This kid. Oh how I adore him. He's 3.75 years old right now... going on 13 I think. I'm sure when he's really 13 I won't be thinking this at all. :) He's completely full of life, energy, charm, determination, self-confidence (unless a big crowd is watching, then it takes him a minute or two), stubbornness, and tenderness. Yes, all of that and more bundled up in one precious little boy. And behind each of those characteristics and emotions is tons and tons
of energy and activity. He wears me out daily, but brings a lot of
laughter and joy to our home. He very generously gives his affection and love, touch, hugs, kisses, and prayers on our behalf. He also often offers his determination to be right, his bad attitude when losing at anything, his desire to be the loudest person around (no matter the situation or location), and his back-talking in order to ALWAYS get the last word in. He challenges us daily to stay on our toes about educating and challenging him back, guiding him spiritually, providing boundaries, and setting limits. It's so hard sometimes. I'm not bragging by saying this, but I want to remember that he's so intellegent and verbal beyond his years that sometimes we loose ourselves in a conversation or argument with him before we realize that we have to maintain being his parents and remember that he's only 3 and not able to reason yet as much as we might think he can. We have to keep our expectations of him in-check, and appropriate, because he is only 3 and still makes 3-year-old mistakes that require a lot of love and guidance and patience and forgiveness.
I have no idea what he weighs right now, or how tall he is, but I'll try to measure soon and add it back in here. :) I know he hit a growth spurt earlier this summer and suddenly wanted to eat all of 3 full meals a day, plus snacks, plus 2-3 bowls of cereal every night before bed. When it first started I remember thinking he was just maybe bored or pushing limits (avoiding bedtime, etc). Then, it stayed consistent and he truly complained of hunger sometimes, of legs aching at night, of backaches in the day, and then suddenly in 2 weeks time none, not one, of his pants reached his feet anymore (yes, we have cool summers here and still wear pants a lot :) ). We had to go and buy him new pants and shirts. It was crazy, but amazing to watch. And then it just stopped and suddenly there were days again when he didn't want much to eat. Experiencing children grow, in every way I can mean this, is a gift from God. They teach us so much about ourselves, and so much about God. I'm so thankful for Jake and everything he's teaching me. I hope we survive our years with each other and come through it closer and closer and forming a bond like the ones I see from my brothers with my parents. I hope Jake sees God through us, wants to know God with us, learns how to generously love, forgive, and serve others, and loves his family a lot. I hope he'll want to talk to me about anything and know I'm always here for him. I know it's not so common, but I've always loved that my brothers will call on my parents for guidance about pretty much anything, and just genuinely count them as friends, and I hope Jake will do the same. At 3 years of age he's already so independent that he will say "I can do it myself, watch", "Look how big I am and strong, too!" and "I don't need you Mama, watch, I can do it/read it/see it by myself." Ahh.... Such a big boy already. :)
Of course, as I knew it would happen, I'm getting behind on the blog now as Sofia gets older, moves around more and is no longer content laying beside me and watching me (or that one spot on the ceiling) while I write. :) My goal is to still write as much as possible, though, so I can print another blog book in a couple of years like I did for Jake and Josh last Christmas. It's been so nice to look back at the memories made with Jake, and our work here, through the first 3 years of his life. I hope I can do the same for Sofia.
During her 6th month of life we saw her finally return to a complete state of health with the help of a long round of antibiotics. We got confirmation from the Immunologist/Allergist that she is not currently allergic to anything major they tested her for and is believed to be in a normal state of health with a functioning/normal immune system. Yeah! Praise God! (The back-story is that she had a cough and congestion for 7 weeks with a chronic throat infection that was hard to get rid of and the doctor's were wondering why).
As best I remember she weighed 18.5lbs or 8.43 kilo at her 6mo check-up. Everything else checked out well, but we decided to delay her immunizations until the antibiotics were finished and we could be sure her health was returning to a normal state. She was able to turn over both ways and move herself around slowly in circles and to reach toys she wanted on the floor. We were given the go-ahead to start foods and I imagined she would love them. :) I turned out to be right! She slept most nights without any problems from around 8pm to 8 or 830am with two wake-ups for feedings.
