Sophia's 15 Month Update
Sophia Mae,
You continue to be a complete joy to be around. What did we ever do before you were born (aside from get restful sleep, hehe!)? You are now 15 months and more fun than ever!
English words are starting to come out of your mouth and you’re getting better at mimicking us and the sounds we make. You’re a champ at saying “mama” and “dada" and “muah” when you kiss something. You kiss everything: the couch, my arms and legs, and even the cat. You’re also starting to blow kisses. The other words are not quite there, but we know what you mean. “At” is for cat, “doh” is for toe or Jericho, “wa” is for fall, “ba” is for ball, and “moo” is for moon.
It is so cool watching you develop and refine different skills. The things that I can do so effortlessly (eating, dressing myself, etc.), you are practicing and learning how to do. You are really curious about your clothes and try to put them on yourself. Sometimes you’ll even try and put my socks on me. You absolutely love your jacket and pajamas and ask for them everyday by pointing at them and and signing please. You don’t care if you’re naked or fully dressed, you still want both of them on.
Additionally, we don't wear shoes in the house, which is a real problem for you when you’re dying to wear your unicorn shoes. This is a complete 180 from when we first introduced shoes to you (you cried until we took them off). We've come to an agreement that a certain pair of shoes are called "slippers" and you can wear those in the house. You want them on all the time, in addition to the 3 pairs of pajamas, 1 vest, and your jacket. I love this about you!
You took your very first 2 baby steps on 2/15 and have been practicing standing with no hands. You officially started walking early March and you’re getting better and better at it. We love going on short walks outside and practicing. I can’t believe how grown up you are! One of our favorite things you’ve started doing is forced laughing. You’ll try so hard to make yourself laugh and in return we all end up giggling. In April you started holding my phone to your ear and saying “hi".” So cute!
You are able to recognize what certain things are. For example, I can say “go get your bubbles” and you know what I’m talking about. Handing me toys and food is something you do a lot. At my work baby shower, my boss gave you a box of alphabet cards with an Oregon theme. We are going through the cards and teaching you what each one is. You’re getting really good at finding the card I’m talking about. Other skills we are working on together include: cleaning up your toys, brushing your teeth, putting your clothes in the laundry, wiping your face and high chair, coming when called, not to touch certain things (cords, dirty shoes, Jericho’s food/water bowls), recognizing family/friend’s faces, and becoming familiar with different emotions.
Daddy has been very diligent with studying for his first architecture exam. I have sure missed hanging out in the evenings after you’ve gone to bed, but am so proud of him for working towards his goals.
In February, Jericho decided it would be cool to eat part of a cloth bag handle. He has never once thrown up before until after he swallowed this. We found the cloth regurgitated, but were worried there was more stuck inside of him. He wasn’t eating or drinking so after 2 days we took him to the vet. After giving him fluids to help with the dehydration, some pain medicine, and some xrays, he was sent home. The vet told us she saw a small spot of something in his colon and that he should poop it out. After another 2 days he was starting to perk back up. $800 later and we have our kitty back to full health. We were so scared and hated seeing him lethargic and not begging for food as he usually does. We all love our kitty, but you two have such a fun relationship. You’re constantly chasing after him, trying to give him kisses, giving him treats, and attempting to play with him. He is still less than thrilled, but I’m sure he’ll come around eventually. ;)
Mid-January I started to wean you. It took you a few days to come to terms with the first dropped feeding, but with the second dropped feeding you didn’t seem to really notice. For a few weeks we would breastfeed in the morning and then you’d get a bottle of cow’s milk before bed. Right before daylight saving time, I decided to drop the morning feeding as a way to help me get out of bed and start my day (instead of nursing you in bed for another 30 minutes). You didn’t even notice and are perfectly content to eat a snack instead. Around this same time, there was one night we forgot to heat up your bedtime bottle, so we decided to skip it and see what happened. Again, you didn’t even notice and that allowed us to wean you completely. I definitely thought it would be a lot harder for you, but you proved me wrong. It took me about two weeks before I was no longer engorged. I can totally see why moms get a boob job after breastfeeding. ;)
Speaking of daylight saving time, daddy and I decided to make your bedtime and wake up time an hour later instead of working towards going back to our previous schedule. This has worked really well for us. You go to bed at 8 PM and wake up between 7 and 8 AM! No more 6 AM wake ups (Lord willing!), at least until the fall back time change. We also transitioned you to taking 1 nap and you’ve worked your way from a 45 minute nap up to a 2ish hour nap. The long nap time is so so nice for all of us.
You went through a sleep regression around 12/13 month and it was awful. It reminded us of the sleep regression you experience while in Utah. It started with you waking up at 5 AM fairly consistently and not settling back down despite us popping in and checking on you. Then it escalated to the point where you would be awake for 3 hours just crying, again, despite the pop-ins. It finally settled down, but you’d still wake up at 6 AM. That was really rough, but by God’s grace, we made it through. We are thoroughly enjoying our sleep until the next regression.
At the beginning of 2021 we started the home buying process. Unfortunately the market in Portland is highly competitive and it has been challenging finding a home with the space we need but within our budget. We’ve put in multiple offers and with each house there as been at least 15-20 other offers, averaging $60k-$75k over the asking price. We are discouraged, but know that God has something better in store for us. We can’t wait to have a bigger kitchen, better laundry, a dishwasher, and some sort of bike storage. The Lord will provide!
Something really funny that happened was that after eating chia seed pudding, you were so dirty I decided to give you a bath. I took your diaper off and let you crawl around for a few minutes while I got the water ready. When I came back there was a turd on the floor next to you! The best (or worst) part was that you had a brown smear on your upper lip. Does it make me a bad parent if I wish I would have taken a photo first?
Throughout all the bigger things that happened this month, we still made time for hangouts with friends, house/dog/cat sitting, coffee shops, and lots of laughs.
Grandma Karen came to visit over Valentine's Day and President's Day Weekend. Portland decided to have a snowpocalypse so all of our plans were derailed. First daddy had a hard time getting into our neighborhood with the snow; he had to use chains for the last few blocks. Then our appointment to pick up V-Day books at the library was cancelled. We also couldn't go to any open houses or the winter light festival. Despite the weather inconvenience, we did watch a lot of movies and enjoyed lots of snuggles and kisses with you, Sophia.
Grammy Penny came to visit in March and actually helped us house/cat/dog sit our friend’s home. We ate lots of yummy food; went shopping; went on walks; completed two puzzles; and toured a few houses. You even had a sleepover with grammy and did so well! By the end of the trip, you were more attached to grammy than both your daddy and I! We sure miss her now that she is gone.
Easter was low-key this year. We attended Good Friday service (where one of has had to take you in the lobby for the entire service), Easter service, and then had friends over for dinner. Mommy and Daddy have a tradition to watch The Passion movie every year and it is always so good! Such a good reminder of how much God loves us, his children!
It has been a fun past three months and we will forever cherish being able to watch you grow up. This spring we are looking forward to another visit from Grandma Karen, a visit from Grandpa Jim, going to the zoo, and spending more time outside. We thank God for you every day, baby girl!
Love mom & dad
