Second Quarter

4 Months
(With an increased awareness of the outside world, all of a sudden the 'elephant in the room' is noticed!)

5 Months

6 Months

Dear Sophia,

All of a sudden at four months you seemed to awaken to the world. This meant that you stopped eating as much during the day as you were frequently fascinated and distracted by just about everything around you. Less eating during the day meant more eating at night and consequently less sleeping. Sometimes my being very tired led me to feel frustrated with your awakenings. Other times I had the perspective that in the future I could sleep, but I wouldn't be able to cuddle you forever.

Your new interest in the world around you led to conversations like one we had in October.  You were very intrigued by my putting cream cheese on a bagel, you may have just wanted to eat it, but I started telling you that this was similar to how snow would look on the ground. I was looking forward to introducing you to snow, and bagels, and cream cheese, and pretty much everything.

Sophia, you started giggling. Your laugh makes us laugh harder, and we never stop until you do. We crouch down below your changing table and pop up and you think we are very funny.  Your Dad has now decided that you are big and strong enough for wrestling. I frequently hear from the other room that you have pinned him once again. This quarter you grew from what your Gran calls a 'kidney bean' (all head and bottom) to a little girl with stretched out arms and legs. 

During the first few weeks of your life you did the same few things over and over again. Now it seems as if you might be doing a new thing every day. Small things like grabbing an object in a new way and big things like rolling across the floor and sitting without our help. We loved those first few weeks, we love right now, and we can't wait to see what you have in store for us next,

Mom and Dad  

New Hampshire in November

We had a pre-thanksgiving New Hampshire visit, since we will be spending the holiday with our Pennsylvania family this year.

We were also there for Veteran's Day to celebrate Sophia's Great-Grandfather, a World War II Veteran.

It's cold there, so we did a lot of indoor activities.

On Saturday morning Sophia worked on the crossword puzzle with her grandfather....

....until she decided that it was more fun to throw the newspaper on the floor.

This was so enjoyable that she schemed with her Aunt Becca......

.....to teach her cousin Blake the "I drop this rattle and you pick it up" game.

Other games this weekend included being her Dad's partner in cards.....

Lincoln logs with her cousin Aaron....

and a little indoor soccer with her Grandmother. 

The First Five Times I Saw You

Dear Sophia,

The first time I ever saw you was when I was six weeks pregnant.

It was earlier than we were supposed to meet and I was scared. I had been having some symptoms that led me to believe you might not still be with me. The ultrasound technician compared your size to a grain of rice. She said the only way to tell if you were going to be ok was to see if you had grown after a week. The first time I saw you I was scared.

A very long week went by and I was still bleeding. Now I was convinced I had lost you. Your Dad brought me to the ultrasound appointment and I told him I didn't want to go. At first I didn't look at the screen, but then I saw this blinking light and it was you! It was your heartbeat and you were ok. The second time I saw you I couldn't stop smiling.

After that we were both healthy and so I didn't see you again until I was 18 weeks pregnant. Your Godparents Glen and Carolyn came to the appointment with your Dad and I, and took us out for a celebratory dinner afterwards. 

It was hard to believe it was really you on the screen. It felt like I was just watching a television show about ultrasounds. The third time I saw you I was convinced that you had your father's nose (and you do!).

The fourth time I saw you was for an "overdue ultrasound appointment". Again they were checking to make sure you were doing ok in there. My Mom (your Gran) was there with me and kept trying to see if you were a girl or a boy, but I told her we had made it this far without knowing and I wanted to wait. What we did find out was that you were going to be close to nine pounds. The fourth time I saw you I didn't know that I would actually get to meet you the very next day.

The fifth time I saw you was on May 22nd, 2013, a few minutes before 11 pm. While you were still attached to me I held you close. I found out you were a girl and your Dad and I quickly discussed whether you would be named Sophia or Elise. It was unanimous between the two of us and we announced your name to the room. The fifth time I saw you I was exhausted and very very happy.

Rookie Parents

Dear Sophia,

Right now you seem to think your Dad and I are the moon and the stars. We are big fans of you as well, but I have a secret to share with you....You will probably have figured this out by the time you read this......Your Parents are VERY HUMAN and IMPERFECT.

There have been many times in these first few months where I say to you out loud, "Thank you for being patient with Mama". There will be many times when we need to tell you, "I'm sorry, I was wrong". We will model bad behaviors and say words we wish we could take back. I promise you that we will try to be good and I can also promise you that sometimes we will fail.

There was the time I was changing your clothes and nicked your brand new baby skin with my fingernail. You started to cry and so did I.

There was the time I was trying to teach you how to use a bottle and in my zealousness you ended up covered in spit up milk and I had a pool of it on my lap dripping on to the carpet.

There was the time when you road home in just a diaper and a burp cloth wrapped around your middle because we forgot to bring an extra set of clothes. 

And when you need a burp cloth, we pretty much never have one on us.

Your Dad and I often smile at each other and say 'rookie parents'.

Sophia, just as you are learning to be a human, we are learning for the first time how to be parents. But I have another secret to share with you....we are still learning how to be humans as well.

So my sweet girl, when you get frustrated with your parents, other people, or yourself, remember that we are all still learning. As your parents, we will try to remember that as well, and only expect that with God's grace you will try to be the best Sophia Gayle that you can be.

With all of our imperfect love,

Mom and Dad