competitive streak of whether she was developing faster than them.

I decided this wasn't the kind of mom I wanted to be, so I've been working on not comparing her or getting upset when another baby her age is doing something that she's not. Just about every developmental milestone for babies comes with the disclaimer that it is different for every baby and that if they are developing faster in one area, another area might be slower. So, when every other baby at day care was crawling and pulling up, and Sophie still just sat there, I told myself those other babies probably can't manipulate objects with their hands as well as she can and that she's still within the normal development timelines. I'm much more calm about these things now.

Until yesterday...

We went to a baby program at the public library. It was for babies 9-18 months and focused on songs and games you can do with your baby. It was cute. However, the moms sitting near me apparently were being competitive moms (or at least that's the feeling I got). Sophie sat well in my lap for about 5 minutes, but then we wanted to be crawling around. I let her go a little, but I didn't want her annoying all the other moms.

Well, there were 2 moms near me (we'll call them Blonde Mom and Polka Dot Mom). They both had girls too, and they and Sophie all looked about the same size. Polka Dot Mom's little girl was walking but still wobbly. Blonde Mom's little girl was crawling like Sophie. I was nice to them, but I get shy so I'm not very chatty. Maybe they thought I was rude. BM and PDM seemed to be chatting a bit, so they must have formed an alliance.

PDM commented that BM's baby and Sophie seemed about the same age. BM said her baby was 9 months; I said Sophie is 11 months. BM said "her daddy is 6 foot 4, in case you are wondering." I guess she felt defensive that her baby was as big at 9 months as my 11 month old (who, by the way, is on the small to average levels on the growth charts). I had not made a comment, and I don't think I had made a surprised face at her baby's age, since I didn't feel surprised that she was big.

PDM's baby is 11 months old as well apparently. So then PDM turns to BM and says "looks like they're doing the same things," speaking of Sophie and BM's baby. Now, reading this, it seems like an innocent comment. However, the nonverbal cues and vibe she sent out instead said "your baby is at the same developmental stage as that 11 months old, which is inferior to my 11 month old who already is walking." I felt ganged up on...at baby time at the library!!

Sophie has always been a little slower in the gross motor skills (rolling over, crawling, walking), but she excels at fine motor skills (turning pages of books, feeding herself, playing with toys). I took offense that PDM was making a general comparison based on one skill Sophie exhibited, because I know she's a smart girl and has mad problem solving skills. That competitiveness started eeking out of me again, but I stuffed it back and didn't comment at the moms...just smiled. Then I felt pity...if they need to make themselves feel better, then go right ahead. I know Sophie is on track, and she gets praise everyday for the things she's learning.

Besides, I decided that those moms just needed something to console themselves with since Sophie was by far the cutest of the three.


(one day she'll get some teeth...I'm sure of it)

The Amazing Flying Piggles

This is Piggles (also known as Hannah), one of our 5-year-old kitties.

Some of you may know we've been dealing without consistant air conditioning in our house for about two weeks now. Luckily it's been fairly mild outside, so we have the windows open most of the time.

Our windows open at both the top and the bottom. We only open the bottom a little, because the kitties like to get in the windowsills otherwise. Well, it started raining this morning, so I went around closing the windows. I noticed that the screen was missing from the bedroom window next to Andy's side of the bed. This isn't necessarily unusual, because our screens pop out regularly. However, this one was in there fairly tight, and I got nervous because I found Piggles sitting in there the other day. I had chased her out and closed the window a little more. So Andy and I searched the house for her for a good 30 minutes.

Piggles apparently is a contortionist. Sometime in the night, she had squeezed herself into the windowsill and was enjoying a little snooze when the screen popped out...out of this second story window. She finally got her chance to deploy the pouch all cats carry on their bellies...she flew.

Andy found her in a tiny spot under the front of the house where the window juts out a bit unto the bushes. Luckily he thought to look there. We had to drag her out, but she wasn't fighting. She was nice and dry, and within a minute of coming in the house, she was head butting our hands for a scratch. I almost got a purr out of her. She's perfectly fine...no limping, no wet fur. Just a little shaken. Of our two cats, she's always been wary of the outside (they only go out in a cat carrier to the vet).

We said she didn't want to be outdone by her sister, who a couple months ago gave us a scare, and used up a life, by being in kidney failure. Now they're both down to about 8 lives.

