Sophiecdotes

Some things that are making me go into spontaneous laugh today:

A few days ago Isaac and I were talking on the couch together (our favorite place in the whole world) and I glanced over at Sophia, who happened to look up at me at the same time. Her eyes lit up, she cracked a slight grin, and started to back up a little bit. I looked back at Isaac and kept talking, but by the time I looked back over at her, she was laughing hysterically and running away, tripping over every toy and blanket while she desperately tried to find some sort of sanctuary from her crazy mother who was "chasing" her all throughout the house. This is what our chasing games have produced.

*

Last night I was on the phone with a friend and Sophia was playing nicely next to me, until she decided to climb up on the back of the couch and onto the blanket-fort that Isaac made her. If you've ever made one of these, you know how unstable the tops of these blanket-forts are, as they are made of only blanket. :) Before she could fall into it, I pulled her back and scolded her about sitting nicely on the couch, and she could have gotten hurt, and please never do that again, which I ended with, "Okay?". No response. "Okay, Sophia?" Nothing. "Sophia. Okay?" "Otaaaaaaaaaaay!" was her response. Made me feel like a total nag, but gave me a good laugh, too.

*

This morning Isaac told me about how he'd tried to engage Sophia in conversation (while she stared blankly at one of her Baby Einstein videos) by asking, "Sophia, where's Mama?" She continued to stare at the TV but shrugged her shoulders. He asked again, yet her eyes did not move from the screen, and she shrugged. After he asked for the third time, she looked at him in the eyes, jerkily shrugged her shoulders, and then turned back to the TV. Did you not see me the first time, nor the second???

Mlle Sophie - la Raisinière

We have quite the little chef roaming about our house these days. Her specialties are coffee, eggs, and juice, but they all have something in common: they are made from raisins. Don't ask me how she does it, for I haven't the slightest idea, but my daughter is able to magically tap a raisin on the edge of one of her hot pink plastic plates, and - voilà! - it is suddenly an egg that she is letting slither out of its cracked shell into a sizzling pan on the stove. Delightful.

If, at any given time, we develop the need to give Sophia something to do, we can say, "I sure would like some coffee right now (which is funny, because we don't even drink coffee), Sophia, could you go and make me some?" And off she'll go, so eager to please. So ready to perform her chefly duties. While cooking she'll snack on her raisins until they are all gone, and then turn to ask, "Reena*, tup?", which you may have guessed means "Can you put more raisins in my cup?". We might want to research as to how many raisins should be eaten by an almost-2-year-old per day. But then again, we might not. :)


For Christmas she got a few new babies and lots of new baby gear, so she's been dutifully performing her motherly tasks as well. And although she can be a bit neglectful at times with some of her children, I think she is a very good Mommy. I've even watched her some nights as she feeds her baby a "baboo" before she herself can fall asleep. As Isaac has said, "I never imagined I'd be a grandparent this early in life."

*On a side note, "Reena" is a shortened form of the German Rosina (raisin).

Ding, Dong, Ditch

She couldn't help but add to the mystery.

I don't want to brag, and I'm not going to say that I have the best behaved child in the world, but she was pretty darn cooperative during our Winchester Mystery House Mansion Tour in San Jose, CA. With the most perfect of timing, she called out, "Oh, WOW!", to the beautiful stained glass windows and gorgeous views of the courtyard from the very top of the house. She sat comfortably in either Papa's, Mama's, Oma's, or Papa Pete's arms the entire time. AND, she even gave our tour guide a great big hug and said "Dae do" (thank you) at the end of the tour. What a sweetie.

She and I have been sick the past few days (as have others in the family, I've heard) so our nights have been somewhat short of serene. A couple of nights ago she cried and cried with a horrible stuffed-up nose until both Papa and I got up and sat with her on the couch. It's all kind of a haze to me (thank you Theraflu), but I do remember one particular instance when I was holding Sophia on my lap, with all 3 (thank you Gloria) of her blankets wrapped around us, her Papa singing and playing guitar ever so softly, she said, in the sincerest voice I've ever heard, "Dae do, Mommy". Is there anything better than that in the whole world?

Funny, funny girl

Sometimes I think we're living with two children. This little girl of ours seems to have, at times, a dual personality. She can be so sweet and sensitive to others. She'll pat your head when you're taking a snooze on the couch. She'll give you the biggest hug and sigh while she's doing it for extra emotion. But then... she goes down for a nap and emerges as a little troll who's mad at the world. So much as offer her water when that's not what she wanted, and she'll shriek at you with such contempt, that you'll think she's the White Witch and you're Edmund, and you've just returned without Lucy, Susan, or Peter.



Is this what they call Toddlerhood?

She's been waking up during the night more often these days. Of course, I'm such a deep sleeper that I barely even know whether or not she's had a bad night, or a good one. Poor Isaac. Last night, apparently, she cried and cried until he went to get her, and when he picked her up she sobbed, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" So he brought her to me and I soothed her to sleep by rubbing her head and saying, "shhhh, shhhhh, shhhhh" over and over until she drifted off. The fact that I had to be told this proves what a multi-tasker I am. I suppose it also proves how tired I am.

