Her laugh. Her sweet little giggle is incredibly infectious. She thinks that everything she says is funny and will insist that you giggle along with her. She loves to call everything and everyone silly. She’ll squint her little eyes, reach out her hands like she’s going to tickle something, let out a little laugh and say “Silly, mommy. Silly, pup. Silly, slide. Silly, tree.” Everything is silly.
Her random snuggles. My child loves to hug. She will stop playing and climb up in my lap for a snuggle and say, “Oh, mommy. I love you.” Dave and I took her on a nature walk last weekend and she stopped in the middle to give Dave a hug. She gives hugs and kisses to family members when she’s saying goodbye. When it comes time to say goodbye to our regular play date buddies, she’ll tuck her head down and bring her arms across her body, waiting for them to give her a hug.
The way she loves her baby brother already. Sophia’s been so helpful in getting ready for baby. She loves putting all of his toys on his play mat. She helped daddy raise the crib up (Sophia happens to be a big fan of tools!). She loves to “tickle” baby brother in my belly. She tells him to wake up every morning and take a bath. She snuggles my belly sometimes and says, “My baby, my baby!” She’s smitten and I really hope she stays that way when he arrives.
Her love of the outdoors. Sophia would live at the park if we let her. Seriously. She wakes up every morning (sometimes before the sun) and the first words out of her mouth are always “Go to park with big kids.” When I tell her it’s too early and too dark outside she happily replies with, “Bring flashlight.” Smart girl. Nothing can get in her way of spending as many hours each day at the park as possible. She is absolutely fearless these days and insists that she can do everything the big kids do. I love when the big kids (you know, the 4 and 5 year olds) want to actually play with her at the park because it makes her feel so important and proud. Even when some of the big kids are mean and throw wood chips at her, calling her a baby, she smiles and continues to chase them (and I laugh a little at the fact that those mean big kids can’t escape my two year old). My child could run for hours on end. If we’re not at the park, we’re running around outside, pushing her baby stroller on walks, riding her bike, chasing balls down the driveway, spinning in circles with the hula hoop, or making a gigantic mess in the sand and water table. Her heart is most content when she’s outdoors and that makes me so happy.
The way she finally learned how to sleep. The very best part of warmer weather and playing outside all day long is the fact that Sophia has finally learned to sleep (sort of). She’s still not a perfect sleeper but considering where we were, we’ve made tremendous improvements in the past few weeks. Sophia’s been sleeping through the night more times than not each week. I’m talking 8-9 hours (on a rare occasion 10!) of uninterrupted sleep for her which is more than we’ve ever been able to say before. The trade-off has been the reduction in naps on most days but I’m perfectly content with that if it means better nights. Instead of napping she’ll get to watch a movie in the afternoon and we’ll spend time reading books. She’s started falling asleep randomly on the couch in the middle of reading or watching a movie which makes me laugh because this usually comes after a good hour-long battle in which she declares repeatedly, “No nap mommy. Sophia play.” I know that this might just be temporary but we’re enjoying it while it’s here. At least Dave is. I have another baby keeping me up these days!
Her creativity. Sophia is so good at imaginative play. She plays well independently with her toys and loves making her little dolls and Little People talk. She can put together her Playmobil Zoo and lines up all of her animals perfectly on her little ark. She absolutely loves art. She plays with her Playdoh and Dot Art a thousand times each day. She loves to paint. She insists on twisting pipe cleaners into animal shapes and drawing with markers on her easel. We’re not sure where she got this artistic gift from but I consider it a blessing since it’s one that Dave and I truly lack.
How smart she is. I’m biased but my goodness does Sophia catch onto things quickly! She absolutely loves to learn and when she does learn something new, she will tell you about it over and over again. She loves to spell and daddy enjoys teaching her. She can spell her name and a few other words, too. She sings her ABC’s, counts to 20, and is speaking in sentences. Her memory is sharper than mine and she never forgets a detail. Even if it’s something from 5 days ago. She loves making lists and sometimes I think she has a photographic memory. Her development is really taking off with each passing month and I love watching her learn.
