Like Mother like Daughter? Or not?

Since Sophie was born, Katie (and many others) haven't been able to see a strong resemblance between Mother and Daughter (probably due to Sophie's head and hair being so similar to her Dad's). So I asked Hilary to bring up some photos of Katie when she was young so we could compare - I am sure you'll agree that there are quite a few similarities, even at this early stage.

Learning to crawl.

                            

Sophie continues to have the best time - every day is fun and she is always smiling

We're mostly now down to solids and formula milk. Sophie's favourite foods are cheese, pasta and caviar. Ok, so I am joking about caviar - replace that with banana.

Sophie's big adventure this week has been continuing to learn how to crawl. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forward but she unfortunately ends up going backwards. How frustrating for her!

She also started swimming last week and was dunked under the water twice - she had a wonderful time. Here she is getting ready to go to lessons......

Sophie is also getting pretty good at copying - in fact everything her Mum does she wants to do - brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, eating some toast, drinking a cup of decaf tea!

                                   

She is also becoming more and more vocal  - in a few weeks I am sure we won't be able to get her to stop talking.

"Daddy bought me some bricks"

"I'm loving my solids"

The other trick Sophie has learned this week is waving goodbye - took us by surprise today so there are not photos or videos of it but she's definitely got the hang of it.

To finish here is the lemon video from Christmas day - no Sophie's were harmed in the making of this video.

                              

A New Year and a new regime.

So back to work for me on Monday and I will certainly miss hanging out with my two favourite girls but I think we have all turned a huge corner over the last 4 weeks.

Sophie is now drinking milk from a sippy cup three times a day and eating a LOT of solid foods -  last night we had her go through the night without an additional feed which means she is close to sleeping through the night on her own and being solely fed at the table along with having milk drinks from a bottle, which is tremendous progress. She is also having very defined naps during the day and although we know this will change at a moments notice it is great to feel that things are settling down for everyone. Katie and Sophie already had a great routine but with Sophie a little bit older and more interested in solid food etc.. hopefully things will be a lot easier from now on.

Sophie is also desperately trying to start crawling - watch this space but she's not far from zooming around under her own steam. She also starts her swimming lessons on Monday - she'll be unstoppable from Tuesday onwards.

We had a great New Years Day, a long walk followed by a really lovely dinner at our house with Gran and Grandad - it was a great way to start the year.

"Is Gran really letting me do this?"

Today we had a wee family day out to Pollok park and the Burrell Collection on what was a really nice sunny day. I have also managed to get my camera out a wee bit more recently in what I hope will become a more regular feature - personally and professionally.

"I've just eaten a huge amount"

"Mum - what on earth is this?"

"Oh, I see - it's a new game!"

You can tell me which you prefer of the next picture (black and white or colour) in the comments section below, it would be good to hear some opinions.

We have had a great Christmas and New Year together - next stop Easter and Uncle Paul's Wedding. Here's to a non-stop, full on, action 2015!

"If you look closely you can see my wee teeth"

Doing some New Year washing

Even though we cleaned the house thoroughly on Hogmany we already have a few things that need a good wash.

Christmas 2014 - part 2

Well, where do I start? Probably best to begin with the photographic evidence of Santa's visit this year - just as well we have a large chimney with no fire.

Santa arrived on Christmas eve in fine form and even hung about for a gluten free beer or two.

Sophie has been doing really well recently with her solids and she is also now drinking milk from a sippy cup which is great news and allows us to start to reduce the other feeds. She's standing up and holding a lot of her own weight on her own two feet and she has started to get frustrated as she wants to crawl but is going through the travelling backward stage. She's making amazing progress.

She woke up at 6.30am on Christmas morning and I have to say that I thought to myself - "this is probably the latest she will sleep in on Christmas morning for the next 5 years."

When she came down to the living room she was her usual happy self but once she worked out what was going on she had extra big smiles. She especially enjoyed the noise of the paper and all the different colours and shapes. Exciting times.

"I thought Santa used Reindeers?" 

"This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun."

"I'm ready for more presents"

"Dad - can't you see I am busy?"

"Ok - just one more photo for now."

Sophie was a very lucky girl and got so many great presents - thanks to everyone for their gifts, it is very much appreciated.

After the presents Sophie got dressed for her big first Christmas at Gran and Grandad's house. Gran and Grandad had put a lot of effort into making everything great for the day itself - it was just a shame that Gran wasn't feeling her best but everyone had a great time.

"Aunt Joyce won't let me steal
her glasses or necklace!"

Skyping Paul and Nicole

Big girl at Christmas dinner

"More presents? This is great!"

Sophie tucked into her own food but also managed to get a taste of many things on the dinner table - there is a video of her first taste of lemon that she won't thank me for sharing with you but I will have to as it is just too funny - and when I edit it down from 2 minutes to just the required 20 seconds it shall appear her.

I forgot to mention that Uncle David paid a visit before he jetted off to work - it was nice of him to pop in and see Sophie - hopefully she'll see him again soon.

So that's really it folks, Christmas is over and done with and Sophie had a great time, as did we. Another year is almost over and it is always a good time to stop and reflect and think about what as happened over the previous 12 months.

This time last year I was painting our flat ready to get it rented out again, Katie was 3 months pregnant, we'd bought this house (in January) and we'd started to rip it to bits before we moved in on the first week of February.

We learned lots about Japanese knotweed, plastering walls, painting and decorating and I visited the council tip on a regular basis.

Sophie was born of course on the 3rd of June and since then life has never been dull - tiring yes, difficult yes, but never dull.

Things have changed forever and we couldn't be happier - what a year and what a lucky wee family we are. Thanks to everyone for being part of our year and our lives.

We are getting lots of good feedback on the blog and fully intend to keep it going - it is a great record of what we are up to and we are so happy people are enjoying dropping in now and again to see what's happening. Thanks for reading!

Happy New Year to you all ;o)

"See you in 2015 - x"

Christmas 2014

There are lots of photos to share from Christmas - and still  lots more we'd like to take. Check back soon but for now Merry Christmas xox

One more - the last for tonight I promise

One last shot

Extras

Some additional photos - Merry Christmas.

Sophie steals Dad's hat.

Sophie stole my hat today - she's a wee poser. ;o)