Welcome to the world Vincent Michael!
Dec 18th
Vincent Michael Lombard
Born 12/17/2009 at 9:54pm
7lbs 2oz
17″
Mom and baby are healthy and happy!
Our lives since January 2009 ;)
Oct 28th
Well, it’s been almost a year since our last post, so I’m not even sure who’s checking the site anymore, but here’s an update on what we are up to.
Ken: I am currently unemployed and searching for a position as a Network Administrator – among other things. I am also concurrently conducting my own career transition search – looking for (possibly) another career that may do a better job of addressing my goals and aspirations in life.
Sarah: Is pregnant! 
We are expecting our 2nd child and 1st boy in early January of 2010. Assuming the ultrasounds were correct, we will be naming him Vincent Michael. Sarah continues her work as Lead Teacher in the Foreign Language department of Andrew High School. She most recently travelled on a scholarship to Central Mexico and spent 2 weeks in an immersion program – polishing up on her Spanish speaking abilities. It was a great trip for her and she hopes to more travel in the future as work and family allow.
Sofia: Is growing by leaps and bounds and currently working on her potty training and transitioning to her ‘big girl bed’. We hope to have her transitioned before her brother is born, but we have the pack-n-play at the ready if necessary. She has been spending most of her time with me at home while I search for a job and is always dying for a break from Dad. Her vocabulary has expanded quite a bit since our last update and she has become quite the storyteller and conversationalist. Her favorite movie is Mulan (who’ll she’ll be dressing up as for Halloween) and she loves just about anything Disney (which we watch and listen to ad naseum).
And oh yeah, the dogs: Lobi and Zorro have an odd relationship that flips from affection to aggression at the drop of a hat. But overall we think Lobi enjoys the companionship and they both definitely enjoy our fenced yard and doggy door. It has cut down on the accidents in the house too (although hasn’t eliminated Zorro’s tendancy to ‘mark’ his territory). They give each other plenty of exercise and Sofia chases them around a fair bit also.
Sofia's Life since August!!!
Jan 15th
As Ken well pointed out, I have not posted anything in a VERY long time! Working full-time does not leave me as much time for things like this during the school year!
Since the summer, Sofia has continued to develop, especially linguistically. At the end of the summer, I took Sofia to be fully evaluated by Child and Family Connections because of the speech concerns I had. At the time, I was right to be concerned as she did have a 30% or more delay–at 15 months of age she was speaking at an 11 month level. Although she did officially qualify for speech therapy services, I decided to give the “wait and see” approach a try because between the time she was evaluated and we received the results, she was starting to add new words every week or so.
Now, she talks non-stop and is adding more words a day than I can keep track of! Today alone, she’s learned glasses, belly, penguins, castle, and Aurora (the princess from Sleeping Beauty), and the day is barely even half over! Ken and I are so proud of how her language skills are developing; she can correctly name on her own the letters A, C, E, K, O, P, T, and W, and she correctly points to those as well as many others. I think she was slow to get started with language, but she must have my natural “knack” for it. She loves to sing her ABCs and gets up to the letter P on her own (skipping L, M, and N).
Unfortunately, her math skills are not quite as good…they do say people tend to be better at language or math naturally…She counts “2, 3, 2, 3, 2,” and never starts with 1! She’ll repeat most of the numbers if we say them, but she doesn’t count them on her own. She also does not show much interest in sorting things (by size, shape, color, etc.), which if I recall is another basic math skill. She knows the shapes circle, star, and heart, but we’re still working on others. Her spatial perception seems normal in that she likes to do puzzles and seems to do them well. She’s progressing from simple one-shape peg puzzles to more complex ones that don’t have pegs and have more intricate shapes.
Socially and emotionally, Sofia seems like a normal almost-2-year old. She’s testing boundaries and pushing limits to see what happens. We’ve started “time-outs” and those seem to be working, at least for me. I guess I’ve had more practice doing them with her than Ken has, so he’s still learning. I also think I’m more likely to give a consequence after only one warning, while Ken warns her “no, no, no” repeatedly before really giving a consequence. I think she’s got Daddy wrapped around her little finger!
All in all, things are going well. Sofia enjoys bossing the dogs around. She likes to say “Woro (Zorro) off!” and just this morning she said “Obi (Lobi) come!” and even did the hand gesture to go along with it! I guess we must yell at the dogs an awful lot!
Long time, no post!
Dec 5th
Well, Sarah has been yelling at me long enough to finally write my own post on the website I built and that she authored for most of Sofia’s first year.
