Sophie's Terrible Two-Tu Bash

This year's birthday theme was Sophie's Terrible Two-Tu Bash. I'm not usually fancy or creative with things, but this year I decided to get crazy and make tu-tus for all of the little girls who would there (9!). The tu-tus doubled as decorations until the girls put them on. I also hung up a picture from each month that she has been around (I used these pictures ). That is about as far as my decorating and creativity goes. Other than seeing it in pictures, Sophie will never remember what her party looks like so who cares!
Anyway, Sophie had a great time at her party. She loved opening up her presents and cards and playing with them with her cousins and friends. Her favorite part of the day was being sung to and blowing out the candles on her cake. She could not keep the smile off of her face!
I think Sophie had a great time at her party! Thank you to everyone who came over and for all of her presents!

She loved the harmonica that her grandparents bought her.

 

The cake that her awesome Aunts, Sara and Kathy, made for her.

She jumped right up in her booster seat so she could see the cake better.

She loved having everyone sing to her.

She practically jumped towards the cake so she could blow her candles out.

She blew this candle out on her own (even though it looks like I was helping her. I did help with the second one though.)

Clapping along with everyone else.

She only took two bites of cake before she was finished. She sure looks like she was enjoying it though!

 

2 Year Check-up

Joe took Sophie went in for her check-up and flu shot today. She took her shot like a champ and didn't cry like she normally does when doctors are around (she still clung to Joe a little, but he said she warmed up after a few minutes). The most important thing about the visit was today's stats. Drum roll please....

Height: 31 inches, which makes her in the 1st percentile! She is actually on the chart for something!
Head circumference: 17 inches
Weight: 17 pounds

Whoo hooo! Sophie is finally 17 pounds! They weighed her with clothes on, but who cares! That is still a 12 ounce gain from the last time that they weighed her (also with clothes on). She is growing!

This was the first time that she has gone to the doctor's without them being worried about something. Yeah! She hit each of the developmental milestones that they asked about and they said everything else about her looked good. They don't want to see her until next year. So unless Sophie gets sick or has some major issues before she turns three, she doesn't have to go back to any of the doctors that she has seen multiple times over the past two years. No pediatrician...no cardiology...no GI! That is such wonderful news. I am so excited for Sophie!

New Name, Same Blog

Since Sophie is 2 now, I figured it was time to rename this blog. So long "Look Out World, Sophie is ONE!" and hello "Good Things Come in Small Packages."

24 Months

 

My baby girl is 2 years old! 2!! How did that happen so quickly?! I can still remember everything about the day she was born...being induced...the contractions...getting the epidural...the doctor telling me that her heart rate was dropping every time I had a contraction...the decision to go ahead and have a c-section...the feel of medicines and fluid being pumped into my body...the ride to the OR...the birth...6:39pm...the sound of Sophie's first cry-she came out wailing...seeing Sophie for the first time...the shock of our baby being 4lb 7oz-a whole pound less than we were expecting...holding Sophie in my arms for the first time... I hope that I never forget these memories. It was the truly the best day of my life.

After having Sophie, I didn't want to miss a second of her growing up. So, every day for the past two years I have taken a picture of her. I've never missed a day of pictures. However, due to a recent computer crash, I lost three days worth of photos (not bad for 2 years, but it still makes me sad to not have those days). I love going through her pictures and seeing how she has grown. Now that she is two though, I might relax on the daily pictures and try for weekly ones. I can't give up my photo project completely because it seems like she is constantly changing, and I want to document that.

Since I've brought up documentation, I guess I should go ahead and do my last monthly update. I am so proud of my little girl. She has come a long way!

• As of last week, Sophie weighed 16lb 3oz. At one year she weighed 13lb 6oz, so she hasn't even gained 3 pounds this year. Even though that sounds worrisome, I am not going to be bothered by it. Sophie is strong and healthy so who cares about the number on the scale? Sure, she is still considered FTT, but she is following her own little growth curve and isn't losing weight. From all that I have read both in medical documents and through families' personal accounts, this all is very typical of IUGR babies. They just grow slowly. Some of those babies have other issues going on, but a lot of them have nothing else that appears to be 'wrong', just like with Sophie. So while she might not be in the same range as those 'normal' sized babies, she is right on target with her IUGR peers. That is good enough for me!

