Busy Summer Weekend

Friday night dinner with Dee Ree and Pop Pop

Hanging out in her My Sweet Peace swing

So True

Party Dress

We've had a nice weekend overall. On Friday, Sophie had a great day with the sitter while I went into the office for a half day to be able to attend an all-staff meeting and then worked from home in the afternoon. She was really happy and even fell asleep in her bouncy seat for the sitter. Friday night Dee Ree and Pop Pop wanted to come over and visit so they brought dinner and Sophie was awake and happy throughout most of their visit. On Saturday, we took Sophie to get her first professional photos taken at JCPennys. We took her sort of late in the afternoon so she was pretty tired by then and didn't give us really huge smiles but the photos are still adorable and we can't wait to get them back. Then, when we came home our neighbors were having a big party so we took Sophie over for that and she had a great time meeting people and listening to the music. She did really well there but it was a late night for her for sure. Today, Sunday, she has slept like crazy to make up for being awake and so much activity yesterday, I guess. She took two very long naps (about 3 hours each) in my arms. I was a bit worried she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight but as I type she is in the bedroom sleeping away. Tomorrow, I take her in for another round of vaccinations. Hopefully, she won't have any adverse reactions to them. On the downside of things, Sophie's Great Grandpop MacDougall is not doing well. We are sending him and Great Grandmom MacDougall all our love and prayers and wishing we were there to give them both big hugs.

Happy 3 Month Birthday, Sophia

Wow. 3 Months. We can't believe it. She's so big and so smart and so fun. And, cute, too. No, we're not at all biased. Happy Birthday Sophia Grace! We love you!

Sophie in her Baby Bjorn Bouncer

Ok, so we got this great bouncer that came very highly reviewed a month or two ago when Sophie absolutely hated her other bouncer and swing. She actually likes this one more now and has even mastered the art of making the cute wooden bears twirl around. She has a preference for the red one (though it could be because that bear is on the right and we believe she's right-handed as far as we can tell) and actually seems especially intrigued by all things red. Over the weekend Jim was wearing a red Wilco shirt and she was mesmerized everytime he walked near her. Of course, Jim has that effect on all the ladies in the house!




Falling over (but happy) during a recent photo shoot.

"I'm happy, Mommy!"

Sophia meets her Uncle Bubba (aka Richard)

This past Sunday, Sophie finally got to meet her Uncle Bubba who was able to stop over for a little visit and a kiss! Sometimes I think Sophie looks a bit like Bubba, especially when he was a little baby. I'll have to dig up some of the insanely adorable photos of Richard as a little baby and scan them in to do a side by side comparison. I remember vividly when Richard was born - I was 15 years old and had the great privilege of watching him be born. What an experience!!! I knew from that moment what a miracle it truly is when a baby comes into this world and surely it has been nothing less than that for Sophie's arrival and her presence here now.

We survived!!

Well, we survived my first day back to work. It was so incredibly hard and I was a total wreck on Sunday and this morning but once I was actually in the car and on the way in, it wasn't as bad. And once at the office I had plenty of distraction so didn't have too much time to get sad. Plus, people have been so kind to check up on me and to send me encouraging thoughts. My colleague Shelly was so sweet and put a card and a Starbucks giftcard on my door to greet me upon return - how cool is that?? And, thanks for everyone's phone calls and texts - I really appreciate it. Honestly, I thought labor was hard. Then, Sophie was a tough baby and cried so much between weeks 2 and 6 and I thought THAT was hard. But, now I think leaving your not even three month old baby to go back to work is the hardest thing a new mom has to do... My mom, the amazing Dee Ree, was here at home with her today and they apparently had a wonderful day together so it was a good start and I knew she had the best possible care but still... To my mind, the only upside really is that when I came home holding Sophia was that much sweeter. Thankfully, I will be working from home a lot this summer but still this is going to be a huge transition to work full-time now and to have to leave her on a regular basis. I know it will all work out, though. It will just take time.

