Sophia's 12 Month Check-Up

I took Sophia to the doctor yesterday for her scheduled 12 month check-up. Her doctor seemed very pleased with her growth in the last couple of months. While she still remains in the lower percentile for weight (less than 5%), she continues to gain. In fact, she put on over a pound in the last 6 weeks. My doctor simply believes that because I am petite, my girls are too.

Sophia now weighs 16 lbs. 11 oz., and is 28.25" long. Her length puts her in the 25th percentile. She has an incredible appetite -- she eats anything and everything, and cries when you tell her that she's all done. She's been eating 'table foods' for the last couple of months, and manages just fine ... even though she only has 4 teeth.

We started her on cow's milk this last week, and she likes it. We haven't noticed any particular aversions to it, and she will drink it cold. We are working on transitioning her to a sippy cup; it's a struggle right now. She wants nothing to do with it, even though I have tried for a long time to use one with her. (Sam was using a sippy cup at 9 months of age and never used a bottle after that). I'm not too worried about it. I figure that she will finally start using one in the next month or so ...

We see a lot of this these days:

She will pull herself to a 'kneeling' position, but doesn't quite have the strength to pull herself up to a standing position yet. I've seen her do it a couple of times, but she will immediately fall back down within 10 seconds. I asked the doctor about this because I remember that Sam was pulling herself up to the couch at 9 months of age. The doctor doesn't seem too concerned because Sophia CAN do it. It's just a matter of time before she gains the confidence. (I'm really not in too big of a hurry; rather, I am enjoying the fact that she stays low to the ground and can't really do too much harm).

The girls continue to play so well together. Occasionally, I have to remind Sam that she needs to stay near Sophia when they are playing, and not wander off. Sophia is not very good with 'independent play' right now and prefers that someone be right there with her. Otherwise, she'll come looking for you and start to cry.

I love this picture of the girls because Sophia was purposefully making Sam laugh:

And yet, another one of my favorites (they didn't know that I was taking this picture):

I am the luckiest girl in the world -- I have two, healthy and happy little girls that make me smile everyday. I am so proud to call them mine ...

Sophia's First Birthday

Sophia turned one yesterday -- ONE! It's hard to imagine that my little "bunny" is already a year old. She's not a baby anymore; in fact, we are teaching Sam that she needs to refer to Sophia as her "little sister" now, not her "baby sister."

We celebrated her birthday at our house with a "bunny party." We've always referred to her as "our little bunny," so it seemed so appropriate when Sam suggested back in the Fall that we have a bunny birthday party for Sophia when she turned one. And as usual, this momma obliged!

We sent out invitations to our immediate families, keeping the guest list small:

I followed through with a pink bunny theme in our decorations (and am rather excited about the fact that I am now all ready for Easter!):

One of the table centerpieces:

Sam's bunny from Easter last year (on a faux cabbage leaf):

Sophia's bunny from last Easter:

I wrapped the silverware as carrots and tied them with pipe-cleaners:

The dessert table:

I made the strawberry cakes and decorated them with bunnies (my mom did the decorative grass):

I also made bunny cupcakes (with my mom):

Pausing for a quick family photo (with the sun streaming in):

Momma with the birthday girl:

Daddy with the birthday girl:

The big sister (looking SO grown-up):

After dinner (beef tacos), we headed into the livingroom to let Sophia open her gifts. Samantha really struggled with letting her little sister be the one to actually open the presents -- she wanted to do it all.

Samantha wanted Sophia to open the gift from her first:

Helping her sister with the cards:

Checking out the gifts:

The back of Sophia's bunny dress:

After the gifts, we migrated to the kitchen so that Sophia could have her smash cake that I had made for her. I suspected that she would be just like Sam -- not wanting to get her hands dirty. And I was right.

She just kind of sat there, even after Steve put a little of the frosting on her lips:

And then when Steve took her hand and put it in the frosting, well, she wasn't too pleased about that:

We fed her some of it using a fork and she loved the cake. When I decided that she had had enough, she got really angry with me for taking it away:

All in all, it was a beautiful day ... and a beautiful celebration of the last year that this little girl has been a part of our lives. While I'm sad that my little baby is growing up, I am also excited to see her personality develop now that she is becoming more active and slightly more independent.

Happy birthday to my little bunny!

Steve's Birthday Dessert

Steve isn't a big fan of desserts. So, every year for his birthday, I try to make something that he will like without being too "over the top" with sweetness.

In the past, I have made blueberry muffins (and stuck a candle in one of them):

Or I have made homemade angel food cake with strawberries:

But this year, Steve actually asked me to make a cake. And he asked simply because of Samantha -- he knew that she would want to help make an actual cake for his birthday and blow out the candles, etc.

So, he picked out a box of cake mix from the pantry and had it sitting on the kitchen counter this morning when Sam woke up. I told her that Daddy wanted us to make him a cake,and that we would do that while Sophia was taking her morning nap. Sam was thrilled!

She started with the water:

Then the oil:

I added the eggs, and then Samantha set to work stirring before I set up the mixer:

We decided to make a small cake (with no frosting) and then a few cupcakes. Sam was insistent that we make exactly 8 cupcakes, "because Daddy is going to be 38 ..."

She chose the color of cupcake papers and lined the pan:

The carrot cake and cupcakes, ready to be placed in the oven:

While the desserts were baking, I mixed up the frosting. What baking project would not be complete without letting Sam lick the frosting off the spatula at the end??!

After lunch, when the cupcakes were cooled, I let Sam in on a secret -- I told her that we were going to frost the cupcakes with camouflage frosting! Steve loves camouflage and this would make for a very nice surprise for him!

I had mixed up two colors of frosting (green and brown). Then I separated them in my piping bag with a piece of parchment paper. I had previously sprayed the paper, so that when I pulled it out, it would be a smooth transition (sort of). Then, as I squeezed my bag and piped the frosting out, it made a camouflage pattern ... just as I had hoped. We then finished off the look with green and brown sprinkles.

I let Sam do one cupcake all by herself (and you can see why it was only ONE cupcake -- there is NO PORTION CONTROL when it comes to sprinkles!):

Snow Day

Samantha was SO excited this morning when she came down the stairs and saw the fresh snow that had fallen (and was continuing to fall). I promised her that as soon as we were done with breakfast that we could all go outside (her, me and Sophia) and play in the snow.

This was Sophia's first time playing in the snow. We haven't had too many snowfalls this winter, and for the few that we have had, Sam has either gone outside when Sophia wass napping or gone out with just her and Steve.

We didn't stay outside for too long because the snow was still coming down, and it was pretty cold out there. We were out just long enough to enjoy a few laps around the yard before coming back inside to warm up by the fire.

Sophia's first time in the snow:

My girls:

Taking a little rest:

Checking the consistency of the snow to determine if we could "make a Frosty:"

Sophia's first ride in the sled (she didn't really like it too much, even though Sam was very careful with it):

A Comparison

Yesterday, I had a revelation that somewhere in my archives, I had a picture of Samantha at this same age, wearing the same outfit. And I remembered that she was sitting in this exact chair. Without taking the time to actually find that picture, I went ahead and took a couple pictures of Sophia, thinking that it would make for a good comparison photo.

Lo and behold, I found the picture of Samantha this morning. And sure enough, she was this same age (her photo was taken three days after her first birthday). This photo was taken 5 days before Sophia's first birthday.

And once again, whenever I do these comparison photos, I am amazed at the differences in the girls. Sam looks so much like me, and Sophia looks so much like Steve! Sophia is definitely a little smaller than Sam (in terms of weight; they are the same length). That too, is surprising because Sophia was much bigger at birth and is such a voracious eater! Also, Sam had more hair than Sophia at that age!

I cant believe that I am going to have a one-year old in less than a week!

Early Birthday Celebration

As I have mentioned, the end of February is filled with birthday celebrations in our immediate household. Steve's birthday is on the 25th, Sophia's birthday is on the 26th, and then my birthday is on the 27th. Yes, they are all back-to-back-to-back.

When Steve and I were first dating, we laughed about how close our birthdays were to one another; after all, what were the chances that we would both have February birthdays, with one day in between?? And it wasn't long before we became accustomed to celebrating them jointly with our families.

Then last year, as we got closer to the birth of our second child, it became more clear that the baby would be born via c-section ... and it would be at the end of February! After much debate, we chose the baby's birth day -- the day in between our birthdays. That way, the baby would always have its own special day.

We will be celebrating Sophia's 1st birthday this coming weekend on her actual birthday with our families. So, we chose to celebrate Steve and my birthdays together with his family this last weekend ...

(The camera wasn't on the correct setting for some of the pictures, so a few of them are a little blurry. I still wanted to be sure to document them though!)

Opening gifts with my two helpers:

Steve had a helper too:

Sophia was very excited about my new pie dish from my sister-in-law:

My girl and me:

Such a serious gift-opener:

Getting ready to blow out the candles on Steve's cake:

Blowing out the candles on my cake (with Sophia digging in!):

Sam was in heaven -- all she talked about that day was being able to have pizza and cake:

Even Sophia was anxious for cake:

We'll still celebrate our birthdays in a small way here at our house this week. It's really important to Samantha that we have cake ... and candles ... and sing happy birthday. She's has already volunteered (a hundred times) to help all of us with opening gifts and blowing out our candles!

End of the Week Randoms

Sophia is just beginning to show an interest in some of Samantha's old "walkers" and push-toys. For the first time, we put her on this horse and she LAUGHED OUT LOUD with pure happiness.

She's starting to get the hang of using her feet to push herself, but she is still lacking a little bit of strength to hold herself up securely.

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One of the gifts that the girls received this week was filled with rose petals. Sam had the time of her life scattering those all over the house!

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Sophia officially started pulling herself up this week ... mostly using the toybox because it is so sturdy. She doesn't stand for long (only about 10 seconds) before she collapses back down onto the floor. It's only a matter of time before she gets strong enough to stand for longer periods of time.

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We stopped by the vet clinic when we were in town the day after Valentine's Day so that my sister could give Sam a special Valentine's Day present. If the truth be known, I think that just seeing the animals there was enough of a "present" for Sam ...

But Michele still had a little something extra for Sam ...

Including her first candy necklace:

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One of Sophia's latest hiding spots, under the end table in the family room:

These girls certainly keep me busy, but I know that I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything!