Sofia's First

Sofia's first birthday has come and gone, but it didn't slip by unnoticed or uncelebrated. We thoroughly enjoyed spoiling her and experiencing this right of passage with our big sweetheart.

 

Sofia is now ONE year old. Maybe I will continue to use months to keep my toddler sized child a baby for a few more desperate months. Sofia is wearing size 18-24 month clothes as well as 2T and even 3T in some rare instances.  At Sofia's one year check up, she weighed 24lbs even and was 31.1 inches tall (94 and 97 percentiles).  She sleeps 12 hours through the night and quietly goes down for her two naps. She now has 8 very sharp teeth and chomps anything that crosses their path.  Sofia has started to show some signs of either pickiness or maybe just plain old stubborness but we have had to coax her to eat a few things on occasion or even just throw in the towel altogether and assume she isn't hungry.  However she is interested in anything I am eating and isn't afraid to take it out of my hands to sneak a bite. She also is a fan of pb and honey sandwiches so we eat a lot of those.  She also is a big fan of water and has done a great job starting cows milk too. She has started running and although its not exactly coordinated yet, she is getting there.

Sofia's Favorites:

Getting her teeth brushed with baby toothpaste. She does a great job opening her mouth wide and letting me brush her teeth.  Of course we take breaks so she can smack her lips at the taste of the paste with the occasional "hmmm"!

Sticking out her tongue.

Facetiming. She knows the ring of Facetime and will not let me hold the phone during a Facetime call.

Sofia loves all things she shouldn't so i am going to list them all here: Greg's office full of books, Bathroom full of toilet paper to unravel, emptying my wipes container, remote controls for the tv, phones and Ipad, computers(she always comes up and hits the delete key), and pushing buttons on our space heater.

Loves when dad comes home after a long day and has started to squeeze back in hugs as well as giving kisses on demand.  She also claps, rolls her hands, waves, high fives, shakes hands, is learning to fold her arms, climbs up and down stairs and comes when I ask her to.

She always grabs her blanket and binky before allowing herself to be removed from crib.

I have discovered that Sofia loves being outside or looking outside through windows.  We have had some nicer weather so we have been spending more time in the park with her purple ball.

Sofia is a great stunt performer on her scooter ride. She does some of the craziest things but actually seems to keep her balance quite well during the majority of her "acts".

Sofia's new car seat is definitely an upgrade, however long road trips are not her forte. Can't say I blame her.

Probably one of MY favorite games to play with Sofia is Hide-and-seek. Except for in our version, the person who hides ends up chasing the seeker.  Sofia is always the seeker. So I hide around the corner and she comes just close enough to spot me and then the chase is on and she speeds back to the safety of Greg's arms as I loudly and clumsily chase her on all fours. Seriously though. It's my favorite, and so is she.

Sofia is a special little girl who knows how to show love to those around her. SHe is always giving me hugs and kisses and some afternoons chooses moms lap or lounging on mom as her activity of choice. I love that she likes to cuddle me.  She is very trusting, independent, observant and quite brave.  She is generally not afraid of anyone and easily will stay at someone's home if I need to run a quick errand.  She is a good laugh and enjoys having the attention of people in the room and has learned how to play the crowd and has a few crowd pleasing moves that we enjoyed after her birthday party.

 She has showed a lot of interest in her baby, singing and music, and likes her big purple ball which really of surprised me how effortlessly she was able learn to kick it and throw it.  Who's kid is this?? She also has started to show interest in purses, necklaces and bracelets. Carrying her purse at the elbow, making bracelets from toys and stealing moms accessories.

All in all, we love Sofia so much and are so grateful she is a part of our family.  I am so grateful I get to spend everyday with her and watch her develop and learn, this last year has easily been the best year of my life and I know that I have been truly blessed.

For our spring break we were able to rent a beach house in Outer Banks, NC. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed watching Sofia experience the beach for the first time. She ate a little sand but not as much as I expected.  She loved gathering sea shells and picked up many.

 

We soon will be sealing the deal on an apartment in Madison and although I am excited to take on this adventure with my little family and explore a new place, I really am sad to be leaving our State College home and friends behind.  This is where Sofia was born and where we made all of our "first memories" with her which breaks my heart a little that we're leaving.  However,  we have had such a great experience branching out on our own and accepting somewhere foreign to us as home and I am sure we will love Madison just as much.