In other news, overall we had a pretty good first family trip to Gettysburg. The drive there took us about three hours and I'd say Sophie cried about 50% and slept about 50%. We ended up having a nanny come to Gettysburg to watch her while we went to Heather and Pat's wedding and unfortunately, the nanny wasn't able to get her to sleep and she was pretty freaked out being in a hotel room with a stranger (who wouldn't, really?). So, when we got word that things weren't going too well, we had to leave the wedding early and go back to the hotel which was about 20 mins away from the wedding site. But, we got to see the reception and cocktail hour and it was just lovely. The bride was gorgeous, the flowers were beautiful, and the location was really just lovely. After we got back to the room, Sophie calmed down and pretty quickly went to sleep so that was nice. On Saturday we woke up and went to see hhistroic Gettysburg. Our first family trip! Unforutnately, we didn't get any photos of the three of us in Gettysburg but we took an auto-tour and Sophie did really well and was happy and talking and mostly content through about an hour of that. Then, she got fussy and quite honestly it was time to go anyway so we set off for our drive home. Amazingly enough, she slept almost the entire ride home (nearly 3 hours) and only woke up once for about 5 mins. Poor thing was exhausted from the night before, I think. Overall a huge success!!

Chillin with my "boyfriend" Max

You may remember that Max is the baby of Amelia, one of the Three Preggos. Max is an awesome baby - very happy all the time. Sophie and Max will be buddies for life!

Week of much happiness

We're having a lovely last week before my maternity leave is over.

On Monday, Amy and the kids came over and Sophie had her first swim in the pool. It was a quick dip but a dip nonetheless. There will be much more swimming this summer for sure. Check out this cute swimsuit her Grandma Kathy sent her!




On Tuesday, we went to see the Garden Trains exhibit at Morris Arboretum. Sophie tolerated this ok but wasn't having anything to do with her stroller so I ended up carrying her and rocking her throughout the Arboretum while Trey squealed in delight at all the awesome trainness. That night, Sophie had her first bath without a single tear. She actually seemed to enjoy it a little - big progress!!



Yesterday, Sophie and I just hung out here in the house all day. She slept a good deal of the morning while I held her, bouncing on the exercise ball and playing around on facebook, typing with one hand! Then in the afternoon, we played with rattles, had some photo shoots and she went on her boppy playmat twice!

Today is the last day we have alone together before I start work. As I type she is sleeping soundly in my arms (as I bounce her on the execise ball of course). Tomorrow, we are off for our first trip together as a family. We will be going to Gettysburg for Heather and Pat's wedding tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see how Sophie does on a two and a half hour car ride!! Wish us luck!

It's been a great week...She is getting lots of sleep and just seems overall so much happier. I think total fussing/crying time has been about an hour each day max. We haven't had to use the hair dryer once this week. She even seems to wake up happier and more ready to greet the day than before. This is AWESOME! Huge progress... I'm so proud of her and so pleased that she seems to really be adjusting to life "on the outside" finally. Who knows what it was those weeks of crying (Fourth Trimester? Colic? Sleep Adjustment? Stars misaligned?) but I'm so very grateful and pleased for both Sophie as well as for us that we seemed to have turned the corner and, for now at least, we're not turning back.

My Future's So Bright...

I gotta wear shades!!!

Ok, so this is Sophie's first photo shoot with her sunglasses. Cute doesn't even descrbe it. I think she liked having them on. She was even more the superstar than usual...






Today marks Sophie's 12 week birthday. It is also my last week of maternity leave so I am cherishing every moment with her even more than before. It's been a really great week so far. She has gotten into a better nap routine (though in my arms not in her crib or anything) and just seems overall a happier baby. She goes for stretches of being really content just hanging out in her papasan and laughing at the lights and ceiling fan. These give me little bursts of time to throw in a load of laundry, do some dishes or catch a shower - woohoo!