As I am not that much of a writer, I’ll keep this update short and sweet. What has happened since our last post on August 1st?
Well, first off, Sofia has graduated from opening cabinets (a few of which we did not lock so she could play in the harmless ones) to opening drawers. Unfortunately we hadn’t gotten around to locking those, so before she pulls out another knife, we’ll probably get some locks on them!. This year the holidays have been more fun as Sofia has been better able to participate in the events. We took her over to the Lockport Park District for a Halloween event and our little Tinkerbell had a great time – first running away from and eluding Mommy – and then she had some fun attempting to make out with the animals in the petting zoo. She also went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood (which was a first for us too) and enjoyed running around and meeting people. She also enjoyed what may have been her first sucker (and proceeded to give herself a ‘Joker-esque’ appearance.
Lately Sofia has been enjoying all of the Christmas decoration around the house. With the exception of the Santa placemats on the table, she’s been pretty good about not demolishing all of the decorations. Her morning ritual is to point to the trees and everything else that lights up and say ‘on?! on?! prease!’. She’s also become a fan of one ornament of Santa in a ’57 Chevy that plays the Beach Boys’ ‘Little Saint Nick’ every time a button is pushed or the tree turns on. (Thanks Aunt Laura!) So we get a lot of requests for that to go ‘on?! on?! prease!’.
Sofia’s vocabulary grows by the day. She’s mastered ‘up!’ ‘on!’ ‘please!’ and ‘Zorro!’ (our newest dog) among others – but still refers to her milk as ‘gook’ and Sarah’s parents as the collective ‘GammaGampa’ (instead of recognizing them as individuals). But every week she seems to pick up a few more words and expressions that make her a constant source of entertainment.
Well, like I said, I’m a man of few words. My hope is that this post will encourage Sarah to write a more detailed follow-up. We shall see!
To Speak, or not to Speak….
Aug 1st
I can’t believe how quickly the summer is flying by. Sofia and I have kept busy with playdates with friends and family and of course, doing things around the house and neighborhood. We’ve gone to the pool, zoo, and kids’ museum a few times each. Sofia loves to be outside (like most kids!) and doing something to keep her entertained. She’s walking so well I think she may sprint one of these days when I least expect it. She’s stacking objects, putting them in and taking them out of containers, pointing to some body parts, holding a fork, and “reading” (flipping through her books and looking at the pictures).
The one thing she isn’t doing quite so well is speaking. Her “words” consist of uh-oh, oh-wow, quack, woof, up, dada, clock (dropping the “l”). She says 7 words when at her age about 10 is expected. She understands most of what I tell her. She’ll follow simple commands, and she recognizes people and things by pointing at them when you ask her to. Being cautious, I took her to Child and Family Connections, a social service agency that does free developmental screenings. At the screening, the specialist referred Sofia to get a full evaluation by speech and occupational therapists. Even though her physical/social/emotional development is fine, by law they must have both therapists involved in a full evaluation. The speech concern (besides being short some words) is that Sofia may have “open-mouth posture,” which is when the muscles of the mouth may be weaker than normal and thus affect her ability to produce words.
The specialist who screened Sofia did not say that Sofia has that problem, but considering the lack of words, the fact that her mouth is open quite a bit, and that she cannot yet use a straw may all be related and could warrant some therapy to help her communicate better. We are scheduled for the full evaluation on Aug. 11, and we’ll find out the results right then as to whether or not Sofia has a 30% or more delay and would need speech therapy. Again, I’m not too worried, but I figured it’s better to be safe and get her checked now than to wait and see if there is a problem in a year and have even more to do to “catch up” to her age.
Other than that, Sofia seems like a completely normal toddler. She’s growing well (22 lbs. 4 oz, 32″), eating well, sleeping well (most of the time), and trying to assert her independence. I think we may be seeing the start of some temper tantrums, especially when I take her away from something she wants to do or tell her no to something. She’s very affectionate and likes to hug, kiss, and cuddle, and she’s truly a “duck”–like her favorite animals. She loves the pool, water, and to swim around. She’s naturally starting to kick and doggie paddle in the deep water.
Overall, this summer has been world’s different from last. She’s my buddy, not just my responsibility. I love her and know that going back to work in a few weeks will be equally hard for us both!
