December

In an effort to catch up and since I am loosing my memory, I am going to fast forward through the next couple of weeks of Sweet Cheeks life. December was fast. I feel like this part of the year flies by and then from January until the summer drags on FOREVER! Sophie started changing so much in this month. She started staying awake a little more during the day but was still up every 2-3 hours at night to eat. She started HATING the car. She would scream like a billy goat the entire time we were in there. Someone sitting with her would help some, but we were car doomed. I dreaded going anywhere because it was a nightmare! We had lots of visitors come and see little girl. Sophie took her first trip to Spartanburg to see her Papa Ken and Gammie. She did great both there and back in the car (thank goodness). She started smiling some but nothing impressive yet. We ended up not getting a Christmas tree but used my dad's as her stand in. Instead we had a poinsettia that we celebrated around. She loved the lights on the all the trees at other people's houses. It made me feel a little guilty but not enough to get one. Sophie also made her first trip to Columbia to see Betsy and Julie. Kris was very sweet to offer to sit with her while Betsy and I went to a jewelry party and to eat but by the time we got to the restaurant he had thrown in the towel. She had been screaming crying for a majority of the time. Again, the billy goat was in full force. Mary Grace loved holding her and I think there was about to be throw down between her and Betsy on who could hold her. Betsy put her in MG's baby doll stroller and pushed her around the living room. It was too cute! We went to the afternoon mass Christmas Eve and thanks to my mom, we had reserved seats Which did not please all the people standing around. Oh well, we had a one month old and pulled rank! We spent the evening at Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Cliff's house with all the family. Sophie did great and made it pretty late at their house. Christmas morning was just Alvaro, Sophie, and myself. We didn't open gifts until around 2 and then went to my mom's for dinner. We ended up having a white Christmas which was really cool! New Year's Eve was spent with our friends at their house. Sophie did great again. Alvaro was concerned about her hearing because at the stroke of midnight everyone blew their noise makers and screamed. She didn't even flinch! I guess all the training with the dogs barking helped her to ignore all those extra noises. All in all, December was a good month. It sure beat most of November!