Free Flowing

I never had thought of 14 months as a special age for kids, but Sonia is so sweet right now. Part of it, I am sure, is that she is not only able to communicate her wishes to us better but also understand what we are telling her. Just a few weeks ago, I tried to toss her onesie into the hamper and missed. "Hey Sonia, can you put your onesie in the hamper?" I almost heard her say, "Sure Mom!" as she charged over, picked it up, and flung it in. She likes to do things with flair and gusto. One of my favorite moments is when, from across the room, she will suddenly break into a run with a big smile and her arms out. She continues running full force into my chest then gives me a big hug. I do not think I have ever described her odd expressions of affection for her silky. When she is really excited or upset, she grabs it and buries her face in it, biting it and stuffing it in her mouth while moving her head back and forth. I think she would be very pleased if she knew just how dramatic it looks.



Of course, she does not have any self-consciousness of how anything she is doing looks. She is a vessel of free flowing emotion. I think this is part of what makes toddlers so awesome. The painful emotions are even more distressing for her than physical injury; she has cried for twenty minutes after being told "no", but just seconds after a fall that gave her a bruise. At the same time, she can get so joyous she runs, yells and kisses all at once. That only happens to me every few months at most, but for her, it's every few hours.

In addition to understanding more, she is also able to do more. She is running, walking down small steps (not stairs, yet), and climbing. I was finally able to get a picture of her walking. Most of my attempts look like the bottom one.


















I read a blog a friend of mine posted on Facebook that mused over our tendency to admire and compliment little girls on their looks. They are adorable. Yet, what are we suggesting when this is the first thing we remark on? The author proposed asking little girls what books they are reading as a way to initiate conversation. I am trying to do this because I think it is important that appearance not be a major concern, especially for children.

People remark to me all the time how beautiful Sonia is. She is lucky, as one stranger commented to me, as things are easier for good-looking people. She always has been and always will be gorgeous to me, so I love to photograph her. It is also fun to share charming photos. Sometimes, though, I worry that by taking so many photos of her, I will make her preoccupied with how she looks.

So, with that, here are some new photos of our little girl. That red shirt reads, "All You Need Is Love". It's one of my favorites.

Accessories

I never thought I would be posting about Sonia wanting to accessorize at this age, but she has made her wishes clear. She figured out how to put a necklace over her head the other other day. Now, she does not feel quite right unless she has a least one, but sometimes three things hanging from her neck. I guess name tags on wide cloth bands are big in the baby fashion world these days, but if she can't find one of those, then a necklace will do. Her legs are often a bit too wobbly to deal with a necklace hanging at her knees but that does not even give her pause about putting them on. She just gets back up and keeps walking.






Another really cute thing she has been doing recently is plugging our noses when we speak then laughing at how it changes our voices. The other day she was riding in her car seat when I heard a little nerdy sounding "babadadada". She was plugging her own nose then talking through it. Ha! I still crack up when I see her do this. She has also been plugging her mouth with a wine vacuum-seal cork that I had given her to play with while I cooked dinner. Just walks around with it in her mouth.

If she cannot plug out noses, then she likes to cover us up and whisk away the cover. The game is an oldie but a goodie. Here she is covering her dad with her silky then giving him a big smooch.







Her eating adventures continue as well. Her are before and after photos of Sonia munching on a lime.






















Sonia's after dinner mint.

Steps

A quick note- Sonia took her first steps yesterday! Everything came together in her baby brain-body and when Alan arrived at Jeff and Tammy's in the afternoon, she started showing her tricks. We're so happy for her!

We knew it was coming soon, though, aa she just started standing on her own for quite some time. I got a few photos on Tuesday before the big event yesterday.

Tasting

"She's a good eater."

We often hear this phrase when people with or around Sunny. The first time I remember hearing it was from my Uncle Ken when he and Yvonne came for Thanksgiving. She likes to try new things; in fact, she often demands to do so. So far there is only one thing we have found that she consistently does not like and that is green beans. She shudders sometimes when one finds its way to her mouth. Alan and I pretty much give her everything we eat. Curry, stir-fry, pizza, though I guess pizza is not usually a challenge. Recently she has shown a fondness for funky cheese- blue cheese, feta, English Cheddar with caramelized onions. She actually gets giddy sometimes when we give her plain yogurt or hummus. I think blueberries are still her favorite, though she likes so many things it is difficult to tell. She has had quite an appetite recently. I packed a lunch for the three of us to eat while we were hiking the other day, but Sunny ate so much that Alan and I had to get a snack afterwards.




Alan has been on break so we have gotten a lot of hiking in the past few weeks. Luckily, as long as we do not walk for over a few hours, Sunny loves to ride in her backpack. We often give her a stick to hit the passing branches with and that helps keep her occupied. She also likes to pat her daddy's hair or hang on to his shoulder. After awhile, the best thing to do is doze. She falls asleep in the most uncomfortable appearing positions, but I know they only appear uncomfortable to my aging joints and muscles. My neck gets stiff just looking at the picture below. Her little elastic body does not mind.



As time goes on, there may come a day when Sonia starts to ask for coffee. If she does, she really wants warmed milk with cinnamon sprinkled on it. She always wants a sip of the coffee Alan and drink in the morning and in the afternoon, so we started giving her the milk. Just to make the whole thing completely adorable, she sips her coffee out of a miniature coffee cup we got from Drew and Janet.

No walking yet...I will let you all know when the big day arrives.

Standing

Over the past few weeks, Sonia's word comprehension has really blossomed. We can ask her where our ears, mouths, noses and belly buttons are and she will point to said parts on our bodies and her own body. She knows all of our names and Ezra and Sadie's names. As she understands more, she is also growing more frustrated when we do not understand what she wants and sometimes reacts with screams and tears. Toddlerhood is on the horizon.

In order to get there, she has to toddle. Her confidence on two legs is growing. She can stand by herself at times, especially if her hands are occupied. She is able to crawl up and down several stairs now. We are eagerly anticipating her first steps. We keep hearing from everyone, family and strangers we happen to pass going out of restaurants, that we are in for trouble. True enough, but it is quite fun to see her learning all this stuff and walking will open so many doors for her.

We went on our first of many family camping trips. Sonia loved walking around the outdoors so much she even let us put a hat on her. Her enthusiasm died down when the temperatures dropped. We had not planned on it being quite as cold as it got and ended up back in the car in the early morning. The trip was aborted and we went to Poppy and Grandma Sandy's house a few days early. I was afraid she would associate her little pup-tent (actually called a Peapod, if you care to see it) with cold, but she snuggled up in it the next night at Poppy's house with no problem. Lucky for us, she is a pretty resilient little girl.




Little girl...I have to keep reminding myself that she is not a baby anymore. She is growing up to fast. I lamented this in the last post. Now I'm beginning to think that Jeff and Tammy have a hand in her getting so grown-up. First it was the Princess Coupe, now we put on a t-shift they got for her. Yes, that is Hendrix on the front of her shirt. She loves it.