Yes, I know, it has been months since I last wrote. I will skip my litany of excuses and simply provide a brief update on one of this summer's most important events...You are looking at my first niece (I write this in hope of many more :)), Sophia Isabelle Schulz, born to my sister Karen and brother-in-law Christian. Sophia weighed in at 7 lbs and 5 oz, and recently reached 8 lbs and 14 oz at just over 3 weeks. I was the proud auntie who accompanied her to her 2nd doctor appointment and had the honor of putting her gently on the scale for weigh in. We were all so surprised by the 14 additional ounces - 8 lbs we were sure of, but nearly 9 lbs was astonishing.
From an early age, Sophia is exhibiting personality, including familial characteristics. If you've spend much time around me or members of my clan, you are probably familiar with the range of sounds I make when I yawn, eat amazing food, bump into unkind corners, or suffer from a bircup. Again, I am proud to share that Sophia, too, makes plenty of sounds and is so very communicative. We are betting she will be an early talker as well as an early walker. Sophia has exceptional neck strength and has already learned to turn her head on your shoulder. We were so excited by her development that we decided to try "belly time". Although she can't yet crawl, she is making good progress toward that end. I for one am confident of this.
I could go on and on about this precious little one. On Saturday morning, I woke up in Arlington VA with a singular purpose: to view Sophia's picture on my cell phone. Of course, as I did so my heart ached something fierce. For the previous week my days revolved around helping Karen with Sophia, changing diapers, putting on pajamas, birping, and entertaining. My favorite technique to calm her was blowing gently on the side of her face or forehead. Karen saw how effective this was in soothing her and has added it to her baby toolkit. As you can see, I truly am multi-talented.
After three weeks stateside, I am now back in Prague. Throughout today, I think I looked at Sophia's picture at least 10-20 times. I miss my little "sweat pea" and "baby cakes" dearly and am so glad I was there to see her at the beginning of her life journey. Only in early August, I'm already getting excited for Christmas!
1 comment:
Chris,
She is beautiful, and I'm not just saying that because, by definition, all babies are. I am sure she will continue to manifest precociousness (sp?). It's amazing how fast they grow up, though--my own little niece is already 4! And her little brother is already 1 1/2, running around talking in sentences and destroying things. So, all the best at auntdom...and it was good getting to spend a few un-dull Dulles hours with you in our little overlap time.
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