Svea Update

Svea will be 9 months old in a couple of weeks. I can’t believe how fast my baby is growing up! I still think of her as new – I remember thinking Soren was so big when he was 9 months, it is funny how my perceptions have changed.

Svea is precious. She is such a good little girl. Ever since she started crawling she has been so happy! She is a morning person (compared to Soren and I) and gets up around 7:15 am wanting to play. She will crawl around and entertain herself all morning. It works out really well because Soren and I are slower in the mornings, and it allows me to get breakfast and chores done without having to worry about her. She naps twice a day, usually for less than an hour each time, and is eating three solid food meals a day. She is getting very interested in table food and prefers it to her baby mush. She has sampled small pieces of strawberry, ham, pizza crust, grilled cheese sandwich and pineapple. She loves to eat anything she can put in her mouth, including leaves, bird food, and any other junk I miss with the broom.

Svea has a unique crawling style. I expected her to figure out “normal” crawling, but she seems very happy with her technique and is getting very fast. I think my brother described her crawling perfectly when he compared it to the butterfly swimming stroke. Crawling has its perks (happy baby) and its downsides (babyproofing and extra floor cleaning). Svea’s style has the added downer of ruining clothes. Her belly is constantly dirty, even right after I have mopped.

Svea is finally starting to laugh regularly. Soren works hard to get giggles. In the video he was trying to get her to laugh at a joke that had worked earlier in the day. They were sitting on the floor facing each other and Soren would say, "Dump" and they would both laugh. Don't ask me, because I don't know why they thought that was funny. Whatever it meant, it was very cute to see them both belly laughing together.

I’m starting to see glimmers of Svea’s personality. It is kind of exciting to start to see real differences – before now most of her development has followed the normal baby patterns. The other day we got out Soren’s new water toy and attached it to the hose. Soren wasn’t ready to get wet, but I sat Svea out in her baby bath (to prevent her eating leaves) and pushed her out into the spray. She LOVED it! She already seems to have an adventurous spirit, a big contrast to our more cautious Soren. She does have a spunky streak. She definitely lets me know when things are not going how she wants them too, especially when it comes to mealtime.

It has been so fun to watch Svea go through the journey of her first few months. I’ve realized anew what a blessing it is for us to come here to earth and to have physical bodies we learn to control. What an experience! I can’t believe how much she has learned already, and I’m looking forward to the next few exciting months and years!