9 Months

Who knew having a nine month old could be so much fun?? Sophia is a whopping 22 pounds now and is full of energy. She sings, babbles and laughs nonstop with one condition - she needs to be walking! All this little girl wants to do is hold onto our fingers and walk. She can cruise around the furniture and walk behind her toys now, but after several steps, she stops and tries to grab our fingers again. Even when she's sitting on our laps, she'll search around for our fingers, and by the time we realize what is going on, she has already slid onto the ground and taken 2-3 steps. This is not the most ergonomically sound activity for us 30+ year old parents, so occassionally we'll use a towel as a harness.
Sophia has developed a great sense of humor and a contagious laugh that sounds a lot like her Pops. She has started a new dance where she bounces up and down, shakes her head "no" and then puts her ear to her shoulder. It's a litte unconventional, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it on MTV soon! She enjoys going to the playground, but if there aren't any kids to play with, she's happy to just sit and eat wood chips. She loves to play silly games with Mommy....


...and wrestle with Daddy.


She is no longer breast feeding at all anymore, so I celebrated by drinking waaay too much caffeine, having one too many cocktails, and eating really spicy thai food! Woohoo!! Sophia has done great with the transition, although she has developed an unusual habit of sucking on the palm of her hand when she is sleepy. We are working on getting her to eat more grown up foods, but she has been somewhat picky about it and will often shake her head "no" and spit food right out if we're able to get it in her mouth at all.

And of course, she is still ridiculously cute! Will and I have come to terms with the fact that we're going to have a kid that is way better looking than us, and we've already had to deal with some admiring boys.
Will says she will not be going on a date until she's 30.

Baby's Best Friend

Sophia and Trent are becoming great friends and it's so fun to watch. One of Sophia's favorite activities is chasing Trent, and he seems to enjoy playing along too. She'll hold on to our fingers and walk after Trent. As soon as she gets close, Trent will run away, and Sophia will squeal with excitement. Trent will then wait until she gets close before running off again.
I let Sophia "wrestle" with Trent the other night, and he was SOOOO patient with her. The poor guy just laid there while Sophia gave him wet slobbery kisses...

...pulled his ears....

...and then took his chewie away!

However, Sophia has also gotten very good at petting Trent gently, and of course, throwing him all the food she doesn't want, so I think they're both coming out ahead in this relationship!

This video is a classic!!