Mobile and fearless

Today is full of horrible news coming from Boston.  Two bombs went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon.  So far there have been three deaths and over one hundred people injured - many horribly.  One of your Dad's colleagues ran in the marathon today.  Thank goodness he and his wife were not among the injured.  I write this here only to remind you and myself that every step we take is a risk.  From the first step you take as a toddler to the step you take to cross a street to a step onto a plane to your last push in that marathon.  Death is a part of life - but I hate that I keep having to ask, "why would someone do this?!"  Is it my imagination, or is our world just getting more and more violent?  Or am I just paying more attention because I'm in protective mother mode?  I do worry that we brought you into a world that might not treat you right, Socha.  I fervently hope that you will inherit a better world than what you were born into.  I hope that the adults of this day and age don't ruin the world you will live in as an adult.  We will do our best to keep this world a safe place for you to live and thrive. 

Meanwhile, on a more positive note, you are WALKING!  You had been taking steps since around Valentine's day, but then you got distracted by stairs - climbing up and down stairs - forget about walking, stairs were much more fun!  But when your Nana came to visit on your first birthday, you finally decided that maybe it would be easier to move around with your new stuffed animals in your hands if you just picked yourself up and started walking.  So, that's what you did.  And now you are moving all over the place.  We've even gotten some shoes on you so you can walk outside.  You love walking outside - but never in the direction we want to go.  So our trips to and from the dining hall take a bit more time than they used to.  You still want to go down and climb up stairs, but walking to get to the stairs gets you there faster than crawling these days.

And you're so fearless!  I cringe every time you fall down on the sidewalk, but you just pick yourself up and get going again.  You pick up anything that looks interesting - and sometimes try to put it in your mouth.  One day you had chewed on enough dirt to have muddy drool coming out of your mouth.  Your clothes are getting filthy as are your hands and face.  You LOVE the slide and are learning to like the swing.  I'm sure if your Dad got you out on the swing you would LOVE it too - because he would certainly swing you higher than I will.  I'm convinced that you're going to be an extreme sport athlete, doing all sorts of dangerous and exciting things that will make me panic every time you go out.  I guess that's justice since I did gymnastics and rock climbed and mountain biked - your poor Nana never told me how worried she was about me, but now I know how she must have felt.  And you're not even out of diapers yet!

It has been a lot of fun watching you learn to walk.  Your Dad mentioned tonight that he expected many of these milestones to be sudden, but we're seeing long transitions in you.  From sitting to crawling to walking.  From cooing to shrieking with delight to saying "Hi!" (which we think we can mark as your first word).  We hear you talking to yourself in your baby language and can't wait to hear more words come out of your mouth.  Of course, I'm hoping the next word is "Mama".   You're so close...

Here's a clip of your first attempt at walking away from the dining hall - you got half way to the road and turned back around to get back to the steps at the dining hall.  This will probably be fairly boring for anyone but your parents, but I link to it here for posterity.

Also, I forgot to mention that you are now 1 year old!  Here is the 12th month photo album (that I should have posted a long time ago - I get to post your 13th month in about a week!).

Eleven Months and Counting

In a mere 2 1/2 weeks you will be 1 year old, Socha.  And you're a lucky little girl because your Nana will be visiting for your birthday - she was here when you were born, and she'll get to share your first birthday with you!  We haven't planned any sort of birthday party for you.  I hope you won't hold that against us in the future, but I feel that a 1-year-birthday party is mainly for the parents, not for the birthday girl, and I don't think a party is necessary for us.  Maybe we'll let you have some cake though, even though we haven't yet given you anything with cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup in it yet (unless the children's tylenol counts?).  If you're anything like your Dad and I, you will love sweet stuff, and especially chocolate.  We could be treading thin ice by offering you something sweet and tasty on your birthday.  We will have to think about that...

