charlie

Dear Charlie ~

Next week you will be 5 months old.  I always imagined that the second child would be easier.  We already had one, we had to know what we were doing. Needless to say, you haven't been easier.  From being pregnant and having too much amniotic fluid, to being rushed to Geisinger because your jaundice was so bad, to taking everything from dairy to broccoli out of my diet to try to make you less gassy, to finally labeling you as a colicky baby (by my definition).

What have I learned from this experience? There is nothing that you could do, no amount you could cry, no stretch mark you could give me, that one single smile on your face would not erase.  I love every inch of you, from your chubby red cheeks to your wrinkly toes.  You are the little boy I always dreamed of having.  Watching you smile and laugh, eat yogurt and discover new toys, I can't help but imagine with excitement the little boy your going to be.  And although I can't wait until you can crawl and walk and talk, I am treasuring my little baby, because right now you will let me hold you forever and when you took at me you make me feel like I am the whole world to you, and I hope you learn that you are my world too.

sophie says

Dear Sophia -

Ever since you were barely one saying "baby" "ball" or "mommy" I've been mesmerized by the words you say.  Your vocabulary continues to grow, saying words like "frustrated" and "terrifying" in the correct context. I decided many months ago to write down some of the funny things you say, because I know that I will miss listening to the amazing things my three year old says and I'll want to remember them always. Here's a short list of my favorites.

February 2012

Pointing to my belly: “baby come out and play!” Looking at me “I want Baby Gemma to come out and play!”

While Michael was helping her walk up the stairs; Michael: “Soph use your other leg too” Sophia: “No Daddy that’s dangerous!”

Sophie throwing herself on the floor because I said “no”, two seconds later she stands up and says with a smile “I’m okay”

March 2012

Explaining to Sophia why I’m upset that the women in front of us took the last two slices of broccoli pizza: “That sound like a super big problem!” (from her favorite show Super Why)

At the library, Sophie runs away from me and hides, I tell her (very sternly) that she can not run and hide: “I’m scared of you!” “I need a hug”

In the car, she takes my sunglasses after I tell her I need them back and throws them “I’m a bad girl.”

She walks into my room and sees me in my nightgown looking very pregnant “Wow mommy you look like a beautiful princess! Show Daddy!”

Telling her it’s time for dinner, “No! I don’t like meat!”

May 2012

I put her in the car crying because she wanted to get in all by herself, when I went to wipe her snotty nose she said “give me my snot back!”

Michael put his bike jersey on Soph and she said “this looks awful!”

June 2012

While reading a book we notice that a page had been torn.  I asked her how this happened and she said “the monkey did it!”

“You’re my favorite mommy”

“You are my sunshine”

Saying goodbye to her daddy in the morning “Come back soon”

August 2012

Driving through the woods on the way to Deep Creek

S: Look at all these trees! I want to cut them all down!

(a week  after watching the Lorax)

September 2012

Charlie crying: “I think Charlie misses Nana”

Sophie hurts her finger (not a mark) “I need a band-aid”

Me: “after breakfast, do you want a waffle”

S: Yes

I come back to the table

S: Where is it?

Me: It’s cooking

S: You're cooking my band-aid!

October 2012

Crystal putting her to bed “aren’t you going to kiss me goodnight”

Brushing my hair and putting a bow in it “You look like a princess!” “Can we fall in love?”

“My birthday is coming soon” me “Not for awhile, you’ll be 4” “I want to be 18!”

November 2012

me: "Wow you're happy"

S: "No, I'm beautiful!"

S: "I want a giraffe pillow pet"

me: "Ok, ask Santa"

S: "Ok, make sure you give him money"

December

Michael giving Sophia a goodbye kiss before going to work

S: "Thanks for all your hard work!"

changes

Dear Sophia ~

Like much of your life since Charlie was born, your blog is changing.  I thought about this long and hard. Should I make a blog just for Charlie? Should I stop posting on Sophia's blog? The truth is that we are a family, and although you and Charlie are different people, you will now share most of this experience of growing up together and I will now have the experience of having two children, not just one.  And for that I am incredibly grateful and lucky.

3

Dear Sophia ~

I can't believe it! Tomorrow you are going to be 3 years old.  You have made my life so complete and so rewarding in so many ways.  I have wanted you for as long as I can remember and you are everything I dreamed you would be and more.  You are smart, incredibly funny, you have a great imagination, you are independent and confident, and you love everyone you meet.  Most of all you are unique.  Once someone meets you they can't forget you.  It seems crazy that I'm using all these words to describe a three year old but they are all true.  I can't wait to see the girl and the woman you grow up to be. I just hope you don't grow up too fast.

