Sophia's Seventh Birthday Letter

Dear Sophia (favorite nicknames this year: Sweet-Pea, Sweets)

This year you turn 7, how cool is that!

First grade has been a blast with Mrs. Carnes, even if it was interrupted by a global pandemic. You have missed your friends, but we are grateful for the way that technology has allowed you to keep in touch with a few of them. I have seen moments this year that flash me forward 10 years as you take the phone to have a lengthy conversation with Carolyn, or video chat with your grandparents in Philadelphia or New Hampshire, send Marco Polo/ or Facebook Messenger Kids videos far and wide to family and friends, or have tea over video with Aunt Aimee.

This year you picked up karate, and we have enjoyed watching you roll around the mats and learn new moves.

You got your first pet, Bon-Bon Margaret Archambault the slug. You started to read by yourself and took off on your bike. You also started your first collection—rocks.

You love to explore the beach for treasures or rocks in the woods. You dance and sing your heart out to Go Noodle videos on YouTube, and love watching Berenstain Bears, Gigi and shows on Minno Kids with Jason.

Your future plans for jobs this year include being a teacher at CKH, owning a donut shop and being a mother.  You are creative in your logic to try to get what you want, but still love to pick all of the above if you are allowed to get a taste of every experience or option we give you.

One recent example was you wanted to know every kids menu item at the local fast food restaurants when we told you you could pick the place to order food from for your birthday, but had a hard time making a final decision based on the kind of milkshakes that were available at each location. You wanted to pick up food from one place, but milkshakes from another.

You continue to be a fantastic sister to twin baby Js, who joined us in July. You read to them, play with them, and make them giggle. You have changed diapers and love to carry little baby J in the carrier.

You have relished in spa days on Saturdays with mom, and love to listen to music on the radio, saying, “this is my jam” even when it is a song you are hearing for the first time. You will declare your love for things like shopping, even as your mother and I say we are not huge fans. You know what you love.

You love learning about God and ask your mother and I lots of good questions about heaven. We are so grateful for those in our church community that work to help foster your interest in the Bible and the lessons it contains for us on how to treat those around us.

We love you and can’t wait for your 7^th year,

Dad

Sophia's 6th Birthday Letter

My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames this year: Monkey, Sweet Pea, Bug)

Happy sixth birthday!

Your kindergarten year at CKH has gone quickly. You continue to thrive at school with Ms. Steph for a second year, and you take delight in reading words on signs as we drive, or reading books that you know most of the words for. You have had good friendships with your classmates (Olivia and Monique to name a few), and I pray you find good ones next year as you head to 1^st grade in a new school.

You love to pack your backpack for the next travel adventure, packing the essentials like dolls and coloring books. You love playing car games like twenty questions, and ask for jokes at every opportunity. All things that were helpful as we drove from San Francisco to Seattle this past summer.

You started dance and swim lessons this year at the Y, and would sign up for something every night, if you set the schedule. You continue in your “all of the above” approach to life.

You love to bake, and I can’t wait to spend more time with you in the kitchen making new creations.

You love time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

You continue to have vision in most situations, and we are trying our best to equip you with the tools to be flexible, handle big emotions, and harness as much of your core awesomeness that we love so much.

You fiercely loved baby A for the year she was in our home, and told your mother you never want to stop fostering when she left. You are resilient, thoughtful, and big hearted.

These days you want to help “guide” Jason whenever possible. I have no doubt you will be a great parent one day, for now your mother and I will try our best to help you enjoy your kid days as much as possible.

You love going to church, Awana, and VBS. You love to talk, learn and ask questions about God and Jesus. And we can’t wait to see where God will bring you with your love of Him and His people.

Have a great seventh year, as the sixth was full of playing and reading.  

Love,

Dad

Sophia's 5th Birthday Letter

My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames this year: Monkey, Sweetie. Sophia Girl)

Happy fifth birthday!

This year has been fun. You have continued to flourish at CKH and have a deep love for reading. You have taken to memorizing books, so you can “read” to your mom or I, or your brother. You love words, and are always asking “what do these letters spell?” or “what does that word mean?” You love to take out joke books and books full of puns from the library and laugh along to each, and have started to get into knock-knock jokes.

I can’t wait till you connect all the dots for reading and the world of reading on your own is opened for you. (Even if I worry slightly about being able to get your attention when you are deep into a book in the future). 

