Christmas Update!

It baffles me that it has been a month since I've posted anything here and Sofia is 13.5 months already. Where has time gone? Wait, I know...servicing our little CEO lately has been a challenge (on many fronts) plus with the arrival of the cold winter season, I just haven't been 100% healthy to have the energy to. I still don't tonight but here goes =)

Our family has been hit with bouts of cold/flu this week. I would say Sofia has had her worse cold yet, in addition to her 3 new teeth coming in, she has been so irritable. So much so that we have resorted to showing her favorite youtube videos and feeding her mum mums and nutrios during dinner! Poor little girl has major mucus and runny nose and today had a fever. Her naps have been terrible and if it wasn't for the Tylenol we are feeding her, she would be waking up at night too. She is so tired too which has led to next to no eating. So much for any weight gain and improvements in eating in the previous weeks! She's even refused mommy's french toast this morning =( So as you can imagine, mom and dad are drained, fighting to stay healthy and beg for this to leave the family soon.

Sofia has taken to her thermometer since we have been testing her temp regularly these days to the point that she can spend minutes playing with it and working on her fine motor skills by putting the lid on and off the darn thing. She's intrigued by it and it has been our friend during potty/change time. On another note, I'm pretty sure she will forever hate the nasel bulb syringe.

Latest developments:

Her cold has put a damper on her practicing walking these days so hopefully she'll feel better soon cuz she was making such great strides.

Standing: Last two weeks or so, she's been pretty good at standing for minutes at a time and longer if she's watching TV

Walking: It was like a switch flipped and she wanted to walk! She can cruise comfortably using one hand and we can hold her just with one hand and walk (very slowly) it's totally a cute stage she's entering into. She's even taken several steps by herself towards each other us. At first it was her propelling herself towards me, head leading the way, then it was purposeful steps and balancing herself. We were so amazed and she walks like a drunk person. These developments happened quite literally days apart. Then she got sick and now it's all about being carried and sleeping...

Eating: Oh still a frustrating thing for us but we realized that she is just not into eating. Other kids will eat their share and want hers cuz she's just gingerly nibbling on hers. She will eat most everything we give her but just not in high volumes. We don't have much trouble with fruits (loves oranges and slightly frozen blueberries), grains nor dairy but it's hard to find her favorite veggies and proteins, hence dinnertime is a challenge.

Drinking: Big strides here with her drinking very well from a cup and she even drank from a sippy cup! The key here is 'when she chooses to'

Communications: Big challenge here cuz I'm feeling pretty frustrated at times trying to figure out what she wants. She doesn't sign to me and just gets upset. I can tell when she wants something but there are times, you show her one thing after another and she just nods her head =P Her latest sound is 'za za' which there is no word for it but we think it makes a neat vibrating feeling on her tongue. When I walk into the room and she sees me, she would say 'hi' (awww it just makes me smile)

Tantrums: yes they are here and looks to get worse as they head into their toddler years. It's not just the crying, back arching and on the floor drama. She's learning to throw things to tell us she's displeased and I think it's kinda rude. Discipline time...lots to learn in this area.

So in light of the Christmas Season, I thought some photos were in order. These were some outtakes from our attempts at getting a christmas family photo.