Sofia's Firsts
Apr 20th
Sofia has had a few firsts in the last few weeks. We took her to the zoo for the first time, which she seemed to enjoy. She also had her first birthday party, and her first taste of cake and ice cream. Her birthday party had a great turnout–lots of family and friends were there to help her celebrate her special day. She played with all her good friends: Savina, Samantha, Donovan, and Aidan. She also received a TON of gifts, especially clothes. She has more than I do now! I think she had a good time, although being a girl of few words, it’s hard to tell what her babbling means.
Sofia did not, however, enjoy all the sweets. In fact, she pulled her hands up and in to avoid touching it at all, and if it weren’t for Grandma, I don’t think she would have eaten any of it. We tried a second time later in the week too (on her actual birthday), and she still didn’t care for it at all. I guess she doesn’t take after her dad with his sweet tooth!
Sofia’s still cruising but not walking independently…all in good time. At her one-year check up, the doctor said she’s growing fine. She’s 20 lbs. 14 oz. (50%), and 30 1/2 in. (90%). Her head circumference is somewhere around 46 cm (not sure the %). She’s long and lean. My mom swears she’s going to be a model. I say she’s going to be very athletic, what with how active she is! We’re on the third round of antibiotics to try and get rid of whatever it is she’s had since the beginning of February. Let’s hope the third time’s a charm.
Other than becoming more and more of a toddler and less and less of a baby by the day, not much else has changed. I think she’s starting to show signs of separation/stranger anxiety (as much as I was hoping we’d already had that stage early on), and sometimes it’s the worst when we’re putting her to sleep. Sofia’s drinking all whole milk now, no formula (Alleluia!) and eating mainly table foods with the exception of the baby cereal we’re still attempting to give her. She likes drinking water out of sippy cups, so soon we’re going to start phasing out the baby bottles. This is such an exciting time full of development for her…we can’t wait to see what she’ll do/say next!
Sofia's almost 1!
Mar 28th
Wow! I haven’t posted an update since the end of January! Can you tell this time of year with work is crazy for me? Anyhow, not much has really changed, other than how Sofia looks. She has more hair, and it’s starting to get a bit wavy/curly/goofy like mine and Ken’s (when it gets long). Sofia’s been cruising along the couches and end tables, but not walking alone yet. Still no new teeth—where are they?!
She hasn’t really said “official” words, but she’s mastered “uh-oh.” Also, she can say mama and dada, but I don’t think she’s figured out who’s who yet. My mom claims she points at the right people in pictures, but I can never get her to do that. She also makes these really cute babbling sounds, like “Da-guy, da-guy, da-guy” and “good-ah, good-ah.” I guess she’s trying to master the letters d and g right now.
Sofia’s eating more table/finger food and less formula and baby food. We’re down to three bottles a day, and in just a couple weeks, we’ll be down to 0! No more expensive formula! No more expensive baby food! However, if today’s lunch was any indication, she’s going to eat us out of house and home when we switch to all table food. She ate 2 half jars of veggies (mixed and sqash), 2 slices of turkey, 1 slice of ham, and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese! She even tried feeding herself with the fork! Instead of stabbing the food with it, she picked up the food with her hand and tried putting it on the fork in her other hand and then put the fork in her mouth. She only did it a couple times, but it’s a start.
My baby is getting more independent every day! And more stubborn! She knows what she wants, and distraction doesn’t do very much to change her mind, especially when it comes to the laptop, remote control, receiver, and whatever else we DON’T want her to get into! She does the funniest thing now when she hears music she likes. I call it her “butt dance.” While sitting, she bops up and down on her butt to the beat of the music. She also does a similar head bop in her high chair; it reminds me of Quagmire from the Family Guy.
Her first birthday is in 2 weeks! I can’t believe how far we’ve come. A year ago, we were dying to meet our little bundle of joy, and then after she was born, we were dying for her to be more fun and less difficult, and now she is! What a difference a year makes!
Sofia's Many Firsts
Jan 27th
Well, a lot has happened in the last month and a half. Sofia is now 9 months old, weighing in at 20 lbs. 9 oz. and measuring 29 1/2 in. tall. I’m saying tall now because she’s no longer horizontal all the time–she’s pulling herself up to a stand now on anything she can, like cribs, tables, exersaucer, couches, etc. Sofia’s also been crawling (actual crawling with an occasional hop for greater distance) since the New Year.