I'm very proud of her for being so brave and finding a safe place. She sure did land on her feet (pun intended). Give your pets a snuggle today for in honor of Piggles. She'll sure be getting a lot of snuggles today.

Random pictures

I wanted to post a couple random pictures.

Here's one of a turtle I knitted for a friend having a baby in less than 2 weeks. I'm pretty proud of him, because he's not only cute, but it means I completed a knitting project!! My knitting friends tease me how pregnancy affected my knitting abilities...I am unable to knit for more than 2 minutes at a time anymore, even at our Sunday knitting group. I just have to stop and sit there and listen to everyone talk. When Amy (the friend I made this for, whose also in the group) became pregnant, she came down with the same affliction. Poor Amy...maybe she'll get her pre-pregnancy needles back. I'll forever have droopy yarn and stitch marks.

Next, here's a cute picture of Sophie today...her first pigtails! We're tried pigtails before, but she usually swipes at my hands and whines. For as much as she likes to look at herself in the mirror, she's not into fancy hair dos.

Here's a couple of her at Deanna Rose on Thursday. She had such a good time but was exhausted from clapping and laughing at the animals. She perked up when we went to Chick Fil A for lunch (she did not eat Chick Fil A...she had cold peas and carrots and ham and cheese...mmmm!).

Have a happy weekend!!

What's new lately...

I was just saying to my good friend Shelly that whenever I check other people's blogs and they haven't posted a new entry, I get mad. Yet, I can't seem to post new entries more often myself. Yes, yes, I know...it makes me a double standard Stanley. I think of things I want to write about, but when I finally have time to sit down at the computer, I just want to read and not write. Oh well.

So, the last week has been eventful for us. Our A/C busted down last Thursday, which meant all of us feeling sticky and uncomfortable. Sophie and I wimped out and headed to my parents' house at the lake for the weekend. Andy roughed it in the house with the cats so that he could stay home and get fitted for new golf clubs. Such sacrifice. Sophie and I returned Monday when the air was fixed.

While at the lake, Sophie took her first boat ride. I think the combination of an encumbering life jacket, warm sun, cool breeze, loud engine, and rocking boat equaled the perfect cradle. She immediately fell asleep.

We got home Monday, and we weren't home for more than a hour when Sophie had her first injury (I'm surprised we made it almost a year). She was pulling herself up by our front door, and Andy and I both said "her hands are going to slip." Being the good parents we are, we of course just wanted it happen. Her hands did indeed slip, and she face planted onto the sill of the window by the door. The poor girl cried so hard she made herself gag. We quick administered the needed treatment (a binky, a cuddle in Mommy's lap, and a bag of frozen blueberries), and she soon was calmed. We took a picture of the bump on her head (the big red mark above her right eye near her hair line). It won't be the last, I'm sure.

Yesterday we had a play date with Dina and Ian Hamilton. We had a picnic at Stocksdale park. The kids were so cute together. Ian decided Sophie's lunch looked pretty good, so they shared watermelon, strawberries, and peas. It was a great day, and the kids had a great time. They're starting to interact more, which is fun. We had a good time on the swings too.

We have lots planned for the week. My friend Shelly suggested I post my to-do list for the week. Each day I have a list of the tasks I want to accomplish each day. It makes it easier to get things done, and I can give a response when someone says "what do you do all day". Here's this week's list for far:

Wednesday:

1. Go to Green Acres to buy milk and cereal for Sophie
2. Go to Babies R Us and get diapers and sippy cups (I have coupons!)
3. Make chicken strips, buckwheat groats, and wilted greens for dinner
4. Put away laundry
5. Do Sophie's laundry (wash friends--her stuffed animals)

Thursday:

1. Deanna Rose with MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers)
2. Dust my bedroom

Friday:

1. Go to library
2. Vacuum bedrooms
3. Get haircut

I'm sure before the week is over, the list will have grown and things will not have been done. Oh well...there's only so many hours in the day between feeding, changing, and playing with a wobbler. It may be hard to image what one can do to fill the day at home with a baby, but I swear that time moves faster for me now than when I worked. Speaking of time, it's time to wake up Sophie...she was tired after a hard day at the park.

Update...

So, I wrote my previous post earlier today during Sophie's afternoon nap. Of course, since she likes to be contrary and prove me wrong, she went to sleep without a peep, and I never heard a noise until I went in to get her 1.5 hours later. She always does that...it's like she knows when I've said something about her, and she wants everyone to think I'm lying.

