Oh my, Sofia was sooo crabby tonight! The minute Ryan got home, she wanted either me or him to hold her. If we didn't? She'd cry. I tried to play with her while Ryan made dinner, but that lasted only so long. Around 7 p.m., she was acting so fussy that Ryan went ahead and gave her a bath. That was when he discovered the horrible diaper rash on her butt. I have no idea where it came from, but it had to have been something she ate. Needless to say, the bath (usually a very enjoyable experience) did not make her happy. So, we went to the last resort...the infant Tylenol. She loves that stuff. We don't give it out very often, but with the butt rash and the four teeth and the crying, we saw no other option. After that, Sofia cried some more, and then at 7:30 p.m., a half an hour earlier than usual, I put Sofia to bed. Now I am breathing a sigh of relief as I try to get some homework done. Ahhhh.

It's inevitable, I'm just never going to be on top of this blogging thing! I tell myself I should post everyday, but do I really want to bore everyone who reads this? But then because I don't write everyday, when I do I have a ton of catching up today. Such is the case right now. Thanksgiving was fun. We went to Russ and Vanessa's for the day and ate tons of yummy food. Sofia was good all day, and even took a nap in Genevieve's crib. Unfortunately the nap was right when we were eating, but at least Ryan and I got to eat our food without having little fingers grabbing at everything. Dessert, on the other hand, was a different story. Sofia loved the pumpkin pie and the apple pie (both homemade courtesy of Vanessa's dad). She was mooching up to everyone trying to get more tastes. The only misshap of the day was when Sofia's head got stuck between the banister rails. She put her head through, turned it, and then tried to pull it back out...it didn't work too well.

Sofia and I went to the mall on Monday and had fun playing in the play area. She's really starting to get the hang of the slides. She'll sit down at the top and then slowly scoot her little butt to the edge and then zoom down with a big smile on her face! Yesterday I decided to take her to see Santa for a little introduction before we go for pictures. Needless to say, I'll probably have to introduce her a couple of times before she's comfortable. We were the only ones in line and when we got near to the big guy, Sofia didn't want to go close to him. I started to pet Santa's sleave to show Sofia that he was soft, but she didn't want anything to do with him. Finally, being the good mom that I am, I picked Sofia up and put her on Santa's lap. That lasted all of two seconds before the lip started to tremble. But she was all smiles as soon as Santa gave her a sucker. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll last long enough next time to get her picture taken! As for the sucker, I let her try some of it. Oh, and did I mention it was blue? Very blue. Sofia had a blue mouth, blue teeth, blue tongue and would have had a blue everything else if I didn't take it away from her.

I'm very impressed that I have had the Christmas tree up for a whole day and have had no problems (knock on wood). I thought I would have to take it down for sure, but that's not the case. Sofia likes the lights, but all of the ornaments are out of her reach. So, the poor little tree has 15 ornaments all on the top half. Oh well, at least it's up!

We Shelve Babies

I just wanted to post this picture before I forget. This was from last Monday when I took Sofia to storytime at my library.

Teeth

Sofia can't get just one tooth in at a time. Oh no, she has to get two in. This morning while I was changing her, I noticed the two teeth on either side of her front ones were coming in. Well, at least she finally has more than four.

Here's a picture of Sofia showing off her newest trick. If you ask, she'll how you her belly. And sometimes she'll even find yours!

Lot's of Stuff Going On

Wow, we've been busy. Sofia and I went down to Cincy on Saturday, first making a stop at Dad's. Sofia had fun chasing cats and playing with a box of dominoes. She also got to ride in a wagon for the first time. The funny thing was she wouldn't sit on the benches, she sat on the bottom. She rode on the bottom, holding onto the sides of the wagon, all the way to the park. After we left Dad's, we travelled on to Chelsea's place. Sofia was really good until it was time for bed. She started to freak out when I put her in her pack-n-play. I think it may have been the flashlight that was in the room (I didn't want it to be pitch black), but as soon as I turned it off, she went to sleep...until Nick walked in the front door. Luckily, Sofia didn't stay up too much longer. On Sunday we went to lunch, played at another park and then went to visit Jessica and her little girl Sydney. I hadn't seen Sydney since Sofia's birthday party, and I forgot how fast babies grow! She is so cute! She was making all of the cooing and ahhing noises that little babies make. Sofia was too busy chasing the cats and talking to the dog to pay attention to her cousin. However, Sofia did enjoy trashing Sydney's room. If she wan't opening drawers and dumping everything out, she was getting into the hamper. That funniest moment was with the closet. Jessica and I were looking in Sydney's closet. This closet has two doors divided by a frame. As I was standing there, looking at clothes, Sofia proceeds to push the door shut, which shut me in the closet. Then she moved to the other door and shut Jessica in the closet. It was really funny! All in all, it was a blast going home and seeing everyone! And now, pictures!

