Sophie's First Laugh

Here is a video of Sophie's first laugh:

This is a video of a typical morning with Sophie. She is such a morning girl. She never cries when she wakes up, she just starts struggling to get out of her straight-jacket. Then we go in and she is all smiles. (Note: We have been forcing her to be swaddled at night, even though she hates it, because otherwise her hands freeze since she hates having them covered by blankets.

Sophie - 3 Months

Sophie turned 3 months old yesterday! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. We are so blessed to have this sweet little girl in our lives.

Last week my friend Kjirstin came over to take some pictures of Sophie. She took so many cute ones. These are some of my favorites.

Here are some fun things that Sophie has been doing:

• Sophie laughed for the first time this week. It is really funny. She looks like it takes so much effort to laugh and it comes out in one big "Ha".
• She has been sucking and licking her hands non-stop. She has been refusing the binkie more than before because she likes flesh better. She has shown no preference to a specific hand or finger and she doesn't really suck the way other babies do, so we don't know if she will be a thumb sucker.
• The other day Sophie was hanging out on my shoulder and started sucking on my neck. I didn't think much of it at first because she was enjoying herself. But then I wondered if she was giving me a hickie, so I pulled her off quickly. I was too late--she gave me a massive hickie right on the base of my neck. That's why we call her our little vampire baby.
• Sophie's hair is getting even more out-of-control and I have no idea what to do with it. Suggestions??? I think her hair is adorable, but unfortunately I am hair challenged.
  

Apple Picking and Pumpkin Patch

Isaac is on a really easy rotation this month, so we have been enjoying going on some outings together as a family. Milwaukee has free days for most of the museums in town, but we have never been able to go before because I have always had to work. So we finally had time to go to the Art Museum and The Domes (botanical gardens).

We also drove to an orchard for our annual apple picking. We had a great time, although Sophie was tired. We were able to make 14 quarts of applesauce and a yummy apple pie. I saved some more apples for caramel apples this week. Yummy.


The orchard also had a pumpkin patch, so Sophie got to pick out her own pumpkin. We will have fun carving that with Sophie when it is a little closer to Halloween.

Sophie at 2 Months

Sophie is such a darling little girl. She had her two month appointment the other day and is one big girl. She also had her shots. She was really good right after the shots, but that afternoon she was really upset and started screaming inconsolably for about an hour. Here are her stats:

Weight: 13 lbs 6 oz (90th percentile)
Height: 25 1/4 inches (100th percentile--off the charts)
Head Circumference: 40 cm (93rd percentile)

Sophie is getting to be so much fun these days. Here are some of the things she does:

• She smiles all the time. She absolutely loves attention and any time someone talks to her she will light up with a smile. She is the most happy when she wakes up in the morning.
• She sleeps very well at night. I feed her before I go to bed (usually between 9-10pm) and she can usually make it until 2-4am. Then I get up to feed her again, she eats and immediately goes back to sleep. Then she can make it until 5-7am before her next feeding. But she doesn't nap very well during the day unless someone is holding her.
• She has started cooing a lot. She has two distinct sounds--one happy and one sad. The happy one is hilarious. She looks like it takes so much effort for her to talk. Sometimes she looks surprised that she made the noises she does. But after everything she says she will smile like she is so proud of herself. Her sad noise is also hilarious. She definitely knows how to get attention. If we aren't paying her enough attention she will start whimpering like a little puppy. We just laugh at her because she has the cutest pouty face to go along with it.
• She loves having her tongue out. She has a really long tongue and sticks it out when she smiles.
• She likes her baths much better now and often starts kicking to make a really big mess.
• She loves blowing bubbles. The bubbles will dry on her cheeks at night when I am not around to wipe them off and leave milk crusties all over.
• She has her fussiest time right before bed between 7-8pm. She resists falling asleep until she is upset.
• Sophie is really strong (I think). She can hold her head up pretty well but will start bobble-heading after a while. She can also mostly support herself with her legs. She has started standing as I burp her over my shoulder.
• She absolutely hates tummy time. She knows how to get out of it by crying and mashing her face into the floor until I flip her back over. I am a total push-over when it comes to tummy time. My doctor got mad at me because she is supposed to be doing it three times a day for 20 minutes. (She does it about once a day for 30 seconds. Oops.)
• She still loves cuddling on my shoulder to fall asleep. She doesn't like Isaac's shoulder. But she squishes her face on mine and loves sucking on my neck.

We love having this little girl in our lives. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by with her. It is so fun to see Isaac interact with her as well. He is definitely enjoying her being more interactive these days. We still think she is the most beautiful baby in the world and thankfully we don't think she looks like either one of us. ;)

Sophie's Quiet Book

While in Utah last month my mom and I made a Quiet Book for Sophie. I wouldn't have been able to get this book done without my mom's help. Having two people work on this really made such a huge difference--especially with taking care of a newborn at the same time. Many of the ideas for this book were stolen from my friend Lucy because she is a creative genius. Some of the ideas were found on the internet, and some I made up myself. Hopefully Sophie will enjoy this book when she is a little older.


The first page is matching shapes.

The house doors and windows open to pictures of family members. The face pieces are placed on the head, and there are parts for a man and woman.

The buttons are counted and placed on top of the corresponding written number.

The tent opens and a moose and snake can be removed. And the hands on the clock can move to different times.

The barn doors open to different farm animal finger puppets. The painters pallet is used to learn different colors.


A little girl has different clothes that can be put on. And Noah's ark has a bunch of plastic animals that can be stored inside.

The tree represents all the seasons: blossoms for spring, apples for summer, colored leaves for fall, and snowflakes for winter. The shoe can be laced and tied.

The last page is just a large pocket for all the extra pieces--like Noah's animals.

Trip to Utah

Isaac, Sophie, and I spent the whole month of September in Utah. Isaac was working at the University of Utah studying Pathology. We had a very busy month visiting family and friends. Here are some of the things we did:

Sophie was amazing on the flight to Utah. She had a massive blowout as we were boarding the plane from Milwaukee. It was a challenge to get it cleaned up in the airplane bathroom, but she slept the rest of the flights and was a perfect angel.

The day after we got to Utah, Isaac's sister got married. We enjoyed meeting her new husband, attending the temple, and having fun at the reception. (Sorry, I don't have any pictures.)

A few days later we traveled to Star Valley, Wyoming, where Isaac's family has a small farmhouse. Sophie was great during this drive as well. Isaac even got to raft the Snake River with his family.

Sophie was blessed in my parent's ward one Sunday. Isaac gave a beautiful blessing, although Sophie screamed throughout the entire prayer. Her blessing dress was made by Isaac's mom.

Sophie also watched the Utes cream BYU in the annual rivalry game. Sophie got a new Ute onesie for the occasion. (Actually, Sophie doesn't care much for football. She slept through the game except for the times she was startled awake with her dad's cheering.)

The remainder of the month was spent enjoying time with family and friends. My mom and I made a Quiet Book for Sophie. And Isaac really enjoyed the University of Utah's Pathology program--even though he had to work long hours. We are very grateful to our families for hosting us for such a long time. And we were so glad they all got the opportunity to meet our sweet little Sophie.