Fourteen Months

Dear Sofia,
Last Tuesday you turned fourteen months old. Fourteen months old! You are a big toddler, but you are still my sweet little baby. When your daddy and I clown around with you and rock you like a baby singing "Rock a Bye Baby" you laugh and laugh, as if you know you're too big for such things. You just keep growing, Wee. You are getting more and more beautiful with each passing day, with big, beautiful curls on your head and giant, velvety, brown eyes.

You talk so much, Sofia! You say "dinothah" (dinosaur), "cooold", "hot" and so many more words, but your favorite words are "mama" and "dada", which makes your mama and dada very happy. You say both on cue, and we love it! You are so adorable.

We finally put your swing up in the backyard, and I think swinging is your favorite thing to do! The past few times we've been in the yard you constantly walk back to your swing pointing and babbling, wanting more. You love the yard, and I'm so happy we have a yard with trees and plants and lots of good grass. You love running around the yard, picking up acorns and rocks. Unfortunately you stick everything in your mouth! And you're a naughty little thing quickly running away from me when I ask you for what's in your mouth.


I skipped work yesterday and we carved a pumpkin together. You kept picking up the pumpkin chunks, trying to feed them to your dad and me. We took you to the Houston Zoo this weekend for Zoo Boo! You had a good time! You also had your halloween party at school today. You were a cat for halloween, and I thought I would fall over and die from the cuteness overdose. Your costume was adorable. Your dad found it for you. The two of you went shopping on his day off. I came home from work and you and he were returning from a walk with a pumpkin in the stroller. Tonight I couldn't help thinking about how you'll be trick or treating in a few short years. How the time is flying.

You still sleep with us, Sofia, in the family bed. I sometimes wish I could move you to your crib, but I cherish the warmth of your precious little body next to me at night. You are still nursing at fourteen months. Every now and then your dad says, "she's a little big to be nursing, isn't she?", but I don't mind. You pull at my shirt and say "chi chi". I love mornings with you, especially weekends. These are the days you wake up on your own and you're in a happy mood, sometimes climbing on top of me. And almost always, the first thing you say when you wake up is "mama".

I love you so much, Sofia. I am so thankful that I have you in my life. You are beautiful and perfect and I will always love you, my precious little Wee. Every morning I wake up, I kiss you and thank God for you. Every day I leave work, I think about you and can't wait to go get you from school. As we drive home, I can't wait to get home to carry you into the house and spend time with you. You make me so happy, Sofia. You are the best part of my life.

Love,
Mama

NEWS

Gosh, so much has happened in the past month! But then a month is a long time, so what can one expect? No, I'm not pregnant. At least, not that I'm aware of...Robert and I bought a house! Yes, yes, our very first house! Can you believe it? I am still reeling. I can't believe someone sold us a house! Ha. It is a beautiful old, ranch-style house. Built in 1950. Three bedrooms, one bath, nice roomy kitchen, HUGE master bedroom, a nice utility room, a two-car detached garage, big yard. Lots of big trees. It's amazing. I wanted to post all about it last month before we closed, but I didn't want to jinx us. I know, silly. But it's ours now. And now we're broke. It is a big beautiful house, with a big mortgage, but it's totally worth it. It is far from where I work, but you just can't get houses like this in the Clear Lake area of Houston.

We moved in in a hurry. In one weekend, as a matter of fact. It was madness, but we did it. Thanks to a very close friend of mine, who helped a ton. It was hard with Sofia trying to get into everything as we packed, moved, and cleaned.

The weekend we moved, I started my period. My first period in about two years. I went through this insane depression, and I felt a little crazy with the move and all. I kept asking myself if we were doing the right thing, I was all weepy and stressed. Then I did a little research on the trusty ol' internet and found that it's common to go through that when weaning your baby from the breast. Sofia's feedings are not happening very often anymore, and my body's hormones were just going crazy. I was a MESS. Thankfully, the insanity didn't last. I think my hormones started balancing out a few days later. But it was awful. I had no idea this happened to women. Any other breastfeeding mommies out there who had this happen?

So, yeah, the commute is very long and ugly. Sofia's daycare is a good distance from the house too, closer to where I work. But I'm not too keen on taking her out of the daycare that we've gotten used to, so we're planning on keeping her there as long as we can. It takes me about an hour to get to work if I take Sofia to daycare. If I don't, it takes me about 45 min. And I pick her up everyday. It's rough when she falls asleep in the car on the way home. Although it makes for a peaceful drive, it's rough at night trying to get her to bed. We're getting used to things. My drive today was AWFUL. My drive home, that is. Mother nature decided to pour buckets of rain on Houston today, and I made the mistake of going into work. Getting home today was a three-hour ordeal. Yes, three hours. Two of those hours were spent trying to make my way to Sofia's daycare. Usually about a twenty-minute drive. So yes, it was bad, but I am thankful I was not one of the many cars I saw stuck in the high water on the road. Scary. I am very happy Sofia and I made it home safely.

Sofia is a little princess. She has not stopped saying "mama" since she first said it. And it still sounds amazing. Her hair is getting long and curly. She keeps me focused. And tired. Speaking of tired...I think my bed is calling me. I miss the blogosphere.