This was a big year for our family as Jason was adopted and you formally welcomed him into our family at the party at church by singing your heart out in front of 150 people a song you came up with on the spot "Happy Adoption Day", sung to the tune of Happy Birthday. You have fiercely loved your brother into our family from day one and have not skipped a beat celebrating the good of adoption, even as you try to wrap your brain around the hard parts of adoption at the same time.

Your compassionate heart has been on full display this year as we welcomed numerous “foster friends” into our home for a weekend, or a week. My favorite quote on this topic was one you shared with Mom, that you wished we had more beds in our house so we could welcome more foster friends.

Your first instinct is often to get down on the floor to help a new friend in our home feel comfortable with toys or help feed them. You beam with pride when you tell your mom and I that you now classify as a helper and not a kid. Thank you for those moments, and we look forward to seeing that helper mentality grow with age.

When you were born, I remember looking forward to the day that we could have full conversations about every day things. Those days are here. And driving in the car is often a great chance to hear your thoughts and questions. For example, while driving the other day you asked how medics were able to help sick people in the ambulance while it was moving. We then proceeded to have a 10+ minute conversation about different situations of sick people of varying ages and what medics would have to do for each while driving to the hospital and how they would do that.

You often ask to play car games or sing songs in the car, and love time with any extended family. It is only when your mom and I are alone that we realize how much of our daily conversations involve your participation. You are all in.

You take an "all of the above approach" to life. When asked what you like best, and are provided a list to pick from, you often say "all of them". When asked what activity you want to do, and are given options, you often say "all of them". It is this passion for life that we love most about you.

You run hard, play hard, love hard, negotiate hard, and want to do “just one more” and try it all almost every day. You are fiercely (and stubbornly) independent at times, but still ask to sit in my lap to read books (and I will never turn you down for that).

You have internalized many of the truths about Jesus this year, and I so enjoy hearing you make sense of the world through that lens. And I am so grateful for so many in our church family that have loved you well this year.

Have a great sixth year, as the fifth was truly fulfilling.

Love,

Daddy

Sophia's Fourth Birthday Letter

My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames from this year included: Sweetie, Chicken-Monkey)

Happy fourth birthday!

This year has been full of wonderful goofiness.

You started school at Campus Kinder Haus at ENC, and we had no doubt you would embrace it fully, as you are outgoing and love to hang out with any kid that is around.

You have reveled in learning about weather bear, caterpillars, and your friends in the school. You have enjoyed showing us your art work at the evening art show along with Glen, and telling us about all the songs you have learned. Working from home most days has allowed me to go to Donuts with Dad at school, and set up an occasional Daddy/Daughter date.

You have a thirst for learning whether working on writing your name, reading over 1,000 books when we tracked them for a library program, book tapes in the car, or just asking to be part of our conversation while your mom and I are talking on a road trip. You want to engage, interact, contribute and learn—and we love that about you!

Our travels continued with trips to see the Colorado Archambaults, which you looooved spending numerous days with them drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, playing with dolls and just spending time with them doing life.

You have spent nights in a historic house in Rhode Island where J learned to crawl, seen friends and relatives in a grand adventure of three separate stops in North Carolina (visiting the Larson's, Sentas' and Devan's) , and road tripped in Ohio and Indiana, with a great few days seeing Stan and Mary and fully taking in all that the Indianapolis Children’s Museum has to offer. 

This year we also enjoyed watching you play in the sand with J on the beach in San Diego in pure delight building a sand castle while the sun set, even if it was slightly chilly.

Your vocabulary has started, to expand for example learning words like “satisfied.” And then trying to figure out how to use it for the rest of the day. “I am not done eating my dinner, so I am not satisfied.” Followed by a belly laugh as we nod our head that you used it correctly. You love to laugh as much as possible, whether about something you have said, whatever we might be laughing at, or while running around chasing your brother or a friend.

You have a deep abiding love for your cousins, including the three you added this year with Aunt Becca and Uncle Mark getting married. You loved being the flower girl in their wedding, a role you will play twice more this coming year. You frequently ask when we will see Nana and Bop-Bop in PA and Grammie and Grandpa in NH next. And having Aunt Aimee over for playtime or special breakfast is a highlight of your week.

You frequently ask to draw in my office when I work in the afternoon, and make me happy by requesting that I drop you off and pick you up from school.

