Moms & Tots

This morning the Deokpo Beach ladies and our babies ventured out for a get-together with a few other moms and young ones. I get together with Sojung and with another ABS wife Sa'a, from Nigeria, fairly often since they both live in our apartment building. But I think we all enjoyed getting out and visiting our new friend Aksana and meeting her daughter, as well as two other women and their sons. Among the moms we had two Koreans, one American, one Nigerian, one Brazilian, and one Uzbeki. (There are even more nationalities represented if you add the dads into the mix!) I love that Sophie is being exposed to so many languages. She won't hear enough to become bilingual, but the exposure to so many different sounds and inflections has got to be good for her future language-learning exploits! The kids ranged in age from four to fifteen months, with four girls and two boys. The adults enjoyed tea and cakes and fruit while the children enjoyed wreaking havoc on the poor hosting baby's toys.

It was interesting to see how much more interactive the older babies were. Anna-Lynn, who is four months old, looked at everyone else with interest and obviously enjoyed the crowd, but is still pretty immobile. Sophie and Amah, at about seven and nine months, were interested in touching other babies, although I'm not sure that Sophie realizes they are people and not toys. The thirteen-month-old and the two fifteen-month-olds recognized each other and the younger babies as competition for toys and attention. I can't wait to see Sophie's social and physical abilities blossom in just the next few months.

Speaking of blossoming, Sophie is becoming a real personality now. She smiles lots and lots and buries her face in my chest shyly. She reaches for me, especially in the bath when she knows that her nighttime nursing session is coming. She looks at me with mild concern if I make a grumpy comment about something. She babbles and squeals all the time.

She's developed a painful habit of pinching at my neck and chin while nursing, and she likes to explore my lips, teeth, and gums with her probing little fingers. She loves feeding herself bits of soft fruits and veggies, especially banana, broccoli, potato, and avocado.

She is clearly interested in crawling and continually swings her legs behind her when sitting, although she hasn't quite figured out what to do next or how to get onto her hands and knees.

I want to crawl!

She giggles uncontrollably when Daddy tickles her.

She had three nights this week where she slept for two good, long stretches overnight and only woke up once, and she will regularly relax enough to fall asleep in the car or stroller. Our little girl is growing up and becoming more of a delight every day.