The Gowan Journey : May 2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Some "firsts"...

Yesterday, Sophie did some amazing "first" things...

I heard her waking up in the bedroom and as I was about to walk in to get her, I heard her say "mama mama mama mama" for the FIRST time! Oh, I was a happy happy happy mama!!! Music to my ears! I'm pretty sure she has no idea what she is saying, but she is able to put words and sounds together. Wish I could always have my phone recording at ALL times during her first year so I don't miss precious things like this!

Playing outside in the living room, I was on my computer and she was on the floor "crawling" around. I look up and all of sudden she is SITTING! Her FIRST time doing it all by herself. I was able to capture it on video: Sophie's first time going to sitting position

She was also very proud of herself!

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When Caleb got home from class, we took a stroll along the beach. Her FIRST time touching sand on her cute little feet.

Sophie's first time touching sand

Happy to be with her daddy.

She's sleeping great through the night still so we are definitely rejoicing over that, but with the time change, her naps are a little off kilter making her a little more crabby throughout the day. We also think she might be teething, so we are just giving her all the love and cuddles we can to help her through this transition.

Love to you all.

XOXO

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

A bit of a change...

We made it safely to Virginia Beach! We will be here until August 6th to take advantage of family time with Caleb as he takes a course called MIOC. Right now, he is an Air Intel Officer (0207) and after he passes the course, he will become a MAGTF (Marine Air Ground Task Force) Officer (0202). Pretty cool, huh?

One of his Marines kindly drove us to the airport yesterday at 5 am. We weren't sure whether or not there would be a lot of people at the airport since it was Memorial Day, and fortunately, it wasn't that bad at all. We got through security without any hassles and were able to enjoy breakfast at Starbucks while we waited for our flight. I was a little apprehensive flying with Sophie as it was her first airplane ride, but she did WONDERFUL! We kept on getting compliments from people on the plane and the flight attendants on what a good and happy baby she was being. The plane wasn't completely full so were able to have a whole row to ourselves, which helped a lot. She took a couple cat naps on the long flight over to Washington, D.C., and slept the whole way from there until we arrived to Virginia. The military issued us a compact car from Enterprise and we told the clerk that we weren't sure if all of our luggage was going to fit, so he went ahead and gave us a free upgrade to an SUV! SWEEEET!

On the plane, ready for take-off!

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A sweet picture with mommy!

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She loved having a seat all to herself

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Best place to be...in her daddy's arms. She even slept through all the turbulence!

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So I am now typing while Caleb is in class and my sweet Sophie is asleep. We just got back from taking a short trip to the beach, which is RIGHT outside our room. We were able to reserve the VIP room that has a nice living room (which I have turned into a big play room for Sophie), cable TV (so I can watch my Kardashians...haha!), fridge and microwave, a huge walk-in closet, bathroom, and big room with a king size bed. It's basically like a small apartment. The laundry room is right across the hall from us and we have an end unit on the second floor so it's nice and quiet. It's pretty much the most ideal living place that we could have asked for.

Caleb was able to come home for lunch right when Sophie woke up from her nap. His class is only a 10 minute drive away from the hotel.

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And this is our backyard for now...not that bad of a change!

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Will update later...gotta make a list of groceries and essentials that we need to get when Caleb gets back!

Love you all.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

6 month check-up

Sophie did great at her six month doctor's appointment. She weighs 18.1 lbs, and measures 26.0 inches. She's in the 80% for weight and 49% for height. The doctor said she is a perfectly healthy and happy baby, which makes me a perfectly happy mama! We have really started eating solids this week and she's doing a great job with it. She loves holding the spoon and feeding herself instead of being fed by me. Asserting independence already! She has continued to sleep through the night from 7:00 pm-6:00 am, so we are very very very proud of her and are crossing our fingers that she keeps this up!

Here's us waiting at the doctor's. I love her facial expressions...she has so many!

And I just had to share these as well...Just can't get over her precious smiles!

Sophie is on the cusp of crawling. She is now rocking on all fours and really pushing herself when she's on the floor.

Here's a short clip of her rocking back and forth...if you can't open it in email, you can click on the link:
HERE

We had a wonderful weekend with Caleb's sister and her family. Sophie loved seeing all her cousins and we loved seeing our niece and nephews. I'll try blogging about that later on today!

We are getting ready to leave for Virginia Beach and still have lots to do. We leave on Monday, May 26th, at 8:00 am and Caleb will begin his class on Tuesday the 27th. I am very excited that we will be a family this summer, but ask that you pray that we will all adjust to the living arrangements, sleeping arrangements, new place, and all the other unknowns!

