Putting a brave face on more teething and a wee cold

Sophie's sleep has been quite disrupted the last couple of nights (subsequently so has ours) but Sophie has still found energy to smile and clap.

Gran visits and takes Sophie swimming

Will I ever say that a week hasn't been busy? Perhaps one of these days I will be able to but I suppose then it would be a very boring blog post.

Since coming back to school I have been offered a temporary promoted post that fell through, then offered another promoted role that I took on for a week only to be then offered the original role again. Talk about a rollercoaster week. As of this week I am now in a promoted role for somewhere between 4 and 10 weeks. Who knows though, it may all change again tomorrow.

This week Sophie's Gran visited from Campbeltown and it was great to see both the girls spending some time together. Hilary also took Sophie swimming as Katie had a badly cut finger. Katie sat in the cafe and watched and almost got into trouble for taking photos ;o)

"Me and my Gran"

"I'm on my tummy lots these days"

"Bath time with Ducky"

"I also like to play with the whales"

Sophie has also been continuing practicing her crawling - it is so tiring that last night she slept from 11.30 all the way through to 8am. Mum and Dad were were delighted.

"Me doing the plank"

It's been one of the fastest weeks ever but I still managed to get some skirting board down, clean out the kitchen drain, cut the hall door to size and also move a step closer to getting Uncle Paul's stag weekend planned. Katie meanwhile has been planning our summer holiday which will include a bit of a road trip to visit friends - July will be coming around in no time and we cannot wait.

Pulling the socks off

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.

Having a ball

Sophie met up with some friends today and had a ball, in fact hundreds of them. Very pleased with herself.

Snow!

It's all about the snow this week - Sophie's first snowfall in fact. Dad, Grandad and Uncle Paul had an appointment with the Scottish parliament (ok so just a tour, more about that later) and missed out on the fun so it was up to Mum to get wrapped up and take Sophie out. She had a great time with her Mum out in the snow.

Meanwhile through in Edinburgh the lads were getting a tour of the Scottish Parliament which was actually arranged as a bit of a gift for Grandad's birthday - my thoughts, well I'd always thought it was a disgrace that the Parliament cost so much (and I still think someone somewhere was ripped off) but I have to say that I am very proud that the building is something amazing rather than just reusing an existing building. Thought has went into absolutely every detail, the building is eco friendly (no air conditioning and re-uses rainwater for example) and materials where possible were sourced in Scotland - no expense spared. If only everything in Politics was this awesome and such value for money - well played Scotland.

There were no photos allowed inside the Parliament but here is Grandad and Uncle Paul at the Castle esplanade.

While the guys were out and about Sophie and Mum were having their own adventures - back from the snow and nice and warm, Sophie got ready for bed, brushing her own teeth.

Unfortunately we have now reached a stage where Sophie is very close to climbing out of her cot - so I spent 20 minutes adjusting it today. Which I don't think went down too well - and hasn't been very effective.

"What have you done Dad?"

"Hmm, I have a cunning plan."

"Watch this Dad."

"Almost there."

"right, that's me, I'm going over the top!"

It looks like Sophie's cot needs adjusting again already - she's almost mastered the standing and then it will only be a matter of time before she is over the fence.

In developmental news Sophie has had another cold this week and is teething again so cue sleepless nights and lots of dribbling. Granny Hilary is with us this week so hopefully that will take Sophie's mind off being unwell. Hopefully we'll get some nice photos of them both together.

Dad starts a new job this week - still in the same place but working with pupils who require support with behaviour and achievement. It's just a temporary post but should be the challenge that Dad was looking for. (as if the house and the Sophie weren't challenging enough.)

In other standing developments - Sophie looks like she prefers to play the piano standing up these days (well almost).

"Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"

ipad video

I have just realised that the videos I am putting on here cannot be viewed on an ipad (or at least that's what I think.)

I have reformatted the videos from the previous post - if these don't work I will delete this post and try again.

UPDATE - Apparently this still didn't solve the problem but there is software out there you can download to solve your problem - I think it is called Puffin or something

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.

                              

Weigh in

A quick one to let you know that Sophie went to the weigh in today and now weighs a strapping 19.15lbs.

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"