Meanwhile, here is your 11-month slide show:

There have been several things of note happening in the last couple of weeks.  First is that your sleep has improved a great deal.  Lori has been able to get you to take two naps a day during the week - and she says that you go down fairly easily.  I have not been as successful with 2 naps on the weekends, but we figure you are just to excited to be spending the day with Mom and Dad to be willing to go to bed twice during the day!  But the best news is that you have slept through the night on 15 of the last 19 nights (yes, I'm counting!)!  And when I say "slept through the night", I mean you have not woken up needing to be fed for 10 hours or more during those nights!  Hallelujah!  It was actually rather sudden how you went from needing a nighttime feeding to not - literally one day to the next.  Of course, your parents have gotten used to sleeping all night again, so those rare days when you do wake up make the nights seem much longer.  Amazing how our bodies can get used to sleep again and how awful it is to have that sleep taken away the second (or third or fourth, etc.) time.  We are so happy that you're sleeping well both night and day and that you're eating well and you seem to be growing in leaps and bounds (I guess all that sleep helps in that arena).  Of course, we're leaving for Spring Break in 6 days and will inflict jeg lag on you again.  Hopefully after this trip you will recover your equilibrium quickly.  Or even better, hopefully you will simply keep sleeping well even though your routine is going to be thrown completely out of whack. 

Sleeping soundly even after the shades were open to let in the morning light.

Speaking of eating, you lost your appetite a while back.  We think it was the teething.  But you seem to have found it again and are eating voraciously at every meal.  We've started trying some thicker more textured foods.  The newest batch was not an immediate success.  You actually gagged and spit it all out.  But we're trying to convince you that you can chew and that will help the food go down better.  We've introduced some meats into your diet: chicken and turkey.  You've also had wheat, pasta, onions, butter (mixed in with the chicken and pasta), celeriac juice (ditto), and cinnamon. I think next we might try cottage cheese. Or something with more flavor such as garlic or peppers. 

We dressed you up as a martenitsa for the first of March.  I believe we will always celebrate the first of March as the Bulgarians do - Baba Marta is one of my favorite holidays now!

Chestita Baba Marta!

Well, I was wrong about you walking by your 11-month birthday.  You still aren't officially walking, though you regularly take several steps.  And last Wednesday (February 27th) you took 11 steps.  We think you just don't feel the need to walk yet.  But you are definitely making attempts more often in the last couple of days.  Maybe you'll start walking more often when you figure out that you can move with your toys in your hands that way.  Or maybe you'll start walking when we are visiting friends in France or Bulgaria.  That would be quite a milestone!

No paparazzi!

Cruising along the kitchen cabinets.

More teeth, more sleep, more solid foods, less nursing, and on the verge of walking

You have SEVEN teeth now!  When did that happen?  We knew the top ones were coming in, but suddenly you had 4 on top rather than just the 2 we thought were working their way out.  And then suddenly, a third tooth showed up on the bottom.  You are so full of toothy grins now - it just makes me grin to think about it. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you might have the sleeping thing figured out.  This weekend you had 2 nights of full sleep (11-12 hours) and one night of 8 hours plus 4 hours.  You've regularly gotten about 10-12 hours of sleep every night, with usually one interruption for a bottle after 3 or 4 hours, sometimes two interruptions.  But lately, you seem to have figured out that you don't actually need that bottle at night (I guess I better knock on wood here).  The truth is, you don't need the bottle, you just want the comfort of Mom or Dad's arms and the soothing of the bottle.  But if you can keep getting yourself back to sleep at night, you'll get more and better sleep and feel great every day (OK, I'm obviously not going to convince you, I just wish I could make you understand this).  So, keep sleeping!  You can do it!  Oh, and you're doing really well with naps with Lori (not so well with me).  Keep up the good work!

New foods to add to your list: mangoes, lentils, plums, barley, and we're now trying corn and cherries.  You also are finally actually eating the rice puffs rather than sucking on them and then spitting them out.  I guess this means it's time to start trying real finger foods.  I better go out and get some carrots to cook for you.  You've had a voracious appetite lately - I love to watch you eat.  You eat with such gusto!  I hope you always enjoy eating as much as you do now - of course, I also hope that you eat healthy and nutritious foods.  This could be problematic, because your Dad and I have sweet tooths (or would that be sweet teeth?) (me more than him, for sure).  I've wanted to get sugar out of my diet for years, but have never had the strength of will to actually follow through (the last time I tried, I went cold turkey for a week and then binged like crazy on cookies and ice cream and cake and candy afterwards - NOT good habits to emulate, I'll have you know).

