Eleven Months Old

Where has time flown? Our baby girl is 11 months old today! It's a bittersweet experience watching her grow. While we revel in each new accomplishment, we regretfully say goodbye to the "baby days" we know we will never have with her again. Thank goodness for digital cameras and camcorders!!!

At eleven months old, Sofia is a bundle of energy. She is constantly on the move and can travel from one room in the house to another at lightening speed. Sofia is a nosey-body and loves to explore and be a part of everything that doesn't necessarily include her. She can be found in the middle of ANY and all situations.

As for her accomplishments this month, Sofia is now beginning to stand on her own, without holding on to anything. She loves to wave "bye bye" and can say "all done", with and without sign language. Sofia is a giggler and loves to laugh. She continues to be enfatuated with her brother who loves to carry on conversations with her by imitating her sounds. Sofia loves her baby doll and playing with her brother's play kitchen. She continues to be full of smiles and snuggles and brightens each day!

Dialogue with a 3 1/2 Year Old

"Honey, can you get Mommy the mayonnaise out of the fridge?"
"Okay, Mama. Which one's the mayonnaise, Mama?"
"It's white and it's in a jar with a blue lid."
"This one, Mama?"
"Yes, Love, that's the mayonnaise."
"This isn't mayonnaise, this is butter, Mama."
"Well, it looks a little like butter, but it's mayonnaise."
"Oh! My bad, mama."

Drama Queen

That's me! Recently I've been feeling like I haven't gotten enough attention from friends and family, so I determined a trip to the hospital and the possibility of a preterm delivery was just the thing I needed to get my loved ones to focus on me for a while. And it worked!

Are you sensing my sarcasm? I hope so because I'm laying it on pretty thick-

More accurately speaking, this morning I became a tad nervous when I felt something similar to my water breaking the day I delivered Sofia. I ignored it for a while, until it happened again a few hours later. I called the doctor's office and, being that I am only 27 weeks along, was told by the nurse to head directly to the labor and delivery department at the hospital.

When we arrived, the monitor indicated that I was having fairly regular contractions and the look on the nurse's face led us to believe that there was much more cause for concern than we had originally anticipated. We were told that she would do an exam and, if in fact my water had broken, we would most likely be sent downtown to Good Samaritan where the advanced NICU is.

Immediately we had visions of our little one hooked up to countless tubes and monitors and daily trips to the NICU to be with him/her. There was also great possibility of an extended hospitalization for me in hopes to let the baby's lungs mature prior to delivery. We did a lot of praying in the triage room as we awaited the results of the test.

That few minutes seemed like hours as we waited, but the news was definitely worth the wait. My water had not broken, my contractions began to slow, and everything was as it should be. I received extensive instructions before being discharged and will return to the doctor's office on Monday for my scheduled exam. We are so thankful that everything is okay and our little one is healthy.