You seem to skip or run most places, and love “silly” wrestling whenever I have a few minutes of downtime and/or between books. You welcome the chance to dance in the kitchen or join a family hug. You are fiercely protective of your little brother J, and almost always intent to help him out, even if you might be the cause of his distress to begin with.

You did a great job with your first singing solo at Church this year on Mother’s Day.

Overall your mother and I have come to appreciate your enthusiastic attitude about even small things. You often will say things like “this is fun” or “I had a great time” or “can we do this again some time”. Keep that light alive and we will try our best to fan it.

Have a great fifth year, as the fourth was pretty wonderful.

Love,

Dada

Sophia's 3rd Birthday Letter

My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames from this year included:  Sweetie, Sweet-girl, Sweet Bear, Sophia-girl, Kiddo-Mckids),

Happy third birthday!

It has become very clear this year that quality time is of utmost importance to you. Working from home allows you to join me in the office many days so you can complete your work (i.e. drawing) next to me on the floor as I finish a last e-mail or two at the end of the day. I hope this continues as you enter school and need to start your homework.

You seem to relish any opportunity to swing the office door open to inform me it is time for lunch or dinner, or that you want to just say hi. You look forward to any opportunity to have me read you a book and often convince me to spend a couple extra minutes with you to snuggle before nap or bedtime.

These days you frequently turn routine events into a “party,” from a simple pizza and movie night at the YMCA, to coffee hour after church, to occasional random dinners at home-- you are always ready to turn it into a celebration and love when “friends” are involved whether you know them well, or they are complete strangers. They all fit into your friends category.

Recently, some days, it does feel like you are two going on 14, as you are very independent and have a vision for what should happen in almost any situation. From putting on your coat yourself, pouring your own cereal, to doing the buckles in your car seat-- you want to master every activity around you. I have no doubt this vision and drive will serve you well in the future, and in the meantime your Mother and I need to remind ourselves to take an extra deep breath, and accept being a couple minutes late.

You and Mama keep a busy library story time schedule these days. The classes frequently include dancing, and reading--two of your favorite activities.  I enjoy joining for the Saturday editions. You also are well on your way to reading 1000 books by Kindergarten, as part of an initiative at the local library. You are currently close to 500, and that does not include the dozen or so books I read you each day that I forget to tell your Mother about. You also really like seeing and saying the letters of your first name and finding words that rhyme (including words you make up).

You continue to love to cook in the kitchen, and will talk for days about how fun it was to make pancakes with Mom on a random Saturday. Your memory is impressive as you will often bring up something that happened a year ago when riding in the car, and frequently know where we are driving based on certain buildings you see out the window.

You love the bedtime routine of telling each other funny things before bed, but also this past year you have become even more creative. You make pretend pizza in the living room for everyone, or build a house with multiple rooms and beds out of playdough.  

You looooooooooove your cousins. And a current favorite game in the car is to repeat each of their names. This past year you had the wonderful opportunity to spend a week with them in Orlando, and loved-every-single-moment-of-it.

But your friends continue to be a regular source of joy. The 3 Southworth-Mahoney boys, the Killilea twins, Maggie MacDougall, Elyse Loscalzo, and Charlie and Sam Wegrzyn are all a recipe for great enjoyment for you. You love to run, tackle, be tackled, and scream your head off with joyful delight.  But this year a new friend has also joined you at home.

With baby J joining us at Chateau Archambault, we have seen you love him deeply and with open arms. Your Mother and I could not have asked for a more loving, protective, and engaged older sibling for baby J. You are patient when his needs need to come first, and often are the first to offer to help. We pray that your kindness toward him and your friendship with him only blossom over the years between the two of you. You hug baby J when he cries, or inform us that we need to make a bottle for him. You refer to him as “my baby” and the biggest problem we have with the two of you is that you get too excited about him and need to give him some space.

We thank God for the blessing of last year, and look forward to more to celebrate next year.

Love,

Dada (or Dad as you sometimes now call me)

2nd Birthday Letter

                                             

Every year Joshua writes me a letter for my birthday, which is always my favorite gift. Featured below is Sophia's second birthday letter from her father:

My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames from this year included: Sweet-Pea, Sweet-one, Sweetie, Little one, and Monkey),

Happy second birthday! It was a historic year for sure, which included the snowiest winter in Boston’s history. But more importantly you are becoming a wonderful and delightful toddler these days. You have experienced a tremendous word explosion over the last few months and hearing you speak in full sentences has been lovely. (You still call yourself “you,” but we will get there. This learning language thing is complicated. I am still working on it myself.)

