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!

Sophie Has Some News...

23 Months

One more month until my girl turns 2! I can't wait!

Sophie is at such a fun age right now. She has such a big personality and never fails to make us laugh. Her vocabulary keeps growing and I can't get over how smart she is. I get so impressed at the words/directions that she understands and the things that she remembers. She is like a little sponge, absorbing everything. I also love how helpful she is. She puts toys away (for the most part) when she is asked, will throw trash away, go get items for me, take my hand and direct me to what she wants, etc. Nice! This girl just amazes me. I love her so much.

When I took Sophie to the doctor's for her finger last week (click here for the story), she weighed 16 lb 4 oz. She hasn't even gained 3 pounds this year. Geez! Still, Joe and I have decided not to worry about her weight anymore (we've said this before, but really mean it this time). No more tests being run, no more GI visits, no more agonizing over each ounce. As long as Sophie is healthy, active and eating and drinking, we are satisfied and will let her do her own thing. However, if any of those things change, we will go right back to the doctors for help. I discussed this with Sophie's nurse case manager from Humana (the awesome Tonya, who helped me a lot when we had tests to be approved for and feeding tube supplies to deal with) and she agreed with our decision. I have to say, it is very freeing to let go of the worry over her weight. She is going to be small and that is just fine with us.

We went on vacation earlier this month to Coldwater Lake, Michigan. We used to always go when I was little, so I love being able to share the lake with Sophie. Last year when we went, Sophie had her first ear infection. Her fevers were so high and she was miserable. Luckily we didn't have that problem this year. Sophie was in good health (minus a little heat rash) and she had so much fun! She loved the water and was not afraid to walk right in and sit down and play in it. (The lake water was actually pretty darn warm and it is really shallow. We would go 1/3 of the way across the lake and it would still only be up to our waist). Sophie especially loved playing with her cousin all week long.  The girls had so much fun together. Sophie even started to like 'Aunt Beba' again (she was bribed by an unlimited amount of popsicles).

Sophie still isn't that interested in potty training. She has peed on the potty a few more times, but it very random. She can tell us when she poops but doesn't want to do it on the potty. A few weeks ago I saw that she was starting to poop (leaned up again the couch with her head down). I asked her if she wanted to poop on the potty and she looked up at me and yelled, "NO!" before putting her head back down. That is okay. There is no big rush to get her trained. Besides, I still can't find any underwear small enough for her.

Sophie has started to drink out of  a cup this month. She doesn't use one all of the time, but she is getting good practice. We've had a few spills on the floor and dribbles down her shirt, but she has done surprisingly well. Sophie is pretty specific about what she will drink out of certain containers. She will only drink milk out of a bottle. She will only drink water out of sippy cups. She will only drink juice out of juice pouches. For cups though, she will drink water or lemonade. As soon as she sees me get lemonade out of the fridge, she will say, "Want some!" We'll sit and drink our lemonade together, giving obnoxious lip smacks and 'ahhhh's after each drink. Oh, how I love Sophie.

Ahhhhh

Enjoy some pictures from this month after the jump:

Stuck!