As for my maternity leave being over soon of course I am extremely sad and not looking forward to my time with her without the intrusions of work being over, but I am so grateful to have had this time and to be able to work from home quite a bit over these next few months. That said, we had a nanny come out a few weeks ago. She is going to help me watch Sophie one day a week. When I handed Sophie over to her and Sophie was pretty content with her, I just lost it. I was a blubbering fool. I'm really glad that this nanny is so good and she will be able to give Sophie the one on one time I think she really needs but man, what a gut-wrenching feeling to hand your baby over to a stranger. In the meantime, we are on a few waitlists for daycares and have an in-home family care provider possibly lined up for fall. My mom, the amazing Dee Ree, will also be helping watch Sophie one day a week. Somehow it will all work out and I know Sophie will be in good hands but man, did these past 12 weeks time ever fly by.

Family Photo Shoot

Doesn't this look like an Anne Geddes photo? On father's day, we had our first family photo shoot out in the backyard. You can see some more of the photos plus a newly posted video of Sophie on the SmugMug site.

Happy 1st Father's Day to Daddy!!

Happy 1st Father's Day to the best Daddy in the World!

Here are Jim and Sophie hanging out together on Jm's 1st Father's Day.


More photos of Daddy-love...

Daddy holding Sophie when she was just born.


Proud Poppa taking Sophie home for the 1st time

Hanging out with Dad

First trip to the zoo with Daddy


And Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Grandpas, too!

Beimg admired by Pop Pop Stumpo

Hanging out with Grandpa MacDougall

Being admired by Poppy Oxenford

New toys and play

This past week or two so have really been big "play" weeks for Sophie. We've been handing her rattles more and she seems to really enjoy holding them and bonking them around. We've also been trying to give her time on her little Boppy play mat (though not on her tummy) so she can kick and punch the little toys that dangle above her. It's been fun to see her really interacting with her world more. I've also seen her staring awestruck at her own feet and lately we've seen her admiring her own hands. Pretty cool!

Looking at the bumble bee on my Boppy play mat.

Punching the bumble bee on my Boppy play center.

I've got a snowpea rattle!

I can eat it, right mom?


My new kitty cat wubbanub I learned about from my blogosphere friend, Kiera

This just in...

Sophie laughed for the first time this morning. She made what sounded like "pre laugh" sounds over the weekend but this morning, while she was sitting in her carseat, I was tickling under her chin with her little pink bunny blanket and she laughed. Then I tickled her again and she did it again! I cried. It was the sweetest, most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life. I tried to quick get the videocamera out and tape her doing it again but whenever we get the camcorders out, she gets camera shy. She did not do it again. But, ahhhh... what a moment. The only thing that could have made it sweeter is if her daddy was here to hear it, too. There will be more laughter soon though - I'm sure of it!

Weekend fun

Here I am hanging out on Saturday with my pink knee socks and the new rattle mommy found for me. This one is a very cool and special rattle given to me by my friend Will (and his mom and dad) - thanks, Will! I can hold this one (though not quite as easily as I can hold the other rattle yet).

Life is good these days. Sophie is crying much less overall and really seems to have hit her stride with daytime napping and playing. She doesn't usually nap for long but rather takes several 5-30 min. power naps. Most recently, the easiest way to get her to sleep seems to be to take her outside in the sweltering heat in her car seat and rock it standing up. Of course, this is no easy feat and your arm feels like it's going to fall off and you are drenched in sweat but hey, if it helps her sleep, it's better than the hair dryer. Aside from getting hot and a tired arm, the only other issue with this method is that you have to keep her out of the sun. Over the weekend, we spent a lot of time outside and I took special care to always try and have her in the shade and even in a special outside tent and she STILL got a little sunburned. I felt horrible! It wasn't a really bad burn and she didn't seem to be hurting from it but still, her sweet little skin getting sunburned already just killed me. I didn't know that you can't use sunscreen on babies under 6 months old so it's really going to be a challenge keeping her sunburn-free this summer.

Finally, here she is wearing a new pair of shoes Jim picked up for her. Actually, they are still too big (she doesn't actually fit into any of her shoes yet) but they just looked so cute and she almost fits into them so it won't be long now before she can wear all of her fun, cool shoes.