Apart from the 2 hospital stays that cost us a bomb (reminder to self: if if IF there is a 3rd one, I should get insurance sorted before we leave the hospital instead of trying to decipher the baby bonus form), her growth chart is nothing short of exponential.
She's such a lovely baby to care after, so easy-going and well-adjusted. Perhaps having a loud lout at home (i.e. Big Sis) who will alternate between kissing her overzealously "I laf youuuuu" and grabbing her teethers with contempt "Mine! Mine! Mine!" means she doesn't have a moment to get bored or cranky. Once in awhile, I send Big Sis to ex-sitter's house and during those quiet days, Sofia would cry a lot and be maladjusted. She's very much in love with Arissa, often smiling widely and kicking her legs when she catches a flash of Big Sis, who has acquired the speed and dexterity of The Roadrunner. *peet peet*
The other day Sofia finally discovered she has a voice.. and has been practising her vocal range eversince. She gurgles, chortles and screams with full concentration, especially when she has a responsive audience:
Recently she has mastered the art of turning on her tummy AND pulling her arms out from under her AND raising her upper body at a 45* angle. Just days after learning this new trick, she has begun lurching forwards to reach for Arissa's toys. Oh the fun begins... we shall see how these two fight, I can just imagine how affected DADDY will be. If he thinks Arissa is naughty now, he's got a whole new thing coming.
She has lost all that beautiful thick baby soft hair from the womb and went almost bald, but stubborn me didn't want a shaven-headed baby no matter what people said. I didn't shave Arissa's hair and it grew fine. Mum called Sofia 'Professor-head' for a time, because she had tufts of shorter hair and trails of longer hair, fit for a comb-over!
At 4 months, we spotted a pair of jagged edges popping out of her lower gums and I was quite miserable, thinking this must be the death of Breastfeeding. All that biting, surely I'm supposed to give up?!
The only issue is that she still protests very loudly to being bottle-fed. And Mum, maid & me end up scratching our heads not knowing what to do with this screaming bundle of joy. Silly cows that we are didn't think she's respond better to scheduled feeding (thanks MIL for the suggestion), as Arissa was fed totally on demand. Problem solved (most days at least).
With the advent of teeth, she started to get more and more hungry, often waking up 4-5 times a night for feeding. I end up putting her in our bed (R.I.P Romance). But I was wary of starting solids on her, I ought to at least wait til 6 months, says the cereal tin. Should've known better..
But wait a full entry about Sofia!!! This lout would not ALLOW me to shine the limelight away from her:
Me, me, me! I'm cuter!