August 2001

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Some early differences between Dalia and Sophie as an infant: Dalia liked dipping her toes in the lake, Sophie didn't.  Dalia sucks on  fingers or a pacifier to calm her down, Sophie didn't.  Dalia can scoot herself around on the bed or floor already and she's more mobile than we remember Sophie to have been.  She also sleeps in 4-hour stretches at night, which Sophie didn't do until she was MUCH older.  Dalia also seems to be a more efficient nurser--she actually pops off when she's done, most of the time, which frees Judy up to actually do other things.  Sophie could nurse 24/7 if given the chance.   

Sisters bonding for a photo shoot.  Dalia is about 5 weeks old here, and Sophie is about 25 1/2 months. (ca. 8/22/01) 

Goings On
Dalia attended her first dance party - a Cajun/Zydeco house party in Kent, CT.  We all wore earplugs and had a wonderful time. Sophie danced and ran around and made friends with strange men (in the sense that they were people we didn't know, not necessarily weird! :-)) and played beautifully with other kids.  Noel and Judy blissed out on the dance floor, for the first time in a LONG time.  Noel was holding Sophie on his shoulders, and Judy had Dalia in a sling, sound asleep with her tiny little earplugs in.

Dalia had a checkup at five weeks old.  She weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz and was 22 inches long.  Sophie weighs about 31 pounds (feels like 100!) and is "solid" as can be.  She's probably close to 3 feet tall.

Lots of people comment that Sophie is as big as some three year olds.  She gets along well with other kids, and she is extremely friendly with men, especially!   She is articulate as ever, and it's rare when she utters something that we can't understand. 

Sophie has a great way of picking up phrases.  She will say, "Attention, please!" if she is stuck behind a locked door.  When she is discouraged or pretending something sad is happening in her fantasy she complains "it's no use". She loves to sing all the songs from "Charlotte's Web" and requests that video quite often, saying "I want to see a movie about Charlotte's Web on TV right now, please"--a pretty long sentence for two years old.  She still loves quoting from her "Sign Me a Story" video version of Goldilocks, and she still loves to sing songs from her "Wee Sing" tapes and Music Together tapes.  Although she hasn't attended a signing class in a long time, Sophie still remembers a lot of the ASL that we learned together, and she requests her ASL videos quite often.  She loves celebrating Shabbat on Friday nights with us, singing "Shabbat Shalom," and even singing the candle, wine, and challah blessings with us.  She loves to have us chase her around the house and push her on her swingset.  She also loves having playdates, and we think she'll do well in her two-year old nursery school program that starts in September.

We're finally getting back into the swing of things, socially speaking.  We've been having people over for dinner again, and quite a few of our friends have been bringing over meals for us.  We look forward to International Folk Dance Fridays and Hungarian dance parties and practices starting up again in September

Sophie yukking it up in the bathtub with friends David and Jacob after a long hot day of play; at the beach with Jack Revkin "one year later".

 
So long to our friends Michael, Gabe, and Jocelin after their weekend visit; family portrait of just us four.