All things Snuggler . . . and a baby belly

He's Home!

Sophia gets so excited about anyone coming over, but especially when she knows her Dada is coming home. She waits by the window, or runs to the door to see if he is here yet. And as soon as he is home, it's playtime, right?!

I'm not sure that we have named this game yet, except maybe "The Claw." Sophia loves to wear other people's gloves, and the bigger the better. So Dada's are perfect!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day came early this year. John, Sophia, and I all went on an outing the Sunday before (a week and a day before!) Valentine's Day. One stop was JoAnn's, which John was a very good sport about.

I was up at the cash register with Sophia, paying for a package of buttons when John came up to us. "Do you think $2.50 is a good price for a tiara?" he asked me. I told him I thought that seemed reasonable, and he brought up a little silver plastic tiara with pink feathers and gems encrusted upon it. "For Valentine's Day" he told me.

We headed home and John disappeared into the den. He came out very excited with a little package all wrapped up. "Do you think she should open it in here (dining room) or the living room?" Um. Well. I guess the living room . . . let me get my camera!

Also important to mention, that Sunday marked the first occasion that Sophia tolerated a barrette in her hair! Now to make it a habit . . . but back to the tiara!

Sophia was one delighted little girl when she opened her present and saw what was inside.

We took a trip up to the bathroom so she could really admire herself with her grand tiara!

The addition of a tutu and this little princess was ready to get back to the business of playing.

Nativity time!

Snacktime

Sophia wakes up from her afternoon nap in one of two moods: very happy or VERY grouchy. When grouchy seems to be winning out, my only hope is that snacktime will turn things around. And with yogurt, "fish," and clementines on the menu, who can stay grumpy?!

Time for Tea

Sophia received a beautiful little tea set for Christmas, and we finally had our first tea party the other day! I brewed a little pot of mint tea with lots of honey, and we ended up not even getting out the fig newtons because the tea seemed to be so much fun!

Peanut Butter

If ya'll have read my most recent posts, you know all about my kiddo's fixation with peanut butter. Look at the joy on her face when devouring giant lumps of sticky peanutty wonder! (Note also the plate of tuna noodle casserole, previously gobbled down happily, now completely ignored. Hmmph.)

Big Girl

Sophia has been declaring her independence in many ways these days, and the most recent is her refusal to get dressed in the morning. I bring her downstairs in the previous night's onesie and socks and wait for her to get cold enough to put on clothes. It takes a while. Easier than forcing her to dress on the changing table while she writhes and screams, though!

Today I decided to try something different. While still on the changing table, I asked if she would like to pick out her own clothes. When she answered in the affirmative, we headed over to the dresser, where she chose pants and shoes out of their drawers. We then went to pick out a shirt from the closet.

There I attempted to steer her toward a certain color section. (Yes, I have her closet arranged as mine is, by color.) No go. She had her heart set on a certain shirt that she was very excited about, and the whole outfit ended up matching well.

We did still bring it all downstairs and take our time dressing. Sophia helped put her pants on her legs and pull them up while standing, and put her arms in her shirt sleeves!

My only problem with the outfit is that the pants she chose are sort of her back-up jeans to her back-up jeans, because they have an elastic waist and tapered legs . . . totally mom jeans. So, my one and a half year old is wearing mom jeans. Pretty cute on her, though, huh?

I have to point out the shoes . . . $7 Laura Ashley from TJ Maxx!

Baby Belly

And now, due to public outcry, John took the first belly picture of me this time around. With Sophia I knew how far along to the day each picture was . . . best guess here is 17ish weeks.

Here you go, folks!

The latest

Since so many people are wondering about Sophia and her health issues, I figured I would spell it out in a blog post, rather than a facebook update. But, this blog is not going to turn into a "Sophia's health" blog! One time deal here.

We have decided on a new pediatrician as of today. We saw her once before and really liked her, so made it official when we saw her today. She takes much more time, looks at you and listens (huh!), and really wants to get to the bottom of Sophia's asthma. The best part is that I didn't leave the office feeling like a bad parent!

Sophia has had to have oral steroids for her asthma three times this winter, which is way too many for anyone, let alone for her age. The new doctor has a plan to get to the bottom of it, and thinks perhaps it has multiple causes and we are missing one.

Yes, in answer to one question she has been tested for gluten allergy and it was negative. In the next little while we are going to be seeing the pulmunologist, GI, an allergist, and a nutritionist. We are also going to have more frequent follow ups with the pediatrician to monitor the changes she made today. Sophia is going to have her steroid inhaler dose increased and start on a medication for reflux because of her history of vomiting. I did not know this, but reflux can be a cause for asthma, so could be playing a part.

