Sophia is 9 Months Old!

Our Valentine's Day dinner at home


The lounge lizard - Daddy's name for Sophia because she likes to stick her tongue out


Two peas in a pod


Sophia loves the swing!


Such a handsome boy after a bath!

Sophia turned 9 months old yesterday on Valentine's Day. It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown by. It seems she was just born yesterday. The biggest development is that she got her first tooth this week (on the bottom right). Finally! She has been teething for months it seems. I can't wait to see her "toothy" smile! We've celebrated with wine, a bowl of muscles steamed in coconut milk, & chocolates, of course!
Sophia can hardly sit still & often ends up on her tummy while trying to reach a certain toy. A couple of times she was reaching so hard, she fell flat on her face, which made her cry, but, thankfully, she quickly learned to be more careful. She also loves to roll from her back onto her tummy & back (repeat multiple times). The moment Sophia started to really reach for things we moved her from sitting in the corner of our L-shaped couch to the thick blanket on the floor. She often rolls back & forth so many times that she ends up rolling off the blanket all together. :-) It is almost impossible to pin her down for a diaper change, so I have to be really creative (I usually sing a song or give her something she is not supposed to have like a phone to distract her).
Sophia has now moved to sleeping with us for naps & at night permanently. The expensive organic crib mattress is not getting much use... Sophia used to sleep in her crib during the day, however, has been refusing to be left alone there for the past 3 weeks. She drifts off to sleep quickly & peacefully as long as my husband or I are there next to her in the big bed. I usually gently rub her back, massage her ears, run my fingers through her hair, or hold her hand. I cringe remembering the countless hours we've spent rocking Gerritt to sleep in a rocking chair; putting him down in the crib & then going back & picking him up again because he woke up (I couldn't put him down unless he was deeply asleep or exhausted). Torturous! Why haven't we moved to cosleeping with him sooner? It is interesting to observe people's reactions when I tell them that Gerritt slept in his own crib until he was 2 years old & then moved to cosleeping with us. They usually roll their eyes since for most it is the opposite sequence (baby moves from parents' bed to his own crib/toddler bed). I now can't imagine sleeping without one of my kids next to me. It feels so natural. I sleep with Sophia most of the time, while my husband cosleeps with Gerritt. Gerritt is going through his usual I-need-only- Mommy phase & has been requesting for me to hold his hand while he drifts off to sleep for naps & at night. I usually hear, "Mommy hold hands..." in the sweetest, impossible-to-refuse voice. It is not always possible when I am at home alone with both kids. I just can't spend 20 minutes holding Gerritt's hand while Sophia is alone in the living room, so he had to cry himself to sleep a few times (he usually falls asleep 10-15 minutes later).
Sophia has learned to sit up from a laying position this week. I put her down for a nap, lay down next to her, tell her it is nap time, & what does she do? She sits up fast like a spring, then turns around & grins at me. It's almost like she says, "I have other plans, Mom." So sometimes I have to hold her down for a few seconds, otherwise she'll just keep sitting up. When Sophia is truly tired, she will cry & protest for a couple of minutes & then drift off to sleep. If she is not tired, then she'll just keep on struggling to sit up. Then I bring her out of the bedroom & wait another half-hour. I remember Gerritt going through a stage like that - he even slept being bent at the waist for a few weeks (also when he was 9 months old!).