November 2000
Friday (Nov 30) Sophie got her ears pierced!! I decided she is now honorarily 1/2 Rom (gypsy). I haven't gotten used to seeing her with gold posts and balls sticking out of her ear lobes, but I suppose I will. (Judy's comment--they're only 3mm and very small--she looks adorable and very grown-up and elegant with them!!!) Judy was with her at a big shopping mall with another mom with kids, having just come from an ASL (sign language) play group. After the piercing Sophie cried a bit, but Judy bought her some little colorful balls to play with, and she calmed down right away. She slept for over 3 hours later in the afternoon, exhausted from playing and all the emotional upheaval.
The same night we all were out dancing to live Bulgarian music by our friends Donka, Nikolai, their two daughters Maria and Pepa, and friends Matt and Adam. We get such great joy listening and dancing to great live gadulka (pear-shaped fiddle), tambura (like a mandolin or bouzouki), gorgeous voices in gorgeous harmonies, and drums playing Bulgarian and Macedonian rhythms and melodies. What a treat! Sophie was amazing and charming. During the concert part she sat on my lap much of the time rocking forward and back, clapping and motioning and gesturing with her hands, etc. During the dancing she sometimes danced by herself, sometimes on my shoulders, and several times got in line with everyone and kept up marvelously well. That was a first. Towards the end of the evening (11:30) she got into dancing and spinning around in circles until she got dizzy and fell down.
Dec 1 we had to go to the pediodontist to re-fill one of Sophie's top front teeth. It was painful for all concerned. After a certain point she kept sobbing "all done" (pronounced "all dough") over and over. Apparently the decay had reached the nerve. We actually went back to the dentist the very next week to check on some discoloration on the teeth. The dentist cleaned it all off with his power brushes and said he'd see us in six months. Sophie, of course, freaked out again, but the dentist assured us that she was being amazingly good for her age.
We're still doing well at weaning her at night; she typically wakes up once, whimpers for nursing, we tell her "it's still dark, we'll nurse when it's light outside" and we pat her and she goes right back to sleep.
Saturday night we went to Hungarian dance practice and stayed for the holiday dance party (tanchaz). It was an amazing evening, very long, and Sophie was really energized by the music, the dancing, the other children, the party atmosphere, and only fell asleep in the car on the way home, well after midnight.
I (this is Judy) have been arranging regular playdates with other children and their moms, and the payoff is great! Sophie has been napping so much better after each playdate, and she really enjoys the socializing. I was a little worried how she would do with other kids, because she hasn't been in any sort of regular daycare, but she's fine. She has a very sweet, friendly personality, and she is very generous (so far) with her toys. She's very sympathetic when other children cry. I also thought she would hang on me, but she's great about being in the next room, and only occasionally coming to "check in", and then run back to whatever she's doing.
I plan to start prenatal aerobics again soon (yes, we're expecting again in July!), so these little separations are good practice for when she will be in a separate nursery next to the aerobics room. The pregnancy is going well, as far as we know. More nausea, less fatigue than the first time. I'll see the midwife next week (my 11th week) for the first time, and will hopefully find out that everything is progressing normally.
One of Sophie's adorable behaviors is a little stamping dance. She frequently does this by getting into the (dry) bathtub and grabbing onto the soap dish (handle) with one hand. Then she runs in place, forward and back, with little steps, often while squealing with delight.
Some new or more common words/phrases: cup, back (coming back), baby, "good girl," move back, up, down, outside, watch, clock, other side/outside, names of friends: Wylie, Emma, Skyler; Savta (Grandma), Saba (Grandpa), doll, c(l)own, bear, ope(n), c(l)ose, book, please, okay, help oo (help you), bed (bread), tea, soup, cookie, cracker, apple, pear, teen (clementine), peepee, poopy, diapy, shoes, s(l)ipper, hat, doll, bear, animal sounds (though not their names!), neen up (clean up), dirty, p(l)ay, p(l)aying, s(l)eep, night-night, moon, poo (computer), all doe(done), (s)tar, tickle tickle, sheep (slip as in slippery bathtub). She is using a lot of woooo! (exclamation of surprise), ummmm (trying to choose), uh-oh (she has used this for a long time when she drops something). She's imitating like crazy right now--tons of words are coming up faster than we can write them down.
New ASL signs: down (points down), mommy, working, book, please, poopy, play, clown, quite a few animal signs, name signs for her friends Skyler and Maggie. Just this week she signed "more milk" first thing in the morning--first time she's combined two signs to form a "sentence."
Skills & games: eating and drinking soup with a spoon; blowing her nose (with coaching); playing with letters and not just trying to chew on them; running away and laughing when we try to put on her coat/shoes/you name it; pretending to "nurse" her dolls and stuffed animals, rocking them and saying "ahh, ahh, baby"; trying to tickle people. She's also FINALLY starting to play by herself for short periods. Sometimes I'll be busy doing something in the house, realize that I haven't seen her for 10 or so minutes, and then find her sitting on her little bed reading to her stuffed animals.
Songs: BINGO, Old McD, Row, row, row your boat, ABC song, lots of songs from Wee Sing and Music Together. The phrase E-I-E-I-O refers to the alphabet or letters, like when she plays with magnetic letters, reads an alphabet book, watches us type or notices letters on a T-shirt.
We're looking forward to a busy holiday season this year. Driving to Washington to visit Judy's family--her sister Deb and her family are coming in from Israel, so we will even get to see them briefly before flying to Florida for a short visit with Judy's grandmothers and other cousins. Back to Washington for New Year's Eve with folk dance friends, and then back home.
Her first boat ride on the Hudson was the last gasp of warm weather
On the right foot she dances like a Bulgarian; staying up late the next night
for Hungarian Tanchaz
Reading is one of our FAVORITE pastimes!
Pitter patter down the hall in her "cheerful tush"
outfit, a gift from Aunt Deb in Israel.
Reading with the dollies; playing with stuffed animals in her very own
room