Tonight at bedtime, she immediately sits up in her crib and starts to throw her extra binky out of the bed. I corrected her, hoping she'd realize she shouldn't do that. So instead she sat there and flailed it around with an expression like "I meant to do this the whole time." I leave her to do her thing. I bit later I hear her crying in her bed. I figured it was because she threw the binkies out, and I resisted going in there. After 30 minutes of crying, I decided I would check on her anyway. I cracked open the door, and it was beastly hot in her room. Her room faces west, so the setting sun makes the heat linger in her room for a while. So the poor thing still had her binky in her mouth...she just was hot. I can't blame her for crying about that, so of course I feel bad for not checking on her earlier and making her be uncomfortably hot.

I guess the lesson I'm suppose to learn is to go with the flow, because this game doesn't have any rules.

Logic Versus Emotions

So this whole mothering thing is a hard job. At least when I worked in the corporate world, I had work instructions or guidelines or a handbook or something to tell me how something was done. If I didn't (which was often the case), I at least could ask someone else or make it up based on what I knew to be best.


However, I certainly do not have a handbook this time. I sort of can ask someone, but that person's baby is entirely different than mine, so their method may not work for me. That leaves me to making it up based on what I know to be best, which therein lies the problem. What is best...what my mind tells me or what my heart tells me?


My current dilemma is naps. I have Sophie on a pretty good schedule where she naps at the same time everyday. She usually goes to sleep pretty quickly, because her body has adjusted to the schedule so that she's tired when the clock approaches nap time. She now is mobile enough, though, that she immediately sits up in her crib and starts to wiggle around. She lately has discovered that it's fun to throw her binkies through the slats of her crib. While that may be fun for a minute, it leaves her binkiless, which she wants before she can fall asleep. So, here's the dilemma...

1. Do I follow my mind and leave her to cry and learn that throwing the binky out means no binky, because Mommy's not coming back until nap time is over?


2. Do I follow my heart and go in there and retrieve it, because I know she won't sleep well and needs rest?

I've been wishy washy and do a little of each, which isn't good either way. My thought process so far in this parenting thing has been to think about the behavior I want her to have in the future and decide what action to take now that moves us towards that (such as putting her in her crib the first day home from the hospital or not letting her have the binky outside her bed). Now that we're home together all day, it's my internal war between enforcement and insanity. If you've ever been to my house, you probably know that an open floor plan is not optimal for hiding. There's nowhere in my house I can go where I can't hear her crying in her room if she decides to do so. I put on headphones, but I can still here her (maybe it's those supersonic ears that all mothers receive upon being handed their baby). So to save myself the heartache of hearing her cry, I want to go retrieve the binky. To save myself the heartache of not teaching her that Mommy makes the rules, I want the binky to rot on the floor.

Most of you probably don't see the dilemma, because its obvious what you would do (it would be obvious to me for someone else's kid too). Maybe you have children of your own and already have gone through similar situations, so you can answer based on your experiences. I'm in the middle of it and don't have the experience yet, so I'm still waffling. If this was someone else's issue, I'd be saying "teach the lesson now or suffer the consequence of trying to retrain her later".

With all that said, Sophie's quiet as can be in her crib right now, and we don't always have these kinds of problems. Just the other night, I knew she had sat herself up in her bed and didn't know how to get down. I could hear her whining in there for me to come in and lay her down again because she was tired. I stood strong and was going to give her 15 minutes. After about 5, she was quiet. I went in later to check on her, and she was sound asleep on her tummy, curled over one of her stuffed animals. Since then, I've found her sleeping on her tummy multiple times, and I think she likes it. She's always liked having her blanket over her face to sleep (I had to pin the blanket to her bed to keep her from suffocating herself), so this is a way for her to snuggle her face into something (she still can breathe...I check at least 3 times before going to bed every night). Since she's started sitting up in bed and going back to sleep on her tummy, she seems to sleep better and longer in the morning. Maybe she's more comfortable. That should be a lesson to me that a little discomfort on her and my parts equals a better outcome for all in the end.

Anyway, I am making a goal to stick to my goal of teaching her the right way the first time. If she wakes up before the end of nap time, then she can play in her bed. If she throws her binky out, it means no binky. She'll get tired enough and go to sleep (I think). I'll keep you posted. Use the poll at the right to pass along your opinion. I'm interested in what people think about this.