Our Little Ball of ADHD

Well, we're in trouble. Sophie definitely takes after her Daddy in one main area - her attention deficit. This must be the reason she doesn't have any teeth yet. She seriously can't concentrate on one thing for more than 60 seconds (unless it's Baby Einstein), so how could her poor little body concentrate long enough to push a tooth through? Case in point: no matter how hungry Sophie is, she will not sit still long enough to finish her bottle or her baby food. Even in the distraction-free land of our home kitchen, she stares out the window or plays with her hands long enough that I have to call her name multiple times, coaxing her back to earth with the enticing view of her squash-laden spoon in front of her mouth.

What really makes us laugh, though, is her recently-formed habits for bottle drinking. Picture with me, if you will: Momma and baby sit down in the glider for a nice, relaxing bottle. Momma pulls baby back into a partly reclined position, baby reaches for bottle, and the scene is set. For the next 20 minutes, baby will lay comfortably on Momma and drink calmly from her bottle, enjoying the sustenance and love provided to her by this woman who always seems to know what she needs. Yeah, right. This is a beautiful picture. But unfortunately, this is a fairy tale bedtime story in our world.

Now go with me to Tysonville, where Momma/Dada sits down in the glider, reclines Sophie back, and Sophie reaches for the bottle. In goes the bottle for about 30 seconds, where she happily suckles while grasping the bottle. Aaah, life is good. But wait, what is this? Sophie is pushing the bottle away and straining forward to sit up. Up she sits, and now she's reaching again for the bottle. So, in a full sit-up position, in goes the bottle. Here again she happily suckles, grasping the bottle, until she realizes that her hands aren't doing anything that she considers useful. This time Sophie drops the bottle, expecting her sucker parents to pick it up, and when they do, she's able to use her hands to bang the bottle, grab Momma's nose, or, her most favorite thing, play with her feet. All this while still sucking away at her bottle. And don't you even think about trying to make Sophie hold her own bottle again. She's already proven she can do this, and she's not wasting any more time on it. In Tysonville, you must make full use of your bottle time by getting in lots of recreation.

One thing's for sure: she didn't learn this from me. Unfortunately, I don't have any trouble focusing on what I'm eating. This one we can definitely blame on her Daddy.

Below: Some of Sophie's Easter pics - she'll be nine months on the 26th!