At the start of the year you had only a couple words and little hair, now you have a full head of hair that curls in the humidity and hundreds of words, with more being added every day. You love singing and dancing in the kitchen, and mechanical things such as figuring out how toys work, building towers, and playing in the small sandbox in our backyard. 

You have no problem leaving us when you have a chance to go play with Kevin, Jesse and Desmond, or Finn and Rowan, or Maggie and Baby Duncan during the week.  You are often simply gleeful when Brit or Carolyn are coming over to take care of you at our home, and you remain one of the most social kids I know.  You love to help cook in the kitchen, and your step stool with a railing from Glen has made it possible for you to “help” wash dishes, pour in ingredients, and stir the food we are making. Your favorite meal is still frozen blueberries with raw oats and milk.

I have to be honest I was slightly worried about surviving your second year. I remember starting the year by taking you downstairs one very early morning (around 3:30 am) and falling asleep on the floor while you continued to play with toys. Luckily for me you eventually got bored and curled up next to me and fell asleep. But by now you are sleeping well most nights, and that has allowed us to fully appreciate the time we get with you. 

I have been so impressed with your compassion, often handing toys to other kids when they are sad, or giving them a hug, and even becoming upset yourself when someone is hurt.  It is a trait that I see in your mother and pray that she and I can continue to cultivate. You are always on the move doing a puzzle (a favorite activity at the moment) or pouring hot tea for guests, or reading book after book. Unlike at your first birthday, where slobber was often left or a head butt exchanged, you have learned the art of a simple goodnight kiss on my cheek, which is pure sugar and often a highlight of my day. Thank you for those.

You have continued to travel widely with us this year, including a trip out of the country to the Dominican Republic, and trips to Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina, Washington DC, Florida, Maine, New York and Louisiana--all on top of trips to see family in New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. You continue to be up for almost anything including riding the bus back from the airport late at night when returning from a trip. Your mother and I have been so grateful to you for this.

Your sense of humor has started to emerge, and I look forward to teaching you jokes. You love to scream with joy, swing whenever one is available, and look for the biggest slide to go down.I have treasured the moments we walk around the neighborhood and watch you explore the field and flowers at the John Adams estate around the corner from our house. With all of these in mind, we thank God for the blessing of last year, and look forward to more to celebrate next year.

Love,

Dada

Sophia's first Birthday Letter

Every year Joshua writes me a letter for my birthday, which is always my favorite gift. Featured below is Sophia's first birthday letter from her father:

My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames from this year included: Chicken-monkey, Chippa, Smiss, Pia, and Little One),

One! Congratulations on celebrating your first year! Your mother and I are both excited and relieved for this day. We are learning along with you, and can’t wait for the years ahead together. (Well maybe your Mom would like to freeze you in time sometimes).

Your first year has been enormously fun. You have joined us for trips to 15 states, and we have enjoyed incorporating you into our everyday lives. We have struggled to know the best way to care for you many times, but have marveled in how resilient you are, and how social you are with others. Stan (our pastor) has commented that you are a good ambassador for us, and I couldn't agree more. You are quick to make friends with passengers on the train or plane, and attract attention from young kids in the supermarket and older folks walking on the sidewalk.

When I called to make the first doctor’s appointment for my daughter Sophia, it felt strange to say that, but having you around didn't. It does seem strange now to think of Chateau Archambault without its youngest resident.

One of my biggest fears about having kids was getting less sleep, and that has proven true. However, it has not been as bad as I expected, your mother has let me sleep in on numerous occasions, and I have caught myself enjoying a few of the 3:30 am wake ups that resulted in us in the rocking chair while we worked together to get us both back to bed.

My job switch, shortly after you were born, allowed me to work from home often. It has enabled me to experience so much of your first year that I would not have otherwise. I have been able to go to all of your visits to the doctor, and read books after lunch on many days. I have tried my best to be in the moment and take full advantage of our Tuesday mornings together when Mom has gone to work early, and not think about work until your first nap of the day.