It's no lie that this little girl of ours - this girl that's getting more and more independent with each passing day - is delightful. She cracks us up and surprises us and makes us beam with pride. And I know that in order for her to be as delightful as she is, she has to have her time where she doesn't always please everyone, especially us. And part of me loves the fact that she can show me that she's angry, or frustrated, or just in a bad mood. That's part of who she is. I know it will help her to be more balanced if she can learn at this age how to express her discontentment. She'll just have to do it in the corner, that's all. :) (The only problem with the corner, is that I get the feeling she likes it there. But that's a whole different story!)

Nursery Rhyme Time

The itsy, bitsy spider crawled up the water spout.



Down came the rain and washed the spider OUT!



Up came the sun and dried up all the rain.



And the itsy bitsy spider crawled up the spout again.

As you can see, she's very serious about this process, especially when she yells, "Out!", but makes the umpire signal for "Safe!". A couple weeks ago when she and I went to Toddler Tango together, she chose the hand for her prop, so we all sang a counting song. Since then, however, we've been practicing the itsy, bitsy spider song. So yesterday at Toddler Tango, guess whom she chose? Mr. Spider, of course.

So Cool

Do you ever come to the realization that your kids are so much cooler than you? And they're not even trying - but I guess that's mostly what makes them so cool. Sophia, for instance, is so carefree that she'll dance whenever there's a good beat to dance to. She doesn't look around to see who's watching her, she just hears the music and starts to sway, clap, and boogie. Mama's there taking pictures of her while she's doing it, who cares? We're in church and there are 100 people laughing at her while she shakes her booty, so what? I absolutely love this about kids.

It's other things, too, though. Not just the dancing. It's also the fact that when she's tired of something she'll announce, "All done." Whether it's that we're giving her too many kisses, playing a game that's getting too boring, or being held by someone she's a bit wary of - "All done." It's as simple as that. She doesn't even worry about awkwardness. SO cool.


The other day she just about broke my heart. My dad was over visiting and for some reason was eating later than the rest of us. He was on the couch with his plate in his lap when Sophia noticed him there and moseyed on over and climbed up on the couch next to him. She kept him company while he ate (pointing out all of the "apples"* on his plate and such) almost like she was doing it just to be nice. But she wasn't. She was doing it because she loves her Grandpa, and that's pretty cool, too. That's the kind of "cool" I hope she stays.

* On a side note, Sophia calls almost any piece of produce "apple". At first I thought she was so smart because she could point out the apples at the grocery store, but then we saw the oranges, and they were "apples", too, and yams - "apples", the list goes on.

What I think of when I see this picture...

Catalina Island, August 2006

"Jeeves, get the limo, we're going on a drive."

or

"How do you like my new permanent?"

or even, strangely enough

"Does anyone know where the nearest weight room is?"

(If you guys are up for it, now would be a good time to play Choose Your Own Quote.)

Cute as a bug

Sometimes Halloween Carnivals are just too hard on little bugs.

The loves of HER life...

What does Sophia love? Well, let's see now... Cheese, raisins (both at once are always good so as to keep her regular!), anything Mom and Dad are eating in our own little bowls while sitting on the couch (usually ice cream), and, of course, spaghetti! I'm so lucky to have a daughter who enjoys food even more than I do. She was a big help to Mama in preparing this spaghetti dinner for us. She even decided after the pot was full of noodles, that we needed just a few more, so she shoved them in, too.

I let her help with dinner every night, so now, when she sees me in the kitchen, she'll run in yelling, "Up, up!" and expect to get scooped up and be let stir or add something. She's such a good help, I don't know what I ever did without her!

Case of the Great Marshmallow Caper

Games

One of the things I love most about being home with Sophia, is getting to play with her. There are a few games that we indulge ourselves in on a regular basis, including the chasing one I mentioned earlier. Some games, though, are a little less conventional.

One of my all time favorites is playing the game of "hide and seek". Up 'til this point, I am always the one who hides and she the one who seeks. In the living room, I take one of her green blankets (her decke) and I wrap it up all around her really tight so that it takes a while for her to get out. Then I run to either our bedroom, her bedroom, or the entry way and hide until she finds me. When she does, I let out the roar of a lion, and then the chase begins. If she can make it back to her decke in the living room before the Mama Lion catches up with her, than she's saved. She'll see it and start panting, "Decke, decke, decke..." and then collapse onto it and hold on tight. If I try to tickle her, than she'll she'll tell me "Decke!" - as if to say, "I'm safe, remember?".

Last night we all played a wacked-up game of "Duck, duck goose" where Isaac lay and I sat in the living room, and she weaved her way through us around and around going, "Nah, nah, nah, nah," the whole time. Every time she went around or in front of one of us she kind of sped up, both in her walking and her chanting, because she knew, eventually, one of us would reach out and grab her and get all kinds of tickles in. She loved the game so much that later that evening, after we had finished with our walk, she went straight back into the living room and walked in a big circle chanting "nah, nah" again. What a big goof.

Girls Day Out!

Sophia and her friend Kailyn had a fun