We went on our first "real" family vacation in 2 years the same weekend she turned 6 months. So, we started feeding her on vacation as well since it was a relaxed setting and we could all enjoy this milestone with her. Jakub fed her the first bites of rice cereal and she loved it. She mostly loved watching him while he was watching her with the biggest grin on his face and so much pride in his baby sister learning to eat. It was the sweetest moment, which I captured in pictures but not with a video because it was broken at the time. :(
We LOVED our vacation, which was to small countryside village set between two very large, beautiful, fun cities we could explore when we wanted to. The peaceful farm where we stayed was exactly what I needed as my Granddad had just passed away right before vacation time and I was ready to get away and have some private time to mourn, remember him, and have some quiet time. More on that and our vacation another time.
Now, at 7 months, Sofia is expressing even more personality. First, the basics. :) She weighed 9.24 kilos or 20.37lbs. I have no idea how long she is, but I should measure that soon. :) She continues to be healthy and had a great and normal check-up at the doctor. We got the next round of immunizations and she handled them well, with minimal crying, but then ran a small fever that first night at bedtime. She showed great strength in her arms and upper body as the doctor barely pulled her towards sitting and Sofia sat herself up and wanted to stay that way. She still wobbles some side-to-side and of course the doctor said to not let her sit up, or practice it with her, until she's more stable and consistently tries to do it on her own. She turns every-which-way now and rolls multiple times across the floor to get to what she wants- mostly Jakub and whatever he is doing. She still doesn't try to crawl or get up on her knees, but she does use her arms some to pull herself around. She naps 2 times a day with the first one being 2 hours, usually from 1030 to 1230-ish. Then she naps again somewhere around 330 or 4 for one hour. She usually goes to bed at 8 or 830 and wakes up one time in the night to eat, and then again at 8-830am. About 75% of the time I wake her up in the morning to get up, otherwise she'd sleep in even longer and be up even later at night. I think she's my night-owl. :)
Back to personality. She's started yelling at us a lot to get our attention. Not a whiny or crying-type yell, but one loud burst of something like "hey", but with more of the "a" sound. She especially yells it at Jakub over and over until he looks at her. :) It's sweet, and a little annoying, to be honest. She also likes to blow the "b" sound on her lips and try to make me laugh. And she watches me a lot when I'm not looking, and then when I do look at her and notice she was watching she cracks up. I wonder sometimes how long she waits on me to notice. Other than some of that yelling, she's pretty quiet. She plays well on her own and doesn't make much noise. She's not trying to say other words or sounds yet and in general is just pretty laid-back, peaceful, and easy-going. The only time she really cries is just before sleep when her teeth are bothering her. She doesn't have any yet, but she has 4 large bumps on the bottom that have been there about one month now. Today, she fell asleep at nap time by clamping down on my collar bone and biting at it until dropping off. At least she wasn't crying about it, I guess. :)
Foods she's eaten so far, and none of which she's refused (surprise!): Carrots, potatoes, rice cereal, zucchini, spinach, broccoli, apples, bananas, plums, and avocado. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to or how it might work out, but so far I've been able to make almost all of her baby food homemade, the same way I did with Jakub. I'm really happy about that and it feels good to give her something so fresh and that I made. I definitely like to cook out of joy and love for my family and for their well-being. The other day a friend gave me plums straight from her garden and I made them fresh immediately for Sofia. It doesn't get much better than that and she devoured them. I'm not trying to be a snob about it and I know it's not always easy or possible to make food this way, I'm just an advocate for making the best choices we can when it comes to feeding our babies and I'm thankful for the chance I have to do it the way I want to. I have an excellent cookbook regarding this if ever you have interest- just let me know.
Thanks for hanging in through this monster post. :)
Wow. Blogging about and keeping up with two kids at the same time is just as hard as I thought it would be. That, and we've had our summer camps going and been out of town. Sorry for the big delay in updates and now I have too many posts already written in my head that I'll probably never catch up. I'm just going to fly through this update on Sofia being 5 months and hope I can get it done before someone needs me again.:)
Here's a sweet picture I just took of her as she happily woke up from a 2 hour nap:
The first thing that comes to mind is she is a very gentle and extremely sweet baby. She's quiet, even when she's talking... unless brother or Daddy get her to laughing and then she can be loud.