Last week, Sophie got her finger stuck in our shower drain. So scary. Sophie really likes taking showers (a treat she doesn't get often and probably won't get for a long time now) with me. Since we both needed clean hair and Joe was going to the Reds game, I figured we might as well kill two birds with one stone. She was so excited and was trying to get her clothes off as she walked to our bathroom. So we got in the shower and she made me sit on the floor with her. We shampooed our hair and I stood up to get the hand held shower head down so we could rise. As soon as I stood up I heard a frantic, "STUCK! STUCK!" I look down and she had moved to the middle of the shower, right above the drain. Now, Sophie often thinks things are stuck on her, like her shoes, so I wasn't thinking it was anything serious at first. I grabbed her little hand and gave a small tug and sure enough, she was stuck. I felt sick to my stomach and panicked. I turned off the water and tried to think of what to do. Go get a screwdriver to unscrew the drain? Seriously, that was my first thought. I didn't think about the bottle of shampoo right next to her that could lube up her finger. (And what if I did get that screwdriver? Her finger would have still been stuck. Geez.) I just couldn't think straight. I went to try pulling out her finger again and I had no luck. Obviously I wasn't pulling hard enough, because my little She-Ra pulled her finger out on her own. I was so relieved that her finger was out until her cries of, "Stuck!" turned into a howl of agony. I looked at her newly released finger and saw it covered with blood. I grabbed her and took her over to the bathroom sink to wash off the blood so I could see the wound more clearly. It just kept bleeding and I couldn't gauge how bad things were. At this point Sophie is screaming so loud and shaking so hard that I started to panic even more. I looked around the bathroom to find something to wrap her finger up with. I had nothing but big bath towels, but I finally found a bandanna under the sink (a clean one for my hair). I wrapped her finger up, squeezed my hand around it and tried calling Joe. I knew that he would know what I should do (and he would have been able to calm me down), but there was no answer. I tried three more times, but apparently his phone didn't have reception or something. Then I try our pediatrician's office to talk to the on call doctor. I left a message for them explaining the situation and tried Joe again. Nothing. At this point I am a wreck and just don't know what to do. I wasn't sure if Sophie needed stitches or what. I kept thinking that I needed to take her to the ER; I really didn't know how bad things were and I wanted to play it safe. All I knew was there was a lot of blood and she was screaming and shaking with pain. I wasn't sure about how to actually get her to the hospital. I doubted she would let me strap her into her car seat. Even if she did, I wasn't sure how I was going to drive while still holding her finger to put pressure on it. Again, I am not thinking clearly. I completely didn't think about any of the medical supplies we have, including tape to wrap up her finger. *sigh* I didn't know what else to do, so for the second time in my life, and the second time this summer, I called 911 (the first was when Sophie was locked in the car.) The dispatcher said that they would an ambulance out to our house so the EMTs could assess the situation. (I felt very stupid about this, by the way-having an ambulance come out for a finger injury seemed so dumb. Still, I had no other ideas as to what to do and I was worried for Sophie. It is extremely obvious that you don't want me by your side in an emergency.) While waiting for the ambulance (about 7-10 minutes), I had enough time to quickly rinse the shampoo out of our hair (yup, it was still in there), get us dressed, talk to the on call nurse from the pediatrician's office (she was no help so I'm glad the EMTs were on their way), give Sophie some medicine, and go outside to wait. The EMTs were great. They looked at the finger and said that she just pulled off a layer of skin from her finger (apparently finger just bleed a lot). There was no need for stitches or to go to the hospital. They wrapped it up in gauze, taped it up, and gave Sophie a high five. Seriously, why couldn't I have done this? Oh well, at least she was going to be okay.

I took Sophie to see her doctor the next day. He confirmed what the EMTs had said. He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic cream and told me to change her bandages twice a day for about two weeks. Sophie did not like that plan though. See, my child is small but mighty. Even with me holding her body and trying to keep her arm still, it is very difficult for Joe to change her bandage. I tried to do it once on my own and she wouldn't even let me take off the bandage. So we only change it once a day. We also have only been dressing her in dresses that button on the shoulders because she doesn't want to put her arm through sleeves (she just steps into these dresses and doesn't have to have anything happen to her arms). She is getting better with this now though. For a few days, she even refused to let us put her arm with the hurt finger through the strap on her car seat. Poor kid!

Sophie is feeling a lot better, but her finger still hurts. She definitely doesn't want anyone to touch her finger or mention it. If you do mention it, she will automatically lay her head on your shoulder and hug onto you. Poor thing. It is nice to have her so snugly, but I hate why. I just feel so awful about the whole thing. I couldn't sleep those first two nights because I kept replaying the whole thing in my head. It is hard to hear or see your child in pain and it isn't something you forget easily. Plus I couldn't stop kicking myself over how badly I handled the situation. Poor Sophie had to have this happen with me, the person with no medical expertise at all and who obviously doesn't do well in a crisis. Her dad is a physician assistant who would have been great in this situation. Not only would he have know what to do, but he would have done it calmly and efficiently. (Ending my pity party now.) Rotten luck for Sophie all around.