I love Sofia, I really do. But sometimes I just get so frustrated with her! And I know she gets frustrated too. So, when I get mad I always feel bad afterwards because I tell myself, "Carissa, Sofia is only a year old, she doesn't do this on purpose." But there are days that I just can't wait to get away from her! But I love her, I really do.

Okay, two things to talk about. First, Sofia can now show you her belly. She gets a big grin on her face and pulls up her shirt. Plus, I got her to show me where her head is today. She is one smart cookie.

The second thing is Sofia's night sleeping. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but Sofia will wake up a couple hours after going to bed and she'll start crying. I wait a couple of minutes and when I do go in there, her eyes are closed and she's laying down, but she's still crying. What is up with this? Is she having a bad dream? Last night she woke up and when I went into her room, she was crouching in the corner of her crib, crying. I picked her up, turned on her music, and rocked. When I put her down, she cried for a few moments, and then rolled over onto her stomach and fell back asleep. Weird. I have no clue why she does this, but it's been happening a few nights a week for the past several weeks. Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions.

Girls Day Out

Sofia and I had a very fun day. I was so sick of sitting at home, so I got us ready and we went to storytime at the Library. Sofia's now to the point that she won't sit and pay attention, instead she walks around and explores everyone else, their bags, their books, you name it. But, as soon as she hears a song she knows, she starts shaking her little butt and swinging her arms. It's fun to watch her, but tiring to chase her around. So, anyway, after that we went home and napped. When Sofia woke up, she and I went to the Pizza Buffet place down the street. For $8 I fed both her and I (she was free). We had salad, pizza, pasta, more pizza and finally softserve icecream. It was very tasty. Then we walked down to the pet store. Sofia got a real kick out of the puppies and kittens. Then (oh, we're not done yet), Sofia and I went to the mall and played in their play area. She always has a blast. I, on the other hand, always get annoyed by the other kids and the lack of parental supervision. This area is for little kids and there are usually a ton of toddlers and preschoolers. I hate it when the kids still have their shoes on, because they're supposed to take them off. I hate when the older kids run all around and knock the little kids down. I hate pushy preschoolers who shove Sofia out of their way. I hate the parents who just sit there and watch as their child does this. But, I still love taking Sofia there because it makes her happy...now that's love!

So today I was really tired, and I have no clue why. I went to bed early last night, around 10 p.m. I woke up at 11:30p.m. and thought it was this morning. I about had a heart attack because I was supposed to work at 9 a.m. Sofia was having a bad night too because she was up crying at the same time and could not go back to sleep, so finally I had to take her into bed with me. Needless to say I did not get any sleep for about two hours, which is how long it took me to put her back to bed. Then, after work today, I took a three hour nap. Three hours! I woke up just in time to go to class. Now, it's 9:30 p.m., and I'm still tired.

Sofia is starting to literally run. She's not too fast yet, but you can tell that's what she is trying to do. Well, her new thing is whenever she picks up something from the floor, whether it be an old Cheerio or something grosser, when you say her name, she runs from you. If I'm sitting on the couch, all I see is her little body running behind the sofa. It's really funny. Her other big thing is turning off the television. And when she does it, she claps. I don't clap. I've been trying to not show any emotion when she does it, and usually we'll just keep the t.v. off, but when I'm trying to watch something, it's hard not to get annoyed, and then she just keeps doing it!

Temper

Wow, I need a break from Sofia. She was doing good all day until an hour ago. For some unknown reason (unknown to me that is) Sofia got mad. She was mad because I wouldn't let her turn off the television. She was mad because I put her on my lap. She was mad because I wouldn't put her on my lap. Then she started crying. And cry and cry. The tears were streaming down her face as she walked woefully around the living room. Finally, I had enough and put her in her crib. She was quiet for about fifteen minutes and now she's in there talking to herself. I figure I'll just let her be in there until she starts to whine and cry to be let out. I'm still going to blame the time change on this one...or just one of those freak baby explosions. Either way, I hope this little "storm" has passed.

Time Change Sucks

I know, I know, I'm such a blogging slacker. I'm sorry, I've just been so lazy lately. And now with the time change, argh! Luckily the change in time didn't effect Sofia too much. She got up at 8 a.m. and went to bed at 7:30 p.m. Nt bad. Although, what made this evening oh so special was Sofia pooping in the bath. It was bound to happen at some point, and at least she was just about to get out of the tub. That tub has been cleaned twice in two days, which I hate to admit is more than it usually is. I can't say cleaning the bathroom is on my top list of priorities. I try, I really do. (I really hope this doesn't deter people from visiting!)

I'm happy to say that Sofia is feeling much better. I took her to the doctor on Wednesday and she got the yummy pink bubblegum medicine. Which she loves. I wish we had some cool Halloween photos, but I had to work and Sofia was still feeling yucky. Ryan and Sofia went to our friend's Russ and Vanessa's place, but only stayed for about an hour. I'm really hoping next year will be a much more eventful Halloween.