sophie's 1!

i can't believe sophie turned one 3 weeks ago! (i know this blog is a little late). the year went by too fast! she started out as the little, chunky bundle of joy, weighing 9 lbs. 5 oz., full of dark hair and has grown to this petite little toddler, weighing just 17 lbs. 10 oz.

sophie's my cuddler and always has been. i love that she loves to be held and snuggled with. Really, she still sleeps best in my arms. Right around a year she started sleeping through the night more consistently (she still doesn't do it all the time). however, before that, every night around 3 she would be awake. once she snuggled into my arms on the couch, she was out! and so was i, which is why i spent the majority of my sleep time her first year on the couch. she'll also nestle into bed with me if she wakes up but that's not as comfortable for me so we generally pick the couch.

she's figuring things out so quickly these days - learning animal sounds, attempting to say the animal's name, building towers, driving cars around, trying to do everything molly does, cooking, climbing ( i really think i'm raising a monkey!), and finally, walking! walking was the big thing i've been waiting for and i'm glad it happened just in time for the weather to warm up. the girl loves to be outside and it would have been a long (and painful on the knees) summer if she wasn't walking.

we celebrated her birthday by purchasing her first pair of shoes. the trying on experience wasn't the most pleasant. i think she was scared of the lady measuring her feet and putting the shoes on. she took quickly to the strange objects on her feet once she was allowed down at the park that day (a first). wood chips were lots of fun! we came home, unwrapped presents, then went to the park, ate a spaghetti dinner (one of her favorites) and had cupcakes.

the next day we had a party with family and friends. sophie had lots of fun and we once again realized how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives. thank you to all who made sophie's first birthday so special! another big step in sophie's world is wearing a bib! she finally will wear one which makes meal time so much easier to clean up. those of you who've seen sophie eat know that she's an eater! and a messy one at that. she refused bibs for the longest time, taking them off and so she ate all of her meals in a diaper. now she stays clothed (most of the time) and wears her bib to catch her droppings. i no longer have to bathe her after every meal.

sophie doesn't talk much, she babbles but not many actual words come out. she says moo, kitty (which doesn't sound like kitty), woof (fffff), frog (ffffff), quack, na na (this is daddy and banana), bubbles (bub bub), yucky (uck), drink (dnk) and mmmm (this is for food that she sees and i'm hungry). now that i'm looking at this list, she does do quite a bit! i guess you don't realize it until you write it all out. :)

life's just better with a ball in your hand! sophie continues to love balls. she loves to throw them, hold them, put them in things, really it doesn't matter. she's happy if there's a ball in her hand. she was getting restless in the swing the other day (but everytime i took her out she wanted back in) so i gave her a ball to hold on to. much better. we also went for a short (slow) walk the other day so molly could practice riding her bike and once again, a ball made the stroller ride bearable. i love, love, love that she likes balls. i only hope this is the beginning of my little athlete (more specifically, basketball player)!

there is so much more i could say about my little mouse. i love her dearly and she's such a blessing to me. i'm so thankful God blessed me with her and gave me the privilege of raising such as sweet girl.