We took her for her 5 month check-up this week and she weighed 8.33 kg or 18.5 lbs. She's 1/2 lb bigger than Jakub at this age. I haven't measured her length yet. The doctor was pleased with her in general and said everything looked pretty well. They did comment that her skull is hardening a little already and maybe starting to close a little early in the top fontanel, or soft spot, so we'll keep an eye on that. She's not showing any problems related to it though and her head circumference was normal so they aren't worried at all, only mentioned they'll keep checking to make sure it closes appropriately. She's also had a cough and some congestion off-and-on for 6 weeks so we'll be getting that checked again soon. The ENT specialist this week said everything looked great and just to watch her over the next week to see if the cough improves or not. I hope she doesn't have allergies already and that it's just a cold (which is how it started) that's being stubborn. We'll see about it again next week.
She is sleeping really well and for about one month now is going to bed around 8-830 and staying asleep until 830 or 9am. Sometimes she wakes around 430-530am for a feeding, and sometimes not. She also takes great naps during the day with the first one being 2 hours and the second one being 1 hour. Sometimes she fits a third one in, but if I can keep her from needing it then she sleeps better at night and goes to bed earlier, of course.
She LOVES Jakub and smiles/laughs any time he is near and playing with her. He continues to be super sweet to her, constantly wants to hold her or be with her, and often asks about what she is doing or where is she (if she's asleep when he comes home). I'm glad they get along well now and I hope he'll always want to help take care of her and help me teach her things in life. I appreciate that he is so gentle with her and protective of her already. He's also very interested in caring for her and in her medical needs (eye drops, doctor visits, vaccinations). He may be interested in the medical field one day.
She makes plenty of noise but not a lot of consonant sounds yet.
She turns from her belly to back easily and often, but only once from back to belly.
She likes to sit with pillows and help, but doesn't have much strength towards doing it on her own yet.
She's very strong on her legs and likes to stand a lot, she also walks well in the walker we have. She already knows how to follow me and walk across the room or kitchen to find me. I'm impressed!
Her hair is growing in very quickly now and is a neutral, blondish-gold color. It's very straight and sticks straight up like Josh's did when he was a baby. :) And her eyes are starting to turn yellow in the middle. I think she might end up with eyes like mine- a hazel-gold color.
Ok, have to run now. She's ready to play. :) Hopefully I'll find time again soon to update on our camps, life in general, and how Jakub is doing.
Jakub's school had an "olympics" sports day today. It was hosted and staffed by another local school (elementary and middle-school-aged children) just behind our home. I LOVE our neighborhood. Almost everything we need, and even want, is right around the corner and withing walking distance. Now, being the great parents that we are we didn't realize/remember/fully understand that this event was going on today and so when Josh dropped Jakub off at school this morning he called home for a few things I needed to prepare so he could return and get them for Jake. :) Oh well, even though it's been 4 months now since Sofia was born I continue to blame all our parenting fails on having a newborn at home. :)
So, Jakub had a sports day at school and since it was held just behind our home I was able to go over and watch a bit of it with some of the other parents. Jakub was awesome and it was wonderful to see him in his school environment with his friends and his teachers. He understands and speaks Czech so beautifully now. I'm so proud of him and how brave he is with the language barrier, with making friends, and with trying all of the new challenges brought before him. He was also very athletic today and did very well at the various competitions. I was one proud Mama! Here are some videos from today. Enjoy! :)
Here are a couple of new videos of Sofia. She's starting to interact with us a lot now. She's also getting stronger and playing on the floor for longer periods of time. She can turn onto her side, but not completely over yet. She intentionally grabs at toys or objects laying near by. She's very focused when she's talking to us or when she's reaching for a toy. She can be pretty serious, calm, and laid-back, but then she smiles and makes a little gurgle noise and it just melts us. :) She's almost 4 months old (tomorrow). I'll post more about her with some new pictures soon. Right now she's suffering from a bad cold, her first, and we would appreciate your prayers that she get well soon. The cough is the worst part. Jakub's first illness was a small cold around 10 months of age so this is new for us and it's hard to see such a "tiny" baby suffer from such a nasty cold. I hope she's well soon! Love you all!