I love you with all my heart, forever

Mommy

baby charlie

Dear Sophia -

You have been through a major life change! You now have a baby brother! I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you for going through this life change with such ease! You really make things easy for me!  The past week has been anything but easy.  After being in the hospital for the weekend having your baby brother we came home excited to start this new chapter in our life.  I was so incredibly happy because I felt so incredibly blessed to have you, Charlie and your daddy, what more could I ask for?

We were just getting settled in when we took Charlie to the doctors and found out that we needed to take him to Altoona Hospital then to Conemaugh in Johnstown.  Your daddy and I were very scared because we didn't want Charlie to be sick.  We were gone for 5 days.  All the while Nana was taking care of you along with Auntie Es and Aunt Cheri.  They took pictures of you to send to me (which made me cry) and told me how much fun you were. I missed you so much!

We are finally all home together and the feeling I had when we got home the first time is now 10 times that because I have two healthy children, I couldn't ask for anything more.

instagram

Dear Sophia - I love taking pictures of you.  I think that you are the most beautiful little girl that I have ever seen, I may be bias, being your mother and all but you are truly beautiful.  When you were little I would have photo shoots with you all the time.  I would put you on the large window seal and take picture after picture of you all the while making funny faces so that you would smile at me.  Times have changed.  Getting you to sit for more than 5 seconds is next to impossible.  This is where instagram comes in.  I always have my phone with me and instagram allows me to whip out my phone and take a great picture of you using neat effects.  Then I get to share them with my friends!

what i love about you being 2

Dear Sophia -

This year is flying by! In a few short months you will be 3! I can't even believe it!  So in honor of you being 2, my favorite year with you so far (not that every moment isn't great it just seems to keep getting better) I thought I would name some of my favorite things about having a 2 year old.

#1. Spontaneous dancing.

You can be half asleep or had just had a 5 minute tantrum and your are always in the mood to dance.

#2.  Loving your mommy.

For some reason, in the past few months you really seem to love loving me.  You will hug me for no reason and say "I love you so much" or "You're my favorite mommy" or "You are my sunshine".  I cherish these moments because I know I will not always be the person that your world revolves around.

#3. It takes nothing to make you laugh.

A silly face or noise that I make or something silly that you say.  Everything is funny and your giggle is contagious.

#4. The things you say and remember.

I love listening to you talk and am constantly amazed by what you say and what you remember.  Like everytime you eat mushrooms you tell my about how Aunt Essie gave you all her mushrooms because she doesn't like them (this happened almost a year ago!)

#5. How you play.

I love watching you play house with your doll house or make a whole family with stuffed bears at Nana's house.  You have a great imagination.  One day I gave you a time out and five minutes later you were playing house and everyone in the house seemed to be receiving time outs! You are also great at playing with your Daddy.  For some reason you two get very silly right before bed.  Whether it's rolling on the ground or having pillow fights, you love playing rough with your Daddy.

The lists could go on and on but I wanted to jot down a few  so I remember how much fun we have and what an amazing 2 year old you are!

big sister (a preview)

Dear Sophia -

I don't know if it's the hormones involved with being 31 weeks pregnant, the fact that you are so loveable, or if it's just a part of being a mom, but when I think of you with your baby brother it makes me want to cry with happiness.

You have been preparing for your baby brother's arrival since we told you he was coming back in December.  But now you are in full swing baby mod.  Here are some of the things you have been doing in preparation.
1. You have been very loving to me and my baby bump.  You hug me more, say you love me more, and somethings (ok once) when I took you to Nana's you told me not to go.
2.  You talk about sharing your toys with your baby brother (unprompted!)
3.  You love to play with his clothes, especially his blankets.
4.  You play baby with your stuffed animals and dolls (you spent a good half an hour reading stories to your stuffed dog wrapped in a blanket)
 Just to name a few......

I guess what I am trying to say is that although the transition will be hard I think you will be an amazing sister because you are so loving and kind, and I love you.

stuttering

Dear Sophia -

About 2 weeks ago we noticed that you started to stutter.  Now before this day you had very good speech (actually I had you tested through early intervention just to make sure you were hitting all the mile markers and they said you were advanced!) So it came as a big surprise when you started having trouble getting your words out.  I talked to a few different speech therapists and of course googled it and it turns out it is pretty common.  The best tips that I got were to keep eye contact with you when you are talking to me, repeat what you said in a clear slow voice after you are done talking, and don't try to finish your sentences.  This was difficult at times because I knew what you wanted to say and it seemed like it would be so frustrating to you but you didn't seem to mind it.  The amazing part was when you were playing by yourself you wouldn't stutter, which I heard was a good sign.

