I feel like every post starts out with the statement "we are way behind on posting," and this entry is no different. Life has been hectic as I wrap up a project at work, Sameer continues to put in start-up hours, and Sonia runs us ragged during "down time." :-) But, everything is going great, and we are really looking forward to a long break at Christmas.
Sonia is going through lots of changes, a few ones worth noting:
- She is walking a ton (or should I say running). Today we went to the Stanford Shopping Center, and I understood for the first why some parents by a "leash" for their kids. Every time we looked away Sonia would literally scamper out of the store we were in. At one point she was behind a display at Banana Republic and I literally had to crawl underneath it to get her out. Of course the mall was packed with people, so it was very different from taking her to the park where it's so easy to keep an eye on her. What is most amazing is that when she takes off she never looks back...it's like she's actually trying to ditch us. Good thing her legs are about 1.5 feet long, because it's pretty easy to keep up with her.
- Sonia has decided to become an incredibly picky eater. At this point the only things she reliably eats are Cheerios, blueberries, crackers, and strawberries (not exactly a balanced diet, I know). Things she used to eat all of the time she is now refusing: turkey meatloaf, string cheese, mac n' cheese, apple sauce, yogurt, broccoli, etc. What kind of child doesn't eat mac n' cheese?! I have started researching vitamins. And, yes, we have tried waiting her out, but she is more stubborn than Sameer and I combined, and that's saying something.
- Not unrelated to the above two points, Sonia continues to have trouble sleeping through the night. It's obviously a combination of actually being hungry and I think all of her neurons forming as she takes some quantum leaps in her gross motor skills. Either way, if you're bored at 4am, go ahead and give us a call because we're up.
- On the more charming front, Sonia continues to pick up new little habits. Now when she gives hugs she actually pats us on the back, mimicking what we do to her. We get to experience this a lot, because whenever one of us comes home, she'll stop what she's doing and run over to give that person a hug. And she is showing a lot more free will -- when you ask her, "Which book do you want to read?" she always picks one of a few favorites (and the other day she went over to the cupboard, found her favorite freeze-dried fruit, and brought the bag to me as if to say "feed me this!").
Below are our (very belated) pictures from November. I'll try and get up a new video soon of Sonia walking, but all of the ones I've taken so far are just long shots of her walking away from me before I finally put down the camera and follow her, so not great moments in cinema. :-)