That about rounds out the picture for now. I am hopeful that we are going to have some answers with this new doctor, and we appreciate your prayers in that direction!

Queen of peanut butter

I am sitting in the living room as I write this, praying that when I walk back into the dining room there won't be oatmeal all over the walls and floor, but in the Snuggler's tummy instead.

Sophia has been a sad bambino for about a week now with her latest asthma exacerbation, which turned nasty a few days ago when she also caught a cold. It has involved a trip to the ED, extra naps, lots of night waking for treatments, and not much eating. Eating leads to coughing which leads to puking, not fun.

In the midst of all this Sophia has also gotten to watch "Blue's Clues" a little more frequently than I would normally allow. Meaning, whenever I am at my wits end.

We come to this morning now, and the sitting in the living room.

I sat Sophia in her high chair and prepared her morning oatmeal. Plain instant with homemade peach jam. She eats it every day, sick or well, it goes down great!

Except that Sophia has decided, since being sick this time, that a full and balanced meal should consist of spoonfuls of peanut butter, and only peanut butter. Not peanut butter on bread, as I attempted last night. Not mixing peanut butter in the oatmeal, as I did this morning. (I should add that the oatmeal and pb has been VERY popular in the past. But apparently not now.)

No, as soon as the Snuggler was in her high chair she made it clear to me that she wanted to watch "Buesh" and eat peanut butter. And nothing else would do. So I finally left the oatmeal on her tray, grabbed the computer (which is what she watches "Buesh" on) and got out. The crying gradually stopped, and hopefully the eating began.

We shall see. Here I go to get the Grubblet!

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Addendum: Went back in after 15 minutes, thumb in mouth, oatmeal untouched. Off to the doctor's office we went, and when we got back the Munchkin was hungry enough that she ate half. Of course, then I gave her medicine (to be taken with food!) and she hated it so much she refused to eat any more food. Ah well.

Cracking up

Cracking up . . . in a good way! Sophia makes me laugh so many times a day, I just wanted to share a few.

That said, pre-Sophia I used to get so bored listening to parents go on and on about the cute/funny/adorable/etc things that their kid had done. I would stiffle a yawn and think "Enough already! So Timmy poops on the potty/has a cute lisp/is in the 90th percentile. Can we talk about anything but your kid now?!"

If that describes you, please feel free to skip reading this post and I will not be offended. Because this post is pretty much about how adorable I think my kid is. And if you don't have a kid to tell anecdotes back about, I don't want to bore you.

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Today was supposed to be a quiet day in the Libby household. John headed off to work, and Sophia and I were going to hang about the house, cleaning and getting things done, and then generally lazing about. Definitely a needed day, after several weeks of being out and about every morning with one thing or another.

8:45 comes around and I walk into the kitchen to find Sophia digging around in her diaper bag in the kitchen closet . . . the closet where we keep all of our coats and shoes and anything else you need to "go bye-bye." She knows she isn't supposed to play in that closet, so startled big time when I came in. I picked her up and went to put things back and close the closet when all heck broke loose. Sophia started screaming and crying, "go bye-bye" and variations thereof, reaching for the closet.

So much for our quiet day at home! I asked her if she would like to go bye-bye, and with pathetic tears streaming down her face she nodded and said "yeah."

Sigh.

10 a.m. found us at the library, where Mommy found a stash of new books and we picked out three for the Snuggler. Sophia actually has her own library card at 18 months. (Does that mean she has to pay the fine if they are late?!) Best part about the library? The cafe downstairs! We checked out our books and headed down to cuddle up in the seat by the window with some hot (made lukewarm so she can drink it with a straw, thanks cafe guy!) chocolate and a muffin.

Back home in time to vacuum the house and fix lunch for the Snuggler, now she is up in bed. Ahhhh!

Good think I have some errands to do this afternoon, as it seems Sophia prefers to be out and about to being at home!

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Sophia woke up just as John and I were going to bed the other night, so we brought her into our bed to visit as we sometimes do. She goes right back to sleep in her own bed without a fuss, so no harm done!

She was in a pretty goofy mood, climbing all over (in the dark, no less) and saying who-knows-what in her cute little gibberish. John asked her what a cow says, and she said "moo!" and then was off and running. As she climbed all over us, and flopped down, then climbed again, she started saying all of her animal noises in quick succession, no prompting from us, very loudly: "MOO, BAA, MEIOU, RUFF, PPPTTTHHH (camel spitting), GRRR . . . " finally ending with a final flop down on the bed and a combo of cow and sheep: "BOO BOOO BOO BOOOOO BOO . . . "

A fun end to the night; Sophia headed back to bed and John and I chuckled while repeating "boo boo boo" until we finally drifted off to sleep.