You are stuttering less and less everyday and you continue to amaze me with what you say even if it is in a fit of rage (yesterday I wiped your nose while you were crying because you didn't get your way and you said "Give me my snot back!")

potty training chapter two

Dear Sophia ~

Yesterday was a big day!  I officially started potty training last Friday, and when I say officially I mean I put big girl underwear on you at home and watched you like a hawk.  Yesterday I ran to the store while your daddy was home with you.  He put your underwear on and then decided he needed to go to the potty himself.  When you saw him going you said, "I'm going to go too, all by myself!".  To his surprise you ran to your potty, sat on it (in your underwear) and peed!  When I got home I said to you (half joking) "did you go to the potty?" You said "yes, all by myself!" and I looked at your daddy and he said that you did!  I was so happy and proud of you!  Later that night before your bath you peed again all by yourself!  I know we still have a long road to travel but I am so proud of you and just wanted you to know!

(Every time you go to the potty you get a stamp on each hand, something that makes your very happy!)

grandma

Dear Sophia -

On Friday April 20th 2012 your grandma passed away. I don't want to go into long details about how it happen or what it was like the days after.  All I want you to know is that she was the most amazing grandmother to you (and mother to your daddy and I, and person in general).  Every Wednesday you would go to her house to play. When we would walk into her house she would say with excitement "Who's here?!" and you would yell back "It's me, Phia!".  You loved playing with her because she was always filled with so much love and joy.  You would play with puzzles, read books, do art projects, play outside (even if it was raining, you would jump in the puddles) and play computer games.  When you would get home you would have new art projects or computer printouts of your favorite characters and a list for me of everything you did and how you ate and slept (because she knew that I loved having those details).

Although she isn't here anymore, I know she is watching over us with excitement to see you grow and waiting for your baby brother to come.  It's kind of silly really for me to be writing this because I know that you will hear about her everyday.  We will tell you many stories about her and we will make sure that we follow her amazing example as a person, a parent and hopefully one day as a grandparent.

the beach

Dear Sophia -

Last week we took a family vacation to Vero Beach. It started very early Saturday morning when we woke you up and put you in your daddy's truck.  The problem was we had talked and talked about how we were going to get to the beach (first daddy's truck, then the airport, then the airplane) so along with your excitement at 3am and Nana getting into the car with new toys, you were not going back to sleep. When we arrived at the airport after all the checking in, we had a breakfast with a view.  You could see all the airplanes! To make a long story short, that is all you talked about until we got to the beach 5 hours later.  But who wouldn't love a plane ride when it involves the iPad with your favorite shows, a big comfy seat all to yourself, trail mix, and orange juice.

The weather was beautiful and you enjoyed every waking moment!

From playing in the sand

Flying kites

Swimming in the pool

Playing on the playground

Eating ice cream

Grandpa, Nana, Rich, Kathy, Daddy and I loved being with you.

easter

Dear Sophia -

There is not doubt that you have made holidays more fun.  Sure, they use to be an occasion to drink too much the night before (responsibly of course) but now they are an excuse for me to act like a child all over again!  Your daddy pointed this out to me when we were picking you up at 11:30 the night before Easter at your Nana's house because we wanted you to be home when the Easter Bunny came.  Last year I can remember you running around babbling excitedly about finding eggs, this year you made up whole songs about how much you loved your eggs!

From trying on Easter dresses to dying Easter Eggs to hunting for them in numerous locations it was a busy weekend!

By the time Sunday evening rolled around we were all pretty exhausted!

brother

Dear Sophia -

You are going to have a baby brother!  You seem to get the fact that Mommy has a baby in her belly that will come out and play sooner or later but throwing gender in the mix seems to have you confused.  So let me explain what this means to you.

1. There will be an even split of girls vs. boys in the house.  This may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the situation but the good news is we can be on the girls side together!
2.  It may be hard to understand sometimes why your brother wants to be so rough but it will also be fun to have somebody to be rough with.
3.  Although he may never understand why you are so emotional or why you see things a certain way he will always back you up and take care of you, because he is a man and your brother and that's what they do.
4.  Sometimes you may feel jealous of him.  Why does he get to pee standing up? Why doesn't he have to fix his hair?  But trust me the pros out way the cons of being a girl.
5.  We will be so incredibly lucky to have two great men in our house to love us and take care of us.

time-out

Dear Sophia -

Last week was a new milestone for the both of us, you had your first time-out.  