I have started to learn unique aspects of your personality, and I look forward to seeing what sticks and what fades.  You are extremely persistent and let your opinions be known. You love to laugh loudly, but can be very serious and solemn. You are up for risk, enjoy riding fast down the grocery store aisles, and squawk with pleasure when big gushes of wind make you close your eyes and push your hair back.

You LOVE to read. It doesn't matter the time of day or even your mood, you now are very likely to pick up a book, hand it to me, and crawl into my lap. I also catch you reading alone, just flipping through the pages of one of your books on the living room floor.

They say boys are the most active and physical as children, but I think you might give them a run for their money. We often end up on the floor wrestling as you just want to crawl and climb, and I want to be hanging out while being as close to a napping position as possible. The only three times you sit still are when you are: very tired, not feeling well, or are reading a book (although we often only make it half way through before you decide you want to pick the next one to read). It is this love for movement that has resulted in you and I spending hours walking around Quincy just to pass the time. Good thing I have been wearing my pedometer lately to record the days we walk 15,000 or 20,000 steps.

You had some great fangs this year as your teeth grew in, and are still learning what a kiss looks like as you are prone to either head-butt us or slobber on our checks. (But your Mother swears you know exactly what you are doing.) You dance to even the short musical interludes on NPR when it is on the radio in the kitchen, love to clap, and wave to people (often a good 10-20 seconds after they first waved to you and are walking away, which makes me smile). All elements of your social personality.

A favorite activity right now is to push one of your carts around the downstairs screaming with delight at the top of your lungs. We let you slam into the cabinets, the couch, the refrigerator, and trash can mainly because we just love to see you enjoy yourself so much. I guess in year two we should work on turning. Just like most things in life, we all keep taking steps to learn how to improve.

I am so excited for you to grow up. Not because I want to rush it, but because I have found that each month has revealed new things about you or how you relate to us. Years of experiencing that sounds like a grand adventure, and I can’t wait to update my database about you as we go along.

We thank God for the blessing of last year, and look forward to more to celebrate next year.

Love,

Dada 

(or that is what it sounds like currently) 

Fourth Quarter

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

Dear Sophia,

At night when I am nursing you, I often stare in wonder at the length of you. I know all Mamas say this, but when did you ever get this big?

As we come to the end of the fourth quarter, you have clear preferences. You will crawl over to your bookshelf, pull yourself up and pry "Pat the Bunny" from the center of the books. It is your current favorite, particularly the page where you can play 'peek a boo with Paul'.

You have language, you sort of say Mama, and you definitely point at things that you want, pull at my shirt when you want to nurse, and turn your head away and shake it when you are done eating. If we say 'no', you look very displeased. The other night when your Dad read the word 'kiss' in a story, you attempted to kiss the book.

Grammy Archambault describes your Dad as constantly in motion when he was your age. You are the same, whether you are going up and down stairs, pushing your cart, or dancing. If we are listening to the news on the radio you will dance to the brief musical interludes between segments. You do not like to be limited by the straps of highchairs, carseats, or strollers. We will be challenged to keep up with you when you start walking; for now we relish the cuddles we can get when you are sleepy enough to be still.

For the past 12 years I have felt some sadness when the leaves start to change because that is the season when your Grandpa Condon died. Now I feel a happiness when they begin to bud because it reminds me of the season in which you were born. I've spent the last week remembering what I was doing a year ago while anticipating your arrival.

We are so glad you're here.

Happy birthday Baby Girl. You are loved.

Guest Post from Gran: "They really can't do much at this age"

I asked my Mom's permission to share a recent letter she wrote Sophia. The picture above is the one referenced in the latter paragraphs.

My dearest angel,

I think of you all the time and have been wanting to send you another email that you will hopefully enjoy reading for yourself one day.  Now you are eight months old although we can hardly remember life without you.  One thing that is often said about you and your peer group is that you “can’t really do much at this age”.  The implication being that before you can move about on two legs or join a lengthy conversation, you can’t really do [much of what adults do].  But the Bible itself tells us that there is a time and a season for everything.  One might say that I’m biased, but I have seen MANY babies through my work as a social worker and personally with family and friends.  You were exceptional when I saw you at birth and I believe you always will be.

I will share just a few of my favorite moments in your life so far.  Unfortunately our visits are few as we live far apart with busy lives, but I’ll never forget the day that I walked up your front porch steps where you were nursing.  In spite of your joy in eating, you pulled away to look at me with the most amazing smiles and giggles.  I’ll never know whether it was truly because of a special bond we share or just your generous sharing of love and happiness that you give so freely.  I like to think it’s both.