Let’s see, other firsts include her first move to a new house! She adjusted quickly and rather well, but that would be expected considering the first room settled was hers before she went to bed the day we moved in! Lobi on the other hand, was traumatized for weeks and has just now begun acting like her “old” self again. Sofia’s also had her first “real” solid foods–we’ve done apples, bananas, cheerios, avocado, Gerber puffs, and peas. She really enjoys the solids, and she’s been eating better lately. Sofia still is not always a fan of the “baby food,” but we’ve dropped a bottle, so she eats the solids because she’s hungrier. I had been holding off on introducing “real” food because I was afraid she’d choke, but believe it or not, she actually chews without any molars and can eat solids in small bites! All she has are still the front two teeth on the bottom.
Her sensitive skin is still sensitive. Her cheeks are regularly dry and chapped, and her chin has always got a rash because of the pacifier. You can see both in some of her pictures. Fortunately, we know what to do to treat it, so it’s nowhere near as severe as back in October.
Let’s see…what else? She’s babbling more. Now Sofia has more inflection in her voice…sometimes it sounds like she’s actually speaking intelligibly. I swear she’s said things like car and uh-oh. She’s also starting to realize what “dada” means, and when I tell her to say “mama”, she responds with “dada”! How frustrating!
All in all, she’s doing well, and we’re loving life in the “‘ville.”
Sofia at 8 months
Dec 10th
It’s been over a month since my last update. I guess that is the result of being a working mom! Sofia is 8 months old this week. I can’t believe how quickly the last two months have gone since I’ve been back at work. Even better, I can’t believe how much fun it’s become being Sofia’s mom.
Her unofficial “stats” are 29 in. and 19 lbs. according to my unprofessional measurements. She’s already wearing size 9-12 months clothes, and some of those pants even seem too short! Her bottom front two teeth have also cut through and are coming up, with the one on the right a bit higher than the one on the left.
What’s Sofia up to these days? Babbling A LOT! She says, “dadada”, “tatata”, “gaga”, “bababa”, and a few times made sounds like actual words (God, what, etc.) She’s also getting all over the place. She’s not really crawling on all fours, but she rolls and scoots by pulling herself along with her upper body. She absolutely loves the Christmas tree, and she’s curious about all sorts of things. She loves books and bath time, and she’s even finishing her first swim class on Saturday. She has gone underwater and even started to “swim” on her own a bit when I let go. She’s also started giving sloppy open-mouthed kisses on my cheek after I kiss her.
How quickly time flies when you’re having fun! The first few months of her life seemed like forever, and I thought we would never sleep a full night again. It’s amazing how much better things get as she gets older.
Food is our power struggle right now. She doesn’t like baby food at all, with the exception at the moment being brown rice cereal. She locks her jaw shut and smears the food all over instead of eating it! Maybe she’ll like real food better than the pureed stuff, but she’s still too young and without enough teeth for that yet.
Sofia’s first Christmas is around the corner, and so is the move to her second house! It’s going to be a busy month.
Sofia's 6-month visit and Mom's back to work
Oct 27th
Well, besides all her skin issues (see the previous post), Sofia is a healthy girl! She weighs 18 lbs., 5 oz., is 27 1/4 in. long, and has a head circumference of 43 1/4 cm. She is the 86th, 91st, and 71st percentiles for weight, length, and head size. She got more shots, poor thing, and in true Sofia fashion was fine the first day but out of sorts two days later.
Developmentally, Sofia continues to shine! (Can you tell I’m a proud mom?) She just started to sit up unsupported by me, pillows, and/or her own arms last week! She can move objects from hand to hand, and she is starting to pick her bottom up when she’s on her tummy in attempts to crawl. She rolls both ways all over the place, and she continues to pivot in a circle with her upper body when she’s on her tummy. No teeth yet, but Grandma says she thinks she sees one on top under her gums getting ready to come out! Sofia continues to vocalizes and “talk” to us, and she’s become a very happy baby.
Actually, I think she’s as glad I went back to work as I am. It’s amazing how true the statement “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is! Now our time together is more precious and I think we appreciate each other’s company more than before when it was all the time. She’s adjusted well the last two weeks, despite having various sitters while my regular sitter is out of town. Thanks Grandma, Aunt Becky, “Aunt” Holly, and Aunt Patti! You guys are lifesavers! Now if only I can find someone for Tues. and Wed. next week as my regular sitter isn’t back until Friday. (Aunt Becky and Grandma have Mon. and Thurs. covered).
I think it’s my destiny to be a working mom; I love my family, but I also love what I do for a living. Without one or the other, I just don’t feel complete. Or maybe the “post-partum” emotions are starting to go away. Either way, I’m much happier than I’ve been, and so is Sofia, or so she seems. She smiles and laughs almost all the time. It’s hard to believe she was the same baby just a few months ago.
Ken
