Sophia is 5 Months Old Today!

Our goofy kid trying on several hats at once


Trying out the swing


Bath time with Mommy


Sophia snuggling with Daddy


Sophia loves her jumperoo!

Our little girl is growing up fast. She can already hold her head & is trying to stand up. She likes to jump in her jumperoo. She also loves to be held. I give her many kisses & hugs (especially if it is just 2 of us at home). Sophia has the cutest laugh. All it takes is me looking at her & saying, "Where is my baby?" She also laughs when looking at herself in the mirror. We've started to read the Mirror Me book this week & she squeals with excitement every time I turn the page. Sophia has the strongest hands & grabs everything she can get her little sausage fingers on including my hair. She is healthy & has not had a single cold despite not being breastfed. I love her fat rolls & give her frequent massages, especially after a bath. She is addicted to her pacifier & always sucks on it when falling asleep. She doesn't use it when she is awake since she has her favorite Sophie the Giraffe & the BornFree teether to chew on instead. Gerritt always used to fall asleep with a bottle. Sophia can fall asleep with her pacifier alone as long as she is not hungry, so we've made progress in that area. Once she starts getting fussy, rubbing her eyes, look tired or loose interest in playing, I swaddle her & give her a pacifier. She is asleep 2-3 minutes later - easy!
She is definitely teething since she's been drooling & putting fingers into her mouth frequently. I rub her gums with my finger & Sophia likes to "bite" me.
Sophia often gets mistaken for a boy since she wears a lot of Gerritt's blue handy downs. There is no reason to throw away perfectly good clothes just because it is blue. She has a few cute outfits in "girl" colors.
She loves to watch Gerritt play or goof around & she always smiles when she sees him. Gerritt used to ignore her, but now he knows she is a real baby. If she drops a toy, he often picks it up & gives it back to her. He likes to be helpful so he brings a bottle for Sophia or put her dirty diaper in a trash when he is around. It is so great to have Gerritt entertain Sophia! I didn't have such luxury when he was a baby. That's how the Duggars from the show "18 Kids & Counting" do it - the older ones help raise the younger ones.
When I was pregnant I often wondered whether I could love another baby as much as I loved Gerritt. I found that my heart just got bigger. My love for Sophia grows stronger every day & our relationship is everchanging. She is so easy to love! I've always tried not to treat her like a baby, but a little person who has similar to mine emotions & feelings, but limited ways to express herself. Sophia is definitely more emotional than Gerritt. She can get quite loud if she doesn't get her way & it takes her a while to calm down once she is upset. Crying is a late sign of a certain need not being met, so most of my time is spent anticipating Sophia's needs. My Facebook friend Danelle Frisbie (who I've never met, but learned a great deal from) could not have said it any better:

"I used to say, "Babies cry to communicate - not manipulate." But, really, babies communicate in many non-verbal ways and their cry is indication that their initial non-verbal cues were not read or attended to. Maybe they were ignored, missed, or misinterpreted. Their cry is a last ditch effort to tell us something is wrong - a need they have has yet to be met. Babies never cry to manipulate. There are societies where a baby's cry is rarely heard. And attending to babies' needs is never detrimental to their health, happiness, well-being, or development. Let's learn our babies' cues and non-verbal forms of communication. Let's listen to what they are telling us - in their own way - and meet their needs as only a mother can. Note: I am not speaking here of older toddlers who fuss as a means of getting attention - although this occurs less often among toddlers who were peacefully parented as infants. And I am also speaking of babies labeled with 'colic' - there is a root cause to their pain - there are needs that were not or are not met. Maybe it was protection from pain or bodily harm at birth (being sectioned out before their lungs were ready, being genitally cut apart at birth, etc.); maybe it is gastrointestinal pain from cow's milk proteins in their diet that they cannot digest or pass; maybe they are simply in need of being held - close to mom's heart - being comforted, being worn, for more hours during the day; maybe they need more time at mom's breast. There is always reason for the tears. It is our job to know our babies well, to protect them, and to meet their needs when they cannot yet do so for themselves. And, hopefully, to do so before the cries are necessary."

Both my husband & I can't stand to hear a baby cry (probably the result of our parents' upbringing). I remember reading in Dr. Sears' The Baby Book that if you want to teach your child empathy, demonstrate it to her on a daily basis. It comes naturally to us.
I've been re-reading another wonderful book the Diaper Free Baby by C. Gross-Loh about elimination communication (EC) & trying to put both kids on a potty. Yep, you can start potty training in infancy! EC is toilet training practice involving timing, signals, cues & intuition to address your child's need to eliminate. The goal is to partially or completely avoid the use of diapers. I can usually tell when the kids have to have a bowel movement, especially if I am holding Sophia. "Pee catching" is more difficult. Gerritt has seen us use the toilet & loves to flush it afterwords. He asks to sit on a toilet once in a while, but has not produced any "goods" yet. I need to get some more supplies from the EC Store to jump start the potty training process.
It took Gerritt about a week to learn colors, so now he proudly names them everywhere we go including when driving in the car. "White car! Black car! Red car!" It is too cute! His favorite color may be purple. He doesn't wear it that often, but likes to say the word "purple."