Happy TEN Months!!

Our little baby is getting big!!

Here she is on July 17, all ready for big brother Joel's 11th birthday party with the Casa de Amor boys:

 

  

 

For a couple months I stopped using her bouncy chair because she got bored with it and I was afraid she would propel herself out while throwing a fit. :) She loves it again now, after the break.

She barely fits in now, crazy compared with earlier pictures!

A few weeks ago, Jake and I finally had to take the scissors to her hair again so that we could see her eyes!! Everyone kept saying "how cute, she has bangs now". She did before too, but since her hair cutters weren't exactly pros, it's just more obvious. :)

A little post-cut photo op!

What a doll!!!

 

Something that changed almost on the day she turned 9 months was Sophia's ability to DESTROY! Oh my. Even the boys are constantly shocked by how quickly she can break, rip, dump out, spill stuff. She has gotten VERY active. I suppose that's a good thing, but she needs to learn how to pick UP soon!

 

The crib after 10 minutes of Whirlwind Sophia!!

She is very close to getting into the crawl position and taking off. She's just so mobile scooting along when she's sitting, she hasn't had a great need yet, although she does get frustrated with how long it takes to get to something tantalizing that she sees...

Cooking alongside Mommy

 

 

She has also decided this past month that toys are for BABIES. She LOVES and seeks out anything "real" (that could potentially be broken, I think!!). Just today, the day after she turned 10 months, the boys and I have realized that when she gets very quiet, she's into mischief. We've found her sitting in the middle of her dumped dirty clothes, including a used cloth diaper, and all tangled up in the lamp cord of her bedroom - twice!! 

Taking a little snack break from cooking

One of Sophia's books after she (and now Jake) has gotten ahold of it...

The boys get a kick out of pretending with her. Lots of the pictures from this past month are from fun times with them! I'll have to do that post soon.

Modeling her new handmade necklace from brother Michael

 

Breakfast on a chilly Bolivian winter morning

Sophia expanded her repertoire of food this past month. She'll happily eat sweet potatoes, potatoes, pureed carrots, homemade applesauce, and all sorts of fruit (bananas and mangos are favorites!), sometimes mixed with plain yogurt. Broccoli and egg yolks are sometimes okay. Avocado still needs to be mixed with banana, although we've reduced the ratio! We were doing lentils and quinoa and she lapped it up, but then came two very screamy hard nights and I decided it was gas. No more beans or grain for a while!

She usually likes steamed broccoli!

 

 

She smears her food EVERYWHERE! Since it's dusty in Cochabamba and dry this time of year, just imagine a big meal of fruit and then dirt....

 

 

The aftermath of a meal (this picture doesn't do it justice)!

 

Packing Day, July 31!

 

Move Day!! August 1

With our new big family, the 1200 sq ft (if that) apartment with nearby neighbors just wasn't cutting it anymore!! We've spread our wings and are completely spread out in a 6 room house now.

Daddy found the baby and thought she should be in a box :)

Happy Bolivia Day, August 6!

All dressed up!

On the last day of our Dutch team's Casa de Amor visit, we all went to a steakhouse.

First steakhouse visit, and Sophia got broccoli and French fries :)

 

 

She has three words now - dada, mama, and hola! One day she picked up my cell phone, put it to the side of her head (backwards) and said "hola"! I think I startled her I got so excited!

 

August 13, 10 months! It's hard to get a picture of her sitting still now, she's so active!

She loves playing in her room!

 

Sophia in her new room, in a new outfit by a missionary friend who has moved back to Canada

 

What a cutie!!

 

 

Can't wait to share Sophia with relatives in upcoming weeks! We fly to the states in 6 days for a two MONTH visit (yikes)!! That thought was more daunting until the past couple of months. Sophia is getting so much easier! Skipped naps (which happen, since she rarely sleeps when we're out) aren't the end of the world, and I just give her a little bottle of milk when she gets fussy in between the 5 feeds of the day. Occasionally I need to nurse her again in the middle of the night to get her back to sleep, but otherwise I feel practically footloose and fancy free after feeding her 8-10 times a day for the first 9 months of her life!! And to be able to sleep through the night about half the time is AMAZING! It doesn't matter how many hours you're in bed, nothing compares to 8 uninterrupted hours!! Sophia also wakes up so much more refreshed and sweet as a peach when she sleep 10-12 hours at night.

She fits into her 12 month onesies, this one from a Casa de Amor supporter and friend!

 

 

We love this baby!!