It's Sophie's Turn!

Finally, something about Sophie!

Sophie has been able to sit up unassisted for quite sometime now, as long as you put her down in a sitting position. Of course, inevitably she would reach out for something or someone and manage to work herself onto her stomach. She would roll around down there happily for a while until she realized that she couldn't get back up. Then the tears would come.
Over the weekend it occurred to me that even though she still sometimes cried on the floor, it was more because she noticed that everyone was in the kitchen and she was still in the living room. Or perhaps it was because her big brother yanked a toy away from her.
But yesterday while I was typing the goose post I sat her down in front of the mirror. And then I looked over at her and she was lying on her stomach trying to get a hold of the vacuum cleaner nozzle. And then I looked again and she was sitting up? What?
So I watched her like a hawk all day. And finally right before bed, she did it. She sat up all by herself! I am trying to remember how Jude did it, but I can't quite picture it. I think he went from his stomach and sort of rolled over into a sitting position. Sophie gets up on all fours rocks back and forth a bit and then just sits on her bum. Congratulations Sophie! October 15th is your official sitting up day!

bad influence

The first sleepover

Jude and Sophie survived their first sleepover at Nan's. Possibly because I was with them. We cleared out of the house on Monday (well, pretty much we had spent the last 4 days there, but we were coming home to sleep) in order to give Daddy both a quiet place to study and so that he would get a nice peaceful uninterrupted sleep before his big exam.

As we usually do when we are there, we took a trip to the park. It is a very happening park, much more so than our boring old one here. On Friday there was a grade three gym class running laps around the soccer field and when Jude caught sight of them he raised his arms up in the air and yelled and went running as fast as his little legs would let him. The arm raising was the toddler equivalent of pumping his fist and shouting, "YES!". We had to chase him down and quite cruelly hold his hand while we walked past them.

On Monday evening there was a girls soccer game being played and Jude didn't notice them until the game was over (thank god, I said to my mum on the way down, all they needed was Jude rushing on to the field to try to pick up the ball) but when he saw all those young girls (I'd guess they were around 11 or 12) in their soccer uniforms he got super excited. His eyes actually bulged out of his head and he started running around in circles talking gibberish. He was so excited his shoes kept falling off and he couldn't decide which way to go as all the girls walked past him on their way to the parking lot. I finally had to hoist him onto my shoulders. It was either that or stay until every last straggler from the soccer game had left.

A bit about Sophie

We three were sitting on the couch this afternoon reading one of Jude's books. I had Sophie on one knee and Jude on the other - Jude was holding the book. Sophie kept reaching out and touching Jude's arm. At first I thought it was just involuntary movement, but I really think she wanted to touch him. Each time she grabbed at his arm, Jude would exclaim, "Oh!" (Like, "Oh! I didn't know you were capable of reaching out like that!"), and he would smile at her and she would grin her chubby little grin back at him. It was very cute.

Wanna see something else that's cute?

Now we're fishing for mention?

If you read the comments on the previous post you, like Erin, will be wondering what the other remarkable thing Jude just learned was... Well, what with the time difference and the fact that I don't have Auntie K's new work number, I can't call her to find out what she is referring to.

But I think I have an idea:

As is often done in the Donovan house, I predialed the phone the other night and handed it to Jude. When Jude is crying about something (in this case his father shut the door to the office to study without his study partner Jude), we will hand him the phone so he can call his favourite aunt. It's called distraction. And it works.
This particular evening I cut the call short, because I was watching the semi-finals of Top Chef season two (which I have not seen who wins yet, so don't tell me). I told Jude to say "Night night aunt Kate," and Jude, clear as day said, "Night Kate."

This is remarkable as it is the first name (other than a garbled "Jude" and possibly "Nan and Grandad" and of course mummy and daddy) that Jude has ever agreed to say. I use the term "agreed to" because I believe that Jude is selective in what he will and will not allow us to hear him say. Last night he said "chicken" but he refuses to say, "Sophie"? In fact, when I tried to get him to say "Sophie" yesterday, he said, "Bup." This is what he calls her, "Bup". And I'm supposed to believe that he can't say "Sophie"? He's clearly just playing mind games with me.

Anyway, is this what you are referring to Auntie Kate?

Gimme a head with hair

I am wiping a tear from my eye. Jude just had his first haircut. Cut by his father. He looks like such a little boy. A boy, not a baby. I made Daddy promise not to even think about touching Sophie's hair. Little fluffs of hair just kept falling and falling, as Justin kept cutting more and more hair.

Even as I type this, I am hearing Justin say that he is going to do some more touch up tomorrow morning, when he has the natural sunlight to finish the job.

And maybe it's just the pants, but he looks like he's off to join the army now.