Another amazing moment occurred at the end of a visit.  I will confess to a special fondness for baby feet.  Finally one day I learned that as we develop from the head down and the feet are the last to grow, that maybe that is why baby feet are so special to me—the last part to stay tiny.  I was in your room while you were on your changing table with those little feet.  Just as I was about to leave the room, you stretched your foot to me.  I laughed and kissed it and you did it two more times.  Again it definitely  looked like you were sharing joy in the best way you could with me, but “they” say people your age really can’t do much at this age.

Final thought for this post relates to one of your mother’s favorite photos of you.  When I saw it, it made me smile and laugh EVERY time [and there were many].  When I finally tore myself away from it, I found that I would only have to think of it and I would smile.  Well, one sad day I visited one of our friends who was so sick that she thought she’d die.  I went to see her as soon as we were allowed and she told me that sometimes she wondered if it was worth the energy and effort to continue.  I said that I had a reason for her to keep on fighting to stay alive and she said, “Do you have a new picture of Sophia?”  I unwrapped the picture and stood the frame up where she could see it.  She loved that Grandpa and I had come to see her, but she kept looking at your picture and saying how sweet you were.  She finally laughed and smiled, but “they” say people your age really can’t do very much.

Gran says you were a blessing on the day you arrived and always will be.

Much love,

Gran

Third Quarter

Seven Months

8 Months

9 Months

Dear Sophia,

Not so long ago I looked at you and thought, "I can't believe you are actually here" and a few months later it was, "I can't believe you are able to sit across from me unassisted". Every day I get to know you better. When I look at the expression in your seventh month photo, it isn't generic to me, but rather a familiar "Sophia look".

At 8 months, when I try to put you in a seated position for a photo, it isn't long before I have to put down the camera to make sure you don't topple towards me. During month 8 you also officially started crawling. Sometimes you seem so "grown-up" to me, for instance when you turn the pages of your board books all by yourself. But soon after you start chewing on the pages, and I am reminded that you are still quite small.


At 9 months you are crawling everywhere, interested in anything that is not meant to be a toy, and waving at everyone you see. I enjoy being the center of your small radius as you venture out and then turn around to make sure I'm still close by. You continue to look less and less like a baby and more like a toddler. It isn't so much that you are growing up fast, but rather that it is happening all at once. For instance, you climbed a whole flight of stairs before we realized you were capable of doing one step.

Nine months has been the easiest one yet for us. I think it is a  combination of you being able to go longer stretches without eating (and also longer stretches sleeping) while your Dad and I have also learned a few things about how to care for you. Our goal in the coming months is to help you continue to explore your world, while keeping the bumps and bruises (you've had a few) to a minimum.

So glad you're here,
Mom & Dad

Made To Be As You Are

Dear Sophia,

You have my feet. Your face looks mostly like your Dad...but that gap between your big toe and the next came from me.

When I look at all your pieces....your feet....belly...nose, I never think, "If only this part was different". And I already wish for you that you could always feel the same way. 

Partly this will be up to me...how I talk about my own body and ...what I define as beautiful. But there will also be a very powerful societal surge out there that will lie to you. It will try to convince you that physical looks are most important, and may even tell you that yours don't fit the 'right' mold.

There is nothing wrong with painting your face or dying your hair (mine was purple when I was thirteen), but I hope you always know that you were created to be so much more than an ornament.

Sophia, I will tell you all of your life how God intentionally put you together and made no mistakes. Those who did not create you may have opinions about parts of you they think are too big... or too small. Opinions can feel hurtful, but that does not mean these are mistakes. 

You yourself may someday say, "I wish this or that was different". Whenever you feel like this baby girl, remember that God gave you toes that are long enough to pick things up with (I will teach you how someday), as well as ears that can hear, and eyes that can see.

And if those toes should fall off, as well as an eye and a ear, I would tell you how many people still love you regardless. And I would also tell you that those people were the ones to hold onto in the first place anyhow.  

I hope you eventually have lots of wrinkles around your eyes from smiling often. And if someday you ask me why my tummy sags in the middle, I will tell you it was once filled with a growing you, and how you were worth much more than a flat belly ever could be.

Much love,
Your Mama

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  

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.