Speaking of food, you have pretty much decided that you're through with nursing.  I keep offering and you keep refusing almost every time.  When you do nurse, it's for just a few minutes and it's clearly not filling you up.  I pump occasionally, but I'm really not producing much anymore, so it seems that 11 months is when I wills top trying.  The CDC says that mothers should nurse for the first year and the WHO says mothers should nurse for the first 2 years.  I had every intention of making it to one whole year - I went through a lot of trouble to be able to nurse in the first place - so it's a little disappointing that I won't make that long.  I'm sorry that you aren't interested any more, but I don't want to force you, so I guess you are weaning yourself.  I'll have to look at the bright side and be thankful that it's not a difficult process.

A couple of other things happening: you are throwing everything you can get your hands on - blocks, books, balls, bibs, burp cloths (the alliteration there was completely unintentional).  You especially like the soccer ball that Nana and Grampy gave you for Christmas.  Here is a short video of you playing catch with me:

You also love to go through the drawers in your dresser and take socks out of the sock drawer and spread them into the other drawers.  Also, the shirts, onesies, and pants are summarily tossed out of the dresser full stop.  It certainly keeps me busy picking up after the explosions of clothes and toys.  I love watching you do things with such flare!

Shirt-tossing in action.  Check the pink shirt in the upper left corner...

And finally, five people have seen you take at least one step recently.  The first time I saw you take a step (and then 2) was 3 evenings ago.  You were standing and chewing on something and actually lifted up one foot then the other.  Since then I've seen you try one step several times.  Yesterday you took one step while we were Skyping with Nana and Grampy, so they got to see.  Then today, you took two steps for Lori.  And finally, this evening, you actually took 4 steps while your Dad and I were hanging out with you after dinner.  We might have even gotten a short video of a step or two.  My bet is that you'll be walking by Friday (your 11-month birthday!).

In Honor of the Recent Snopocalypse, Introducing...

SNOWCHA!

Measuring how deep the snow is after the Snopocalypse.

Check out the grin in this short video (I had to trim the video because the rest of it was very "Blair Witchy" due to me trying to keep up and take video at the same time - but this captures the best part - waving arms and a happy little girl; also, you don't really need the sound for this...):

Sorry the video is so low-quality. The grin I speak of is as Snowcha glides past me and looks up.  Trust me, it's an enormous, eye-squinchy grin. :)

10 Months

I've probably mentioned this before, but it keeps happening, so I'll keep mentioning it.  Every once in a while I'm stopped in my tracks by the thought that I have a child.  Socha, after having the greatest luck in meeting your Dad, you are the best thing that has happened in my life.  I still can't believe I went through a pregnancy and birth and colic and I'm now dealing with trying to teach you how to eat solids and sleep through the night.  Every day is an adventure - we're all learning something new.  Just yesterday, you were playing with Lori and I walked into the room, and I just had to stop and simply stare in wonder.  You came from us.  You bring us such joy.  You bring joy to practically anyone who sees you.  It's possible that you smile more than you sleep these days (OK, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but you really do smile a lot.  It's wonderful!).

So recently you've been working on tooth #5.  You haven't been in a lot of pain, but you sure are drooling a lot - enough to require a bib at all times.  Luckily you've gotten over your cold so there isn't the addition of snot to your drool...

You are learning to put small blocks inside the bigger blocks.  I think you like the sound they make when you shake them.  You still don't want a tower to stand.  In fact, you dump the plastic donuts off their spindle every chance you get, so it seems that no tower of any kind is allowed in your presence.  We've started tickling you, mostly because you have the most wonderful laugh and we want to hear it as much as possible.  You also have learned to enjoy rides in boxes or laundry hampers (this elicits giggles too).  You're standing really well these days.  This morning I watched you stand up on your mattress in your crib - without pulling up on the sides.  You'll be walking before I know it!