XOXO

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Sophia Lee at 6 Months Old

Sophia Lee is 6 MONTHS OLD!

It has been an absolute blessing for me to have seen how much she has grown, progressed, developed, and come to be such a happy and sweet baby. She has made some huge milestones and continues to surprise us daily at how quickly she learns and wants to learn about the world and everything around her.

She has her 6 month check-up with the doctor next Monday and she will have another set of 5 shots. I am very excited to see how much she has grown from her last doctor's appointment. On our scale, she weighs about 18.8 lbs! What a big girl!

She's SITTIN' pretty! She will still topple over after some time, but she's working hard on sitting. We practice every day!

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She's TEETHIN'! Her front teeth haven't broken through her gums yet, but we can see them underneath. She drools and puts everything right in her mouth. This is her new favorite...It looks like a Popsicle stick but it has a mesh net. I put an ice cube in it so she can suck on it. She LOVES it! Especially when the weather is hot.

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She's ROLLIN' like crazy when she's on the floor. One minute she's on one side of the blanket, and the next second she has turned over twice to the other side. I can't keep my eyes off of her now...a mobile baby means a stationary mommy!

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She's SCOOTIN' by putting her tush in the air and launching herself forward. She always scoots when she tries to get her favorite toys that are just beyond her reach. I know that crawling is right around the corner...oh dear!

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She's GRABBIN' her toes and loves being in the "Happy Baby" pose. She is fascinated by her toes and is always reaching for them.

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Shes SUCKIN' on her toes as well! Even when she's in her car-seat at the supermarket! There's an Indonesian superstition that if your baby sucks on their toes, it means that they are wanting a sibling soon. I love you Sophia, but let's wait a couple more years for that!

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She PLAYIN' with her toys and has a few favorites, including her giraffe and her stuffed doggy. She loves gnawing on both of them and searches for them when they aren't near her.

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She's SLEEPIN'!!!!!!!

This has been an answered prayer. We are extremely proud of her as she has finally slept through the night, a whole 11.5 hours! We successfully transferred her into her own room shortly after she turned 5 months old, but were still struggling with multiple night awakenings. Her naps also turned disastrous as she fought and clawed at our face when she knew we were trying to put her down...these episodes lasting up to 45 minutes or longer, followed by a short nap/sleep. We read several books and really prayed that God would give us wisdom in helping our little girl be a good sleeper, not just for us, but for her mental and physical development as well. We finally decided to use the method from Dr. Marc Weissbluth, author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and his method is to teach babies to self-soothe, something that we both weren't quite comfortable with as it involves crying it out. Again, we prayed and asked God for a conviction in our hearts if it was something that wouldn't be good for Sophie, and to our surprise, she has responded SO quickly to the change. Before, I would be rocking, nursing, patting, and singing to her to help her sleep, and now, we simply read to her to calm her, turn on her sound machine, kiss her, and lay her down in her crib. She fusses for a few minutes, but then goes right to sleep! I am able to write right now BECAUSE of a successful nap! It's a very liberating and freeing feeling that I just simply can't explain, other than I am so happy and thankful that she is able to sleep and self-soothe all by herself. Also, because of this method, she is getting TONS of hugs and kisses from both mommy and daddy when she wakes up, and she wakes up super happy and always smiling at us! We look forward to naps and nighttime now, as we were always dreading who would be the one to put her down! Her bedtime is now at 7:00-7:30pm and she sleeps til 6:30-7:00am. God is GOOD and again, NOTHING is impossible with God!

Way to go Sophie! We are so proud of you!

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She's SIPPIN' on sippycups! She has completely skipped bottles (never taken one, even though I've bought ALL the different brands out there) and is now loving the sippy cup, especially when I put water in it. Hopefully she will take the sippy with my milk in it, that way mommy can get some free time!

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She is DEDICATED! How great to celebrate her 6 month AND her baby dedication at church! It was a wonderful baby dedication and my parents and cousin Cynthia were able to be there to support us. Pastor Steve is on sabbatical so he was not there to dedicate Sophie, but we had the honor of having Pastor Dave and Pastor Mark be the ones who prayed over our little blessing.

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There are no words to explain how immensely I love our precious gift that God has blessed us with. My prayer is that both Caleb and I will direct her to follow Jesus, to know him, to love him, to trust him, to honor him, and to glorify him with her life.