The drain. I guess those little holes looked like fun. 

After the EMTs wrapped the finger.

I've included a picture of her finger without a bandage after the jump. Kinda gross, but it is blurry enough that you shouldn't want to hurl.

First Reds Game

In honor of Sophie turning 22 months old, we took her to her first Reds game. The Reds are pretty important to me and Joe. Our first date was at a Reds game and he proposed to me after a game. Going to a game was something we really wanted Sophie to experience. We didn't want to take her when she was too young (sometimes I feel bad for the little newborns out in the heat), so we figured this day was as good as any other. Of course, watching a game with a 22 month old is a little difficult. It was really hot and she became bored pretty quickly. We only stayed for a few innings (a few in our seats, and a few watching in the shade) before heading home. Still, it was great to be able to share our love for the Reds with Sophie.

Sophie was covered in sweat. It was HOT outside! 

Popcorn cheered Sophie right up. The bag was just as big as her!

Cooling down with some ice cubes.

You get a certificate for the first game you attend. I think that is pretty darn cool. 

22 Months

It is getting closer and closer to Sophie's 2nd birthday. There are only 2 months to go!

I have been doing my best to keep Sophie busy and entertained this summer. If you are an avid reader of this blog, you are probably caught up on the major things that have happened this month: zoo trips, Kindermusik, getting locked in a car, trips to Maw-maw's pool, story time at Joseph Beth, three new teeth, etc. If you aren't an avid reader (aka everyone besides my mom), feel free to look at some of the older posts.

Talking to Maw-maw on the phone.

Here are some other highlights from the month:

• We have been working really hard on good manners. I try to get Sophie to say 'please' when she is asking for something and to say 'thank you' when she receives something. She is doing really well with it. I don't have to remind her as much as I used to, though she still needs prompting. There are times when she picks something up or puts something away and she reminds ME to say thank you! So funny! I love hearing her use good manners. The funniest though is when she wants Joe or me to get up. She will push our backs and say, "Go! Go!" If we don't get up, she changes her command a little by saying, "Go, please!" We do as she says since she asked nicely. Bossy little thing. 
• Speaking of Sophie being bossy, she is all about telling people where to sit this month. Once she gets comfortable sitting somewhere, she will point to the spot next to her and command you to 'sit!' She is very persistent.
• Everyday Sophie is adding more words to her vocabulary. It is surprising what she remembers. I really have to watch what I say now. 
• Sophie is recognizing/memorizing the pattern of numbers now and can count to three. We have to start it out by saying, "One..." and the she will continue with, "two, three." When we walk up the stairs together (me holding one or both of her hands) I always count the stairs (there are 13). This week she has started counting with me. Besides 1, 2, and 3, she also will count 5, 7, and 9. Not sure why she skips the even numbers, but it is still something. 

•  Sophie has become incredibly attached to her blanket and pacifier. She has always liked them, but she could go without them if needed. Now she demands them to be around basically at all times. She can't have one without the other either. If she has her blanket, she wants her 'papi' and if she has her pacifier she wants her 'blankie.' I hope this is just because she has been teething. I really want to get rid of the pacifier this summer and now I'm not sure how that is going to go. 
• Whenever Sophie gets a 'boo-boo,' we can instantly fix it by giving it a kiss. Sophie also has us kiss old scratches and bruises. She will even kiss my 'boo-boos' and Joe's. It is so cute and sweet. 
• The most exciting thing for me this month is that Sophie is becoming a better passenger in the car. She has always been rotten in the car - crying, screaming, throwing things (including pacifiers that she will cry for a minute later). There have been times when I would be going somewhere with her and turn right back around and go home because I couldn't take the screaming. I just can't tune it out. This month though has been so much better. She still has some meltdowns, but they have been very infrequent. I'm not sure if this is because we have done so much driving that she is getting used to it or if it is because she has her pacifier and blanket with her at all times. Whatever the cause, I am loving it. 