It started off like any other dinner, except that Daddy was on a bike ride.  We were eating happily together when you threw a piece of food.  I asked you nicely to stop, then you threw another piece while giggling.  I used my stern voice (that usually makes you say "ok, hug me") to tell you again not to throw your food but you didn't listen. As soon as I saw that piece of shredded cheese fly threw the air I knew it was time.  I hadn't planned out where your time-out would be if and when a time-out was in order but I quickly flung into action, picking you up, telling you that you were going into time out and putting you on the sweet little rocking chair that your Aunt Essie had handed down to you.  You screamed and cried for what seemed like 10 minutes (it was really about a minute and a half).  After the time was up I walked up to you and told you again that you are not allowed to throw food and told you to reapeat, "no throwing food".

I was very pleased with my parenting when I told you that you now needed to pick up the food that you threw when you started to hit me! My mind started racing, you had never hit me before, had I let the fire loose in you? Had a pushed you too far? Was my baby angel gone?  All I could do was to tell you no hitting and put you back in time-out!

Luckly after this time-out you did pick up your food and after only about a minute we were back to being best friends.

I felt a lot of guilt about putting you in time-out, I talked to your Daddy and your Aunt Stacy and they both said it was time and you were smart enough to get it.  I am happy to report that I have not had to put you in time-out since, and I'm hoping when the time comes your daddy will be here to do it!

potty training chapter one

Dear Sophia -

Today I was ready, I was motivated, I was inspired to get you to pee on the potty.  Sure, you've pooped on the potty twice, but that was just because I scooped you up right before you pushed the final push.  Peeing is different, it's more sporadic, it's harder to feel when it's happening.

Today is a beautiful Saturday, Saint Patrick's Day.  Your daddy and I didn't have any plans, nowhere we had to be.  So after we ate our green pancakes I gave you a big cup of juice which you happily drank.  I took off your pull-up, put on your special Belle big girl panties, turned on Super Why and sat you on the potty in front of the TV.  As you got a little antsy I made sure to give you anything you wanted.  A lollipop, it's yours, my phone, here ya go.  There we sat for an hour, you said your butt was starting to hurt so I let you walk around for a few minutes, sit on your daddy's lap, then back on the potty you went. I was exhausted and you were too, your daddy said we could try another day, but I still had hope.  I sat down on the couch for a second and you peed on the floor.

your friends

Dear Sophia -

You are one very lucky girl! You have so many cousins and friends around you that you love to be with and who love being with you!  You just started labeling any kid you see your "friend".  Like when you wanted to sit beside your cousin Allison you said to me, "I want to sit beside my friend" or when you saw a few kids at the store, " Look mommy, there are my friends!" or when you saw a picture of Greyson and Gemma, "I want to play with my friends!"

I can already see that friendship is very important to you and I think part of that comes from you seeing your mommy and daddy have such wonderful friends and family and I can only hope that we are passing how important family and friends are along to you.

stories

Dear Sophia -

One of your favorite things to do right now is to listen to and tell stories.  They usually start like this: "Mommy tell me a story about ___________."  I will make up a story about what you asked and then you will ask me to tell another story about something else.  Your favorite story right now involves a noise in the closet, you made this up, we can't figure out where you got this idea. 

It is so fun to watch you tell stories because you are so animated and you get so excited!  Stories are great because we can tell them anywhere from lying in bed face to face, to eating dinner, to driving in the car.  I hope your imagination continues to grow and your never loose the excitement that is in your face when you tell me a story.

being small

Dear Sophia -

Currently weighing in at 21 pounds and wearing size 18 month clothes, you are tiny.  This has been stressful on me at times, worrying that you weren't eating enough, that something could be wrong, or that other mother's where judging me on my small child.  But after every blood test known to man (I'm sorry I had to put you through that) and constant reassurance from your doctors, I've come to accept you as just being our little Sophia.

Despite the downsides to having a small child, there are some benefits.  #1.  Strangers in public think that you are a genius! They wonder to themselves or out loud, how is that baby talking and walking so well!  #2.  Although you continue to grow it is at a slower rate so your clothes last longer.  #3.  It makes you that much cuter, and it makes you different from all the other toddlers, because who wants to blend into the crowd anyway?!

a fairy tale

Dear Sophia -

My favorite thing you say right now is "happily ever after".  You say this when you see me hug daddy or when you want to hug daddy and me at the same time.  I love it because it reminds me how lucky I am to be living in this fairy tale with you.

my first post

Dear Sophia - This is my first post, I'm a blogger! My inspiration? You! The last 28 months have been the most amazing of my life.  You have brought a joy into my life that I could have never imagined feeling.  Everyday you bring us so many moments that we want to cherish forever.  What better way to remember all these moments and to share them with you than through the web!

Love always - Mommy