More foods on your list: strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, amaranth (a grain).  We're trying quinoa and raisins right now.  Your appetite has come back since you started feeling better.  Of course, this increases the number of poops per day.  We take the good with the bad...

Here's month 10 in pictures:

More Learning

I forgot to mention several things in the last post.

You have started growling/sounding like a velociraptor when you are waking up/falling asleep/very excited about something.  I'm beginning to wonder if you are being possessed by a demon!

You have learned to clap and give high fives.  You giggle when we do high fives.

You have also learned to kiss (in a way).  When I make kissy noises and ask for a kiss, you open your mouth and aim for my chin.  One time you even tried to give me some tongue! :)

You like pushing things through the slats in your crib and the gate over the stairs.  It's particularly entertaining to you when things go bouncing down the stairs.

It's possible that you are trying to use sign language to say more.  It's also possible that you're just clapping.

For some reason you really hate having to get dressed lately.  And getting undressed.  And diaper changes.  I think it probably has to do with your mobility and your not wanting to have to lie/sit still for more than 2 seconds.
You also hate having your nose wiped, even when it clears you up so you can breath again.  Your ability to produce crocodile tears in seconds is pretty amazing.

You LOVE being outside and you really seem to like the cold.  You flap your arms in excitement when we go out for walks (long walks or just the walk to the dining hall).

We think you're saying "Momma" when you say "na-na", and you really sound like you're saying "Dada".  I'm not ready to mark down your first word yet, though.

You've started screeching at the top of your lungs - and it's a very sharp sound - for the sheer joy of making noise. 

Grinding Teeth and Trying to Sleep

Dear Socha,

I haven't put any updates up lately but you have been going through lots of interesting things over the last several weeks! 

We flew out to California for Christmas.  The second flight, from Philadelphia to San Francisco, was  doozy.  It was over 6 hours long, and you, my little imp, slept all of 20 minutes!  You were in a great mood, but you just didn't want to sleep and you wanted to be moving around, so we had to keep you entertained.  Traveling with you when you were less mobile was a lot easier! 

We stayed at your Uncle Keith's new place in Placerville.  Nana and Grampy came out too, so you were surrounded by Savages for the holiday!  While we were there, your third tooth finally popped out (on December 27, 2012)!  You've been teething for months and we feel really bad about the amounts of pain reliever we've been giving you - but the Doctor says it's OK.  It was great to see Keith's new place and Nana and Grampy (and Keith, though he would never admit it <wink>) really enjoyed hanging out with you.  We visited a state park near Keith's house and drove out to South Lake Tahoe as well.  We wanted to get Keith out into California - and I think he liked it, since he was talking about visiting Tahoe in the spring or summer.  So we got him a California map made by Benchmark (our favorite map-making company).  Now we need to get him the California atlas...

Uncle Keith and a cat toy!  What could be better?

Nana made me a Christmas stocking.

The Savage Clan on the shore of Lake Tahoe.

Have to taste the map before we give it to Uncle Keith.

We also spent some time in San Francisco where you met our friends, Andris and Prairie.  By the time you got used to Pacific time we were ready to head to Michigan (and Eastern time) to visit the Jewett Clan.

In Michigan we stayed for most of the week at the VanAntwerp's.  Your cousins loved cuddling with and playing with you.  The Jewett boys came over on New Year's day, so the Van Antwerp home was a house of chaos!  Helen was having a hard time deciding whether you were cool to play with or you were trying to steal all her toys.  She was definitely at the "Mine!" stage and she let you know what was hers (and not yours!) regularly - "My momma!", "My book!", "My stairs!", etc.  You were taken by all the children, but at moments you seemed to try to fade into the background and step away from all the chaos for a while.  I enjoyed watching you dig through the toy basket during these moments - you were very focused and made sure to stick each toy in your mouth.

Waking up to very energetic cousins.

The Van Antwerp/Jewett/Savage band.

Maggie loved being helpful.

Helen says, "Mine!"

Teething cousins.

Learning to French kiss with the mirror.