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So glad we have a good washer that thoroughly cleans the laundry. It's nice not to have doubts about cleanliness when your 18-month old insists on "helping" fold the laundry by wearing her father's underwear (without getting into specifics on boxer or brief!) on her head. And not just like a little hat on her head. No. Like a full face mask, peeking out of a leg while walking around the house making goofy noises. Then I just hope I find them all from wherever she takes them off . . .

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We have been talking about the new baby coming with Sophia, and I always wonder if she gets it at all. She is actually pretty cute about it, she pats my tummy and gives it kisses goodnight.

Sophia has a baby doll that she carries with her everywhere, so when we went to the doctor's office of course baby doll came too. Sophia and baby doll were sitting up on the table and I was standing next to it while we waited for the doctor to come in, and she was nearing meltdown. Diversionary tactic . . . I asked her "Where's baby?"

It worked, tears stopped and Sophia immediately went for baby . . . picking my shirt right up!

I guess she is getting it, and now we specify "baby" or "baby doll."

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Sophia loves her cousin Zuzu. She always says her name when she sees her in pictures, and gets so excited when she knows she is going to get to see Zuzu. What I hadn't realized until last week is that she calls ALL of her Tripp cousins Zuzu.

Reuben (10 year old cousin) came over to borrow something, and I had told Sophia that he was coming. She waited by the door, and when he came in she pronounced loudly "ZUZU! ZUZU! ZUZU!" No amount of correction could convince her that he was really Reuben.

Second time around

Some say, and have to I agree, that the book "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" (henceforth referred to as WTEWYAE) is a tad bit alarmist. When I was pregnant with Sophia, though? That book was my pregnancy bible! It lived on top of the toilet tank, and trips to the bathroom usually took a ridiculous amount of time as I flipped thru looking up this symptom or that no-no.

I followed all the WTEWYAE rules the first time thru. I avoided raw cookie dough and deli meat as though they were the plague. I didn't drink tea, because what if all the ingredients weren't listed and there was some strange herb that put me into labor too early? I had a checklist of what I needed to eat every day for optimal nutrition (Optimal nutrition = good, but a checklist? Really?!) I got my five days of exercise in, by hook or by crook! Heaven forbid I forgot to take my prenatal vitamin . . . I would stress about it until I could get home to gulp that sucker down. My sister-in-law figured I was pregnant before we told anyone because I avoided caffeine like the plague.

Second time around?

Ha!

Our Christmas Eve dinner is deli sandwiches, tomato soup, and egg nog (the real deal, raw eggs and all!) with dessert. I enjoyed every bite of that roast beef sandwich, and the egg nog? Delish!

Actually, much of my "cheating" seems to be related to eggs. They're everywhere! Can I help it one of my favorite breakfasts is eggs over easy? Or that there are eggs in cookie dough? Do you really think this pregnant lady can resist a little spoonful of chocolatey chip delicousness when making cookies?

Again, I say "Ha!"

As for caffeine, I work one 12-hour night shift per week, and my trip to Starbucks for a latte is a necessity to start my night off well and keep me going at 3 a.m. I did mention it to my midwife, and actually got the ok, before you are too appalled.

Nutrition. Let's see, pepperoni english muffin pizzas have it all, right? Dairy, for calcium and protein. Pepperoni, protein. English muffins, carbs. Sauce, vegetables. An apple for dessert and you're all balanced! (Who am I kidding? An apple for dessert when there are cookies in the house?!)

Exercise. I think I am doing pretty well here. I actually do drag my butt out of bed before the crack of dawn on weekdays to go run at the gym. I was running outside, but John nipped that one pretty quick after I had a fall on the ice. Of course, five days a week like last pregnancy? Not happening. But I think three is pretty good, and I supplement by going up and down stairs carrying a 21-pound kid a bazillion times a day. Good 'nuff.

I looked back at belly pictures of me pregnant with Sophia and have decided two things. One, never to look back at those pictures during subsequent pregnancies ever again (as I already look a month further along this time around). Two, I hope this child doesn't feel less loved, but we are NOT doing belly pics with number 2. John brought it up the other day and was almost the victim of homicide.

As for WTEWYAE?

Haven't cracked it open yet as of 16-weeks along and haven't died yet. The fact is, this time around I am just too TIRED to obsess all day about whether I am being a model pregnant lady or not. Of course, the kid could turn out to have two heads, so don't take my slacking as your example if you should happen to be in a pregnant state.