13 Months

We have been having a great summer! The school year ended with a bang. Sophia was in her first recital. Every year at the daycare the Pre-Kindergarteners graduate from the school. This is a big event. They wear caps, gowns and hoods representing how many programs they went through at the school. After the graduation portion of the event each of the classrooms performs some type of entertainment. This year Sophia performed a dance with the toddlers to the song, “Jack-in-the-Box.”

Sophia was the youngest in the group and she did amazing. She was center of attention. It is very funny.

During the finale when they bring the whole school out to perform. Sophia moved right out in front of all the kids and performed the parts SHE wanted to do. The crowds of people didn’t bother her at the least. The more they clapped and laughed the more she performed. Daddy and I were so proud of her.

Once the school year was over Sophia and I had two weeks to play and have a great time before they summer session started. We were out of the house everyday by 8:30 on a new adventure.

Some of them were just us and others were with our friends.

Sophia’s favorite place so far this summer is Hampton Beach. She loves playing in the sand but wants nothing to do with the cold water.

She loves going to different parks too. Daddy, Sophia, and I try to find a new park every weekend. This past weekend Sophia and Daddy went to a park that Daddy built. I think Daddy was as excited as Sophia to go there.

I was excited because I had some much needed “Mommy Alone Time.”

Developmentally, Sophia has taken off with talking and understanding. She is very animated!

She can identify the parts of her face, the sounds certain animals make, and has learned how to get her point across with one little word, “No.” She is so funny! Sophia can tell you what a sheep, dog, cow, and bird says. Then if you ask her what mommy says she will stick her finger up, wave it and say, “No, No.” Mike is so proud that he taught her that. When she can’t find something or someone leaves a room she will sign where and say, “Where?” If she doesn’t know what something is she will put her hands in front of her open her eyes real big and say, “What’s that?” When she wants someone or something she will sign want and point to the person or object. Everything is “this,” that,” or “puppy.” When she drops something she will say “Oh No” or “O Oh.” When she does something she knows is wrong she will tattle on herself by saying, “No No” or “O Oh.” She blows kisses and says “hi” and “bye” to everyone she meets. When you ask her a question she will either grunt for “yes” or say “no” and shake her head. Her favorite word this month is, “Hot.” EVERYTHING is hot. She blows on all her food before she eats it while saying, “hot.” She has her own language she uses too.

When she wants to sing her favorite song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” she will put her finger together like they are the spider and say, “This.” If she wants to sing, “If All the Rain Drops” she sticker her tongue out and hums “ahh ahh.” For “Happy and You Know It” she claps her hands. She is doing great with sign language too. She has about 10 signs she uses frequently.

Along with her language development Sophia has learned how to walk backwards, climb downstairs on her bottom, and how to run. This child never walks. The best part I find of her development is the mimicking that she has begun to do. She is my little helper. Everywhere that I go she is right behind me trying to do the same thing. When I sweep she has the dust pan and little broom right next to me. It is the same when I brush my teeth, pick up toys, fold clothes, unload the dishwasher and plant in the garden. She loves to mimic. Mike loves this too! The best is when she is getting up off the floor and she does the “I’m getting old” groan like Mike does when he is getting off the floor. She does it too when she is picking something up that is heavy. She does the “I’m getting old” groan like I do when I am picking up something awkward or heavy. It makes us laugh every time she does it.

Medically, she is doing OK now. At 12 months she did have another round of vaccines and ended up catching both them. She got the shot on a Wednesday the following Monday she had a skin infection which is a rare side effect of the shot. About 10 days later she had a temp that hovered between 103 and 104 degrees for about 3-4 days. They said it was a virus. Well that virus ended on a Sunday and that Monday she woke with the Chicken Pox. Both those viruses caused a severe single ear infection. Two days after ending the antibiotic for the ear infection Mike brought her to the doctor’s for what we thought to only be conjunctivitis and it turned out to be a double ear infection, sinus infection, and conjunctivitis. Besides the 4 days with a temp, none of this bothered her. Me on the other hand… I was not happy. I took Sophia for her follow-up this past Monday with the head pediatrician and we had a good conversation about the last 14 months and her vaccines. I expressed my concerns and he FINALLY agreed that there may be something going on. So at this point we have stopped vaccinating her. Mike is taking Sophia on Monday to have some blood work done to see if she has built up any antibodies to the vaccines has been given. Once we get the results back we will put together a game plan.

Allergy wise, she is doing AWSOME! We have introduced a few more foods like avocados and eggs. Eggs are HUGE! They are one of the highest allergy foods and she is doing great with them. We are going to tackle white fish next week. My gut feeling is that she has outgrown her food allergies. We meet in September with the GI doctor to review my blood work for Celiac Disease. If there are no indications that I have even a slight case then there is a good chance we will slowly introduce wheat to her. As for milk, that is a battle we face at 24 months.
We have so much still to do this summer. Mike and I are having so much fun watching her grow into a little person. We can’t even call her a baby anymore. As Mike says, “She is one who toddles.” We hope that you all have a great month and look forward to sharing more stories with you in the future.

Happy Summer!