This past week it seems that Sophia has been learning and retaining information at landmark speed. I suppose it's fitting with her birthday creeping up and all, but we are both amazed every day by the little things she picks up and learns. Here are a few of the best and most recent.
A work-out buddy of mine who doubles as a speech pathologist told me that babies should have a vocabulary of 2-5 words by 12 months. Two weeks ago I was a little bit freaked out by this prospect, but now I'm feeling pretty good about Sophia's progress. She has mommy and daddy down easy, and has for a while. She recently added uh-oh to her repertoire and at least half the time she uses it in an appropriate situation. The funniest, I think, is that she is also trying to say 'woof'. At first I wasn't sure if she was saying woof or Walter, but I've deduced that it must be woof. She also sometimes says woof when asked what the pig says, but hey, at least she knows the pig makes a sound! We work on moo, but it sounds a lot like woof too. Quite frequently she will also try and repeat the words you just said, mostly just
imitating the intonation, but that is definitely a language mile-stone.
She is starting to share her food and toys, very cute. Last night Charlie had her on his lap and they were having a snack. She would take a bite, then offer it to him, he would take a bite, and then she'd finish it....adorable! Today she also drank from her
sippy cup and then put it up to Charlie's lips for him to take a drink. On the subject of the
sippy, she was using her walker yesterday and she put the cup in the front of it and then continued to push it around the room, just like a shopping cart.
Sophia has been pointing for a while, but just in the past two days her pointing is really taking on meaning. Tonight in the bath she pointed to the picture of a ball when I asked and then pointed to the picture of the sun, which is usually what I point to after the ball when I read it to her...amazing! Yesterday Charlie was talking with her and pointed to himself when he said Daddy and pointed to her when he said Sophia and she patted herself on the chest and smiled! She did that a lot today too when asked 'Where's Sophia?' Later on, the two of us were cuddling with her Cabbage Patch, Lizette, and I pointed out all of Lizette's features, etc. When we were done I asked Sophia where her own nose was and she pointed right to it...it's like she's a child prodigy! Recently she was at mom's and found one her
barrettes during a routine scavenger hunt and showed it mom. Mom was working on something and when she saw it told her it was for her hair, when mom turned back around Sophia had actually clipped it into her own hair.
The stairs are a big source of entertainment around our house too and Sophia loves to climb them all day long. She knows how to go both up and down the stairs the appropriate way and is even beginning to clap at herself when she accomplishes these and other magnificent tasks! She sort of took a break from clapping and waving for many months. She knew how to do both of them and would do them fairly often, but the past couple months just wouldn't do either. Then just this week, she has decided to lift the ban and bring them back. Earlier this week, Walter went to Doggy Day Care and when he returned home, she crawled to the top of the stairs, stopped, sat down, and then squealed and waved at Walter until he acknowledged her. Today she was also very interested in waving to various people in church, but of course when my brother left and he was waving to her, she was no longer interested. So fickle!
She is still a bit nervous about walking but seems to really want to do it. She will stand very briefly on her own until she figures out she's standing and then will promptly sit. She will use anything she can as a walking aide and will commence to pushing it all around the room. I thought for sure she would be walking by her birthday, but it doesn't look that way now. I know she's still on track for normal development but I'm anxious for it to happen.
This is such an exciting time. Charlie and I are feeling more and more like those goofy first time parents lately because she is just developing so quickly. Plus, it's fun to see her little personality come out and we have such fun to play games together and hear her laugh.
