Sophia's 12 Month Update
Sophia Mae Groves,
How in the world are you 12 months! It feels like just yesterday that your daddy and I were welcoming you into the world. With such a tumultuous year, your presence has made it one of the best. God knew we needed you as a distraction from all of the evil and unrest our world is experiencing. You were born for such a time as this. Look how far you’ve come baby girl; from a little helpless babe to miss independent!
You really love your exersaucer and could spend hours just bouncing around in there. You’ve become an excellent stair climber and have figured out how to crawl through the cat door. You’re so close to standing up unassisted, but for now you’re content to move sideways while supporting yourself. Some of your favorite toys at grandma’s and grammy’s have been a musical carousel that plays Christmas music and a little wooden tool set. You’re becoming so intentional with your toys.
The biggest skills we’ve noticed this month are your ability to safely get off the bed/couch, by going feet first and your sign language. You are able to (mostly) do: milk, please, more, eat/food, and all done. It is so exciting seeing you able to communicate and I know it will make things easier for all of us.
2 more teeth are for sure popping through and we were able to see them under your gums on 12/11/2020. We’ve started giving you snacks throughout the day as a first step towards preparing for weaning. You love eating string cheese, cheerios, and veggie goldfish. You’ve become an eating machine! Lately, you’ve been less interested in nursing and just want to play instead. It has been frustrating because I know you still need your milk nutrition, but you just refuse. I hope this is just a phase because I still need more time to emotionally prepare for weaning. I’m embarrassed to admit, but I thought that after babies turned 1, they didn’t “need” milk anymore. Turns out they still do, but it can be any other type of milk. In my naivete, I was excited to no longer have the added time of nursing/bottle feeding, but it looks like that isn’t going away any time soon. As with everything else, we will adapt and figure out the best way for you to still get your (cow’s) milk. On a different note, you’ve become very adamant with what you do not want as you’ll push your water (or whatever it is you don’t want) away with your hand quite aggressively. You definitely have a little temper and are very particular about what you do and do not want.
We thought you (FINALLY) finished your sleep regression the week before Christmas, because you did start sleeping through the night again (life changing!), but that didn’t last long. On 12/29 you thankfully slept all night and I’m really hoping we are turning a corner with your sleep. I am now, more than ever, thankful for how great of a sleeper you have been. Since this was the hardest hitting regression, I now feel more prepared for the future ones and know that eventually you’ll return to your normal sleep patterns. You’re also not experiencing as much separation anxiety when we leave the room; you’re much more content to play by yourself without needing mom or dad within arm’s reach. You have been oh so giggly and it makes my heart sing!
On 12/30/2020 you started Leap 8, which is the World of Programs. After this leap you’ll understand the meaning of tasks (such as laundry, getting dressed, making a phone call), and that they aren't always done in the same order. For example, one day we put your shirt on first and pants second. The next day we put your socks on first, then your pants, and then your shirt. "A program is therefore a network of possible sequences that are not fixed and you can reach the end result in any number of ways." You’ll soon be able to carry out your own program as well as perceive when others are participating in a program.
It feels like this entire month has been spent in quarantine. Colton and grammy tested positive on 12/10/2020 and at this time, I was negative. Went back to Grandma and Grandpa Groves’s house on Saturday, December 12th, to finish out our quarantine. A few miles after leaving Nephi, grammy and I heard you make a little cough/hiccup sound so we pulled back the carseat cover and found that you had vomited all over and your eyes rolled back in your head. We were so scared! We said many prayers and made some calls to figure out the nearest urgent care. You were very lethargic, but kept a hold of grammy’s hand and continued to look me in the eyes. We were so relieved that you started perking up a little once we arrived at the Provo urgent care. We had you tested for the flu and RSV and both came back negative. The doctor thinks you probably have covid as you’ve been exposed to a few family members. We gave you Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours and you seem to be doing much better. By Tuesday morning you were completely off the pain medicine and back to your happy self. You had so many people praying for you to get better. Thank you Lord for healing my baby so quickly!
Monday, 12/14/2020, I woke up with an itchy throat and a dry cough. I was tested on 12/15/2020 and it was determined that I too have covid. The worst symptom I experienced was my ability to taste. I was surprised how much this affected me psychologically. Knowing you’re eating delicious food but not being able to really enjoy it put me in a weird funk for a few days. On the plus side, I couldn’t smell Sophia’s stinky diapers. ;)
It’s been a wild few weeks figuring out when all our symptoms started and when we were last around an infected person. It made my mind spin thinking about all the variables and when we could come out of quarantine. I firmly believe it is a tactic the devil is using to get our eyes off of Jesus (especially in this Christmas season) and placed solely on ourselves. I am happy to report that as of 12/24/2020, nobody is in quarantine anymore.
One of the only quarantine activities I was allowed to do outside of the house was go and see Christmas lights. We made our way to Christmas Street in Sugarhouse, then went through a neighbored that told the story of Jesus’s birth, and finished off with Twas the Night Before Christmas on Taylorsville’s Christmas Street. You slept through all of it, so we’ll have to do it again next year. The day I was let out of quarantine (12/24/2020), Daddy and I went on a baby-free date! We drove by our first apartment, got coffee at one of our favorite coffee shops (Publik), window shopped, and went searching for more coffee. Unfortunately, the 4 other coffee shops we tried to go to were all closed for the holiday.
On Christmas Eve, we ate a yummy Chinese dinner; read the book “Santa is Coming to Utah;” you opened your Christmas pajamas; and the adults watched a few Christmas Eve church services online. Christmas Day, you got spoiled by your grandparents. As like most everyone else, we had a very small Christmas celebration, but we got to celebrate with your Aunt and Uncle on the 30th. You were interested in opening your presents for a short while and then wanted to move on to something else. I think next year you’ll be more into it. ;)
The day after Christmas, we went down to Ephraim one last time before we travelled home. We spent time with Tristen and her family and celebrated yours and Payson’s birthdays with pizza and cake.
On New Year’s Eve, Daddy took me on a surprise date to a bar (Varley) in downtown SLC to celebrate the New Year and our engagement anniversary. We also walked around The Gallivan Center and he even proposed to me a second time. Per my request, he even had me home and in bed before midnight. ;)
On January 3rd, we celebrated your first birthday. Originally, we wanted to invite all our friends and family, but decided to play it safe, and I’m so glad we did. It was a low-key and intimate celebration of our greatest blessing: YOU!
Surprisingly, you weren’t that interested in your smash cake and instead were content to eat the animal crackers. Let’s hope you take after your dad and continue to not have much of a sweet tooth. As usual, you were spoiled with so many cute clothes and fun, new toys.
This month was filled with so many fun memories that we will cherish forever. The day after your “real” birthday, we will fly home to Portland, ready to get back into our own routine, but missing our Utah family and friends. With that, I’ll close out these monthly posts, saying we are so honored to be your parents. We love you and are so proud of the beautiful girl you are growing up to be.
Love,
Mama and Dada