• Sophie's vocabulary keeps improving each day. She always surprises us with the new words that she can say or that she remembers. She is also stringing more words together.Over the past few weeks I have noticed her saying multiple 4-5 word sentences. That really impresses me. Heck, all of it does. (Of course with all of the hundreds of words that Sophie knows, she still won't say the word 'more.' She knows the sign for it, so she will just say 'mmm' and sign the word more. When we try to get her to say it, she just raises her eyebrows, smiles and says 'mmmmm.' Stinker.)
• Speaking of vocabulary, some of the ways that she pronounces words are so cute. For example, she can't pronounce the letter f, so when she says her name she says 'Sosie.' It is really adorable. (Her lack of saying the letter f had her saying 'suck' one day when I accidentally uttered a word that rhymes with suck in front of her. Oops and whew!) She also says 'tops' whenever she is trying to say 'stop.' Those little things make me smile. It won't be long until she starts saying them correctly, and I will miss her mispronunciations. (My heart still gets a little sad when she calls her cousin by her real name, Kaci, instead of Kiki.)
• If you sneeze or cough, Sophie will say 'bless you.'

• I still can't believe how active Sophie is. She is just as active as most 2 year olds, but after waiting so long for her to walk it really excites me. When I look back on older blog posts, I talk a lot about how I was worried when she wasn't walking. It was stressful seeing all of these other kids her age or even those 6 months younger than her walking when Sophie only wanted to crawl. Apparently crawling and walking later is another common IUGR issue. Thankfully she started walking before she turned 18 months and she has never looked back. I love watching her run around, spin in circles and jump. I wish that I could go back to when she was 12-17 months old and tell myself not to worry. She may have been late to the walking game, but she more than makes up for it now. 
• Sophie's memory for identifying things is really coming along. I'm about to get a little braggy (sorry), so if that annoys you then just move to the next bullet...Sophie can identify at least 15 different animals and the sounds that half of them make. (dog, cat, fish, bird, frog, cow, horse, pig, duck, elephant, monkey, giraffe, zebra, alligator, tiger, lion, and a few others depending on the day.) She also knows all of her body parts, including her chin, shoulders, neck, elbows, and her 'lady parts.' (The other day in the tub she randomly grabbed her self and yelled 'gyna.' Oh my.) She even knows where her palm is. Seriously? I have no idea where she learned that! She can count to 13, but she usually skips the even numbers (except for 2 and 10). She can spell her name, minus the letter 'h.'

• We are breaking the car seat rules. Kids are supposed to be at least 20 pounds before they face forward in their car seats. Sophie obviously won't hit that weight for awhile. We decided though that it was time to get her some forward facing seats. Joe installed her seats the day before school started for me so that Sophie could start the school year in a new seat. She loves it! I love it, too. She seems much happier in the car now.

• Sophie has peed on the potty a dozen times now. 5 of those being in the past week! I'm not going to push the potty training thing, but this is a great start. If we can get her peeing on the potty even a few times a week, I will be happy. If that doesn't happen, who cares. She is only 2 and has plenty of time to learn. (2...oh my goodness...she is 2!)
• Sophie is becoming more and more independent. There are many days when I try to put shoes on her or help her with something and she just brushes my hands away. At any given moment in our house you will here, "Sosie, too!" "Me try." "No. Sosie do it." "Sosie turn."  Bring on the terrible twos!

• Speaking of the terrible twos, one of Sophie's new 'tricks' is her fake cry. She has done this for awhile, but now it is even more dramatic...and more fake. She also has started putting her fingers in her ears when she doesn't want to listen. Oh, Sophie...

• Sophie still doesn't quite understand that I am having a baby. However, if we ask her where the baby is, she knows to point to my stomach. Sometimes she will lift up my shirt and kiss my stomach or 'talk' to the baby (usually there is some prompting for her to talk to the baby.) It is pretty sweet. I can't help but wonder what Sophie will be like when the baby is born. Jealous? Helpful? Mean? Loving? Who knows. There is a baby at her baby sitter's house a few times a week, so hopefully Sophie will get used to the sounds they make. Maybe she will get over any jealousy issues, too. I think she will be a good big sister though.
• Sophie seemed to really enjoy her birthday today. When we would ask how old she is she would tell us 'two!' When we tell her it is her birthday, she says, "Happy day!" and "Happy birthday." She loved when we sang happy birthday to her and she even tried to blow out the candles on her cupcake. Her favorite thing though was opening her presents. She was already tearing into them before I got them all on the floor next to her! She ripped the paper off and cheered happily at all the gifts. When all of the presents were opened and she finished playing with them, she looked around and said, "mmmmm presents" while signing the 'more' sign. She walked around the room looking for some more, calling out, "Presents!" Silly girl. I'm glad that she had a 'happy day.'

 I couldn't be prouder to be Sophie's mom. She is a strong, brave, smart, happy, silly and sweet little girl. I tell you, the best things come in small packages. I don't know who I would be without her. She has enhanced my life in so many ways. I never knew that I could love someone so much. She is my world! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for her.

Click the link below for more pictures from this month.

My, How She Has Grown!

     

Birth

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

13 Months

14 Months

15 Months

16 Months

17 Months

18 Months

19 Months

20 Months

21 Months

22 Months

23 Months

24 Months

The End of Summer

It is that time of year again...the end of the summer and back to school for me. I've been feeling bad this past month because Sophie and I have spent more time indoors than out doing different activities. I really wanted her to have a special summer since it is our last one that we will have alone together. Sure she won't remember it, but it still meant something to me. The problem is that it has been so hot this summer so I really didn't want to go outside much unless I was in the pool. Sophie wasn't allowed to go in a pool until her finger was healed, so that took away 2 weeks. Plus, I have been so exhausted since I am pregnant that I just wanted to lounge around on the couch. Those things together have equaled a lazy July/beginning of August. We still did a few activities, but not as much as I had hoped for. I still think we had a good time together though. Sophie can always find something to get into.

Today was our last day before I had to go back to school. I really wanted to make it special, but we both had doctors appointments to go to. So, instead of trying to sleep in a little, we woke up bright and early to head over to Children's Hospital for Sophie's cardiology follow-up. They performed an EKG which came back fine. Everything else sounded normal, besides her bicuspid valve. It is still very minor and the doctor told me that if she were to have bigger issues with it, it wouldn't be until she was a lot older. She shouldn't have any issues with sports or anything else growing up. I love good news like that. They told me that Sophie doesn't have to come back for another year. I however need to go back in a month. Ha! I asked the doctor if any of Sophie's heart issues were genetic issues that her new sibling could have. He told me that the bicuspid valve is genetic and that he would suggest the new baby be checked out. I told him that my doctor wanted a fetal echo performed to check for any abnormalities. He recommended that I have my echo done at Children's with his department (he went on about how only they do echos and everyone else does ultrasounds...I'm pretty sure I had a fetal echo with Sophie, but who knows. I was at least told that is what it was. I'm not sure I understand the difference. I mean they looked at Sophie's heart in utero, so...) I agreed to go there for the echo, especially since Sophie's bicuspid valve wasn't caught during my last fetal echo ultrasound echo (and the doctor told me that it should have been picked up). Hopefully no issues will be found, but if they are I feel good knowing that Sophie's doctor will take care of the new baby.

After Sophie's appointment, we headed to the zoo. As always, Sophie had a wonderful time. We went around searching for animals that she hasn't seen yet this summer. She enjoyed looking at them all, and would tell them each "bye-bye" when she was finished looking at them. I also took her on the carousel when we were there. It was her first time on one and I though that she would cry and scream like all the other kids where were on there. Nope. Sophie held on tight, smiled and didn't make a peep. I'm so glad that she enjoyed it! After a quick nap and lunch at home, we went to my check up. Sophie and my mom got to hang out and listen to the new baby's heartbeat. It took awhile to be able to hear it, but eventually we did. When I turned around to see Sophie's reaction, she had her fingers stuck in her ears. Silly girl.

Even though we had to hang out waiting for doctors for part of the time, I still think that it was a pretty darn good last day of summer for the two of us. I can't wait until next summer when I have both of my babies to spend time with!