Click below for more pictures from this month.

Kindermusik

This week Sophie attended a Kindermusik camp, Zoo Train.

At camp, we did a lot of singing, dancing, moving around and playing. Well, I should say that I did a lot of that. Sophie did a little bit of dancing, lots of moving around the room, and a ton of playing with her hair (it is a security thing for her I have decided. She constantly does this.) Sophie was more interested in doing her own thing than following along in class. It was pretty entertaining to me to see what she would do next. She usually started out class in the middle of the circle (while most of the other kids were standing with their moms), playing with her hair and looking at everyone else. When we sang good morning to everyone, I would pull her back to sit on my lap. As we sang, we would do different actions to the kids, such as waving or rocking. When I would do this, Sophie would stop playing with her hair long enough to grab my hand and say, "Mommy, no!" I think I was embarrassing her! Already a teenager... After that, she would get up for more time in the middle of the circle. She would edge towards some mom/child combo and stare them down or start 'talking' to them. (I was told many times that she was so social and friendly.) Then she would run over to me so that I would hold her. My favorite thing to watch Sophie do was when she would sit down on Ms. Cindy's pillow. Once Ms. Cindy would get up, Sophie would find her way over to the pillow and sit down, a big grin on her face. Today she down on it while Ms. Cindy was still on it, which put a big smile on Ms. Cindy's face.

Sophie really liked playing with the different instruments and materials. She didn't usually do what everyone else in class was doing with them, but that is okay. She had fun doing her own thing. She played with shakers, bells, scarves, hoops, noise makers, drums, and so on. Whenever Ms. Cindy would pull out a tub of materials, Sophie would scurry over to her so that she could get one. She was always one of the first kids to get something, as well as one of the first to put them away.
Sophie's favorite part about Kindermusik had to be the stamps that they got at the end of class. She would follow Ms. Cindy around, sticking out her hand or foot so that it could be stamped. Sophie would stare with confusion, wondering why she was being ignored. When it was finally her turn, Sophie would excitedly hold out her feet to get stamped and then her hands. Kids only get two stamps at a time though, so Sophie had to wait until every had two stamps so that she could get more. So yet again, she would follow Ms. Cindy around the room.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

We were given a craft each day to do at home. This really means that I cut out and put together the craft and Sophie played with them.

Day 1 - Sophie helped tape the arms and legs on the monkey. We hung  it up in her room. Each morning when I get her up, she points to it and says, "ooohhh ohhhh eeeee  eeee" (her monkey noises).

Day 2 - We tried stamping Sophie's fingerprints on the giraffe. It didn't work out that well, but  that is okay.

Day 2

Day 3 - Sophie loves lions, so she roars whenever she plays with this. 

Day 3 - This one was probably her favorite craft. She has played with it each day.

Day 4 - So this is supposed to be a penguin. I was supposed to trace one of my hands and both of hers to create it. It didn't turn out so well. Sophie immediately tore it apart, so I guess she didn't like it either. 

Day 5 - homemade play dough (Sophie requested that I make it purple.)

Day 5 - We were supposed to make animal shapes with the play dough,  so I guess this is a snake. (There, we followed directions.)

Sophie liked playing with this. She did not enjoy eating it though. As soon as I gave it to her, she  bent over and bit off a piece. She looked pretty disgusted. 

All in all I think Sophie enjoyed her time with Kindermusik. I'm not sure if it is something we would do again (I'm not the 'Mommy and Me' type), but I'm glad that she was able to have this experience. Now I just wish I could get the songs out of my head!

 ♩ ♪ Everyone sing hooray, hooray! We're going to the zoo today... ♩ ♪