Sophie's first word and first giggle!

Is it too soon for a 3 month old to talk?!
Tonight while I was recording her, I was telling her to "talk" in Indonesian, and to my surprise, she said her first word...can you hear it?!...and I also caught her first little giggle in there as well! She is such a joy...and an overachiever! 

In case this video can't play on my page, here is the link to it on Youtube:
Sophie Talking and Giggling

Oh, how I love her! 

Family visitors are the best!

These past several weeks have flown by, thanks due in part by lots of visitors we have had from Caleb's side of the family. What a treat it has been to have Sophie meet so many special people. We sure are blessed. Sophie got to meet her great-grandma and grandpa Gowan, her Uncle Neil and Aunt Laura, Aunt Katy and her kiddos, and she got to be with grandma and grandpa Gowan again!

Saying "hello!" and looking up at great grandpa Gowan for the first time. I love this picture! 

Yep, she's telling me that she sure feels special that they made a special trip from Northern CA to see her! 

With her great-grands 

Showing great-grandma her precious smile =)

She also got to meet Caleb's Aunt Betty 

And fell asleep while getting to know Caleb's dad's cousin, Debbie. 

Great-grandpa also got to say hello to Angel! 

Caleb called while they were here and he even got to FaceTime with grandma and grandpa Gowan. So fun! 

Then a few weeks later, she got a special visit from Aunt Laura and Uncle Neil. Aunt Laura gave me helpful tips on naps and I've been working hard on them and I'm happy to say that we now have a pretty good schedule during the day and I'm proud that she can be put down while she sleeps instead of being held. Thanks Aunt Laura! 

Right after Neil and Laura left, we got a whole other set of visitors and a lot of pictures! Here are some of my favorites:

With Grandpa and cousin Jacob

Me with this little handsome cutie

Laying on the floor together...Jacob is 5 months and Sophie 2.5 months. 

Beautiful cousin Taylor giving both babies hugs

Cousin Robbie giving her some of his love! 

With her pretty Aunt Katy! 

We got a treat from Grandma when she took us to get our nails done...it was a great girl's trip and even Sophie came along (she opted not to get her toes done though...haha!)! This was Taylor's first time getting a pedicure and I think she loved it! 

So cute! 

 Robbie was adorable with her. He was always hugging her and playing with her. 

A picture with her mama during dinner

Angel had so much fun with all the kiddos around. She did so great playing with them and I'm really proud of how gentle she was around them. Taylor was awesome with Angel as well...I can't wait til Sophie is bigger and can play/walk Angel like Tay did! 

With her Grandma Gowan. Sophie still needs to learn the art of picking her head up during pictures so she shows some neck. You'll get it honey! 

Laughs with Grandpa Gowan

We drove down to San Diego to visit my family and Katy took a great picture of me and Soph with my mom. Three Generations! 

Taylor with Sophie...she got her to smile! 

And so did Robbie! 

Eskimo kisses with grandma 

...and wet kisses for Robbie! 

Angel and grandpa...she loves Grandpa Gowan so much and was always looking forward to his walks around the lake in the morning.

And a final picture of all the girls! 

We  have about 2.5 months before Caleb returns. I'm counting down the days and can't wait for him to be home with us again. We are almost at the home stretch and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! This month feels so short, which is a great thing, and I'm keeping myself busy with our little one and also planning for my sister's baby shower, which will be in March. 

Finally, these are a few of my favorites of Sophie from these past couple weeks: 

Happy Monday everyone! 

XOXO

Two Months Old...our little blessing

*update*
We went to the doctor's today and here are her 2 month stats: 

Head circumference: 15 inches

Length: 22 inches
Weight: 12.125 lbs

She's growing! She also got 5 shots today and 1 oral vaccine. I couldn't be more proud of my baby girl. She took the oral medicine very well, that the nurse was also surprised that she swallowed it so fast. She got 3 shots on her right thigh and 2 shots on her left thigh. Hearing her cry WAIL was the most heartbreaking sound I could hear. I think she handled today better than me and my mom! She only cried for a short time (also because I gave her a feeding RIGHT after!), and she is here resting in my mom's arms as I type. The doctor prescribed Tylenol to give her just in case she gets a fever or if she needs it to help with the pain. 

So proud of our little Sophie! 

Our Sophia Lee is now two months old! 

Wow...has it really been a whole month since I last blogged? It's crazy how fast time flies, yet still feels so stagnant when I think about the deployment (we are now officially at the halfway mark before Caleb gets home. It feels like an eternity!)

Sophie will be getting her two month shots tomorrow afternoon at the doctors. We are praying that she will be brave and hopefully not have any terrible reactions to them, but are expecting her to be a little cranky and fussy as we are sure her thighs will hurt and be a little sore =(  

We spent 2 weeks at my parents house over the holidays to soak up more time with family. Here's some photos from our stay there: 

Trying to get her to smile..."Sophie! It's your FIRST Christmas!"

There's that precious smile!

Merry Christmas! 

Opening some presents Christmas morning! 

Our family...just missing Caleb! 

My sis and brother-in-law. She is due in April and is having a baby boy

My Cousins 

Funny face =)

Second cousins! Sophie was tired of smiling by the end of the night! 

My cousins Linda and Cynthia 

Everyone had a chance to love on sweet Soph

Angel had a blast...as you can tell! Poor girl, she had to be on the gentle leader most of the night so that she wouldn't be so hyper and jump on everyone! 

And Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't say "hi" to dad! So grateful for technology! 

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Closing out the new year Face timing with dad. Our family had a pajama party at the house and we rang in the new year with yummy treats while watching Superman. And Sophie rang in the new year on my chest, snoozing away! 

Taking a nap with my baby while I could. She isn't the best napper, but these past several days, she has been awesome, sleeping throughout the whole day! 

I accidentally cut her nails too deep before we left to go to my parents and her little pinky was bleeding and she was crying because it hurt her so much. I felt so horrible so my dad decided to cut her nails more carefully while we were there! 

She loves smiling with Grandpa! He makes his funny noises and she loves hearing it! 

This was a sweet smile that was caught by my sister! She always smiles after she does a poopy, and she just finished a major one, thus the big sweet smile for mom to change her diaper! 

While I was at my parent's house, I looked through my baby pictures and couldn't believe how much Sophie resembles me as a baby! 

Sophie wanted to show off her beautiful ballet shoes that Aunt Julie got for her! We're on our way to our first party, which was a baby shower for a friend of ours. 

At the shower...she loves her Opa

The girls! 

This month has flown by so fast. Sophie can now laugh, smile, giggle, and coo back when you talk to her. She also learned how to smack her lips and I woke up to her smacking them this morning! She can now roll onto her side, follow you with her eyes, and she is trying so hard to suck her thumb! Not sure if I want her to start that habit though. She still hates the pacifier!  She loves being in the crib and especially loves looking up at the mobile, and loves it when we read her "Brown bear, Brown bear." She enjoys bath time in the mornings and walks with Angel around the neighborhood! =) 

She has been doing a lot better sleeping at night (praise God!). I got some great expert advice from my sister in laws, so thanks ladies! She is also napping a lot better during the day, so I am just super thankful for the progress. She is an absolute joy to me and I can't wait to have Caleb home so that he can experience all the things that I do with her! 

This was last night...our family of 4: The Gowans.

XOXO