One day we went to "Sky Zone" - a trampoline park/gym.  Basically this place had multiple trampolines covering the floor AND walls and you just get to jump around like crazy!  Lots of fun for us, and I think you actually really enjoyed watching all the people.  There were a couple of different themes for the trampoline rooms - just plain jumping, dodgeball (which your cousin John VA LOVED), and the foam block pit.  I could not work up the guts to do any flips, but just jumping up and down on a trampoline is a lot of fun. :)

Getting ready to jump.

Seriously, could this be any more fun?!

You got to meet your cousins Brittany and Katie for the first time while we were there.  We met them for a long lunch in Okemos.

Cousins Brittany and Katie.

By Thursday of that week, almost the entire Van Antwerp clan had a cold or the flu and your grandpa Tom also had the flu.  We hoped we could leave Michigan unscathed, but the odds were stacked against us.  We spent Friday at great grandma Helen's.  You charmed all the relatives - great grandma, great aunt Sue, great uncle Jim, great aunt Nancy, grandpa Tom, and uncle Jim.  We had a lovely day there getting caught up on everybody's travels.

At Grandma Helen's.

Dinner time!

Hi!

Grandpa Tom is not so sure about that...

A ribbon in my hair.

At the airport, checking to make sure there's no water in the bottle.

With the Jewett boys!

Then it was back to Massachusetts.  Your Dad is in the midst of his second-year review at Deerfield, so he was pretty stressed out that first week back.  Plus both he and I had come down with the cold from the Van Antwerp's (at least it ended up not being the flu - we all had flu shots, so we're pretty sure that helped decrease the effects of the illness).  Plus your sleep schedule was WAY off.  Plus I was pretty behind with work.  And you had an appointment with the Brain, Cognition, and Development lab for their research.  So that first week was a bit of a doozy.  We made it through.

Part 1 of the Brain, Cognition, and Development lab - watching where the eyes go.

Part 2 of the BCD lab - reading brainwaves while looking at pictures.

You had your 9-month checkup with Dr. O'Brien (at about 9 1/2 months).  She said you look great!  You are 30 inches long, and weigh 20 pounds 5 ounces!  Getting big - you're in the 95th percentile for height and the 68th percentile for weight.  Though you were at the beginning of the cold that day, you looked really good to the doctor.  She also said she thinks you'll definitely be walking by the time you turn 1 year old.  

Then you got sick.  Poor thing.  You are so snotty and now you're coughing and congested.  You are having a terrible time sleeping which has made it hard for us to sleep, so we're not quite over our colds yet either.  And this illness just adds insult to injury for you - your fourth tooth popped out yesterday (January 16, 2013).  And you've begun grinding your teeth together!  I hope you're doing this just because it feels different and makes a funny sound - not because you're stressed and clenching your jaw (like I do).  The sound makes us shudder.  But now that the tooth is through and you are on the mend with the cold, I'm hoping that you will get a break from feeling uncomfortable for a while.  And I hope that your sleep will get better - you were doing really well right before we left for the holidays, but the travel and then the illness have completely derailed our progress.  At least I know that you can sleep for long periods.  We just have to work on getting you to do it!

You are crawling faster and with more purpose these days.  And you are standing up on your own and balancing for long periods of time.  You still grin at us when we say "No!" and you're figuring out when it's time to sit down for a meal (you head to the table and start trying to climb up into your chair).  You're helping us turn the pages in your books and you're trying to put small boxes into the big boxes.  It's amazing to see you learn and watch you discover how something works.  If only humans could learn so much in such a short time all their lives!

Using the whisk as a microphone...

As usual, you bring joy to everyone who sees you.  You've begun singing, so that when we walk together to and from the dining hall, you and I sing terribly off-key duets very loudly.  You definitely like the sound of your own voice.  I suppose we should try to get a video/sound recording of this some day soon.

And finally, several new foods have been added to your menu: broccoli, green beans, yogurt, blue berries, and spinach.  We're trying squash again since a month ago you might have had a reaction to them.  We're also trying to get you to eat more solid things like carrot bits and puffs.  You are learning to drink from a cup but not well yet.  Next we need to work on more protein, I think.  And let you practice eating those puffs more often.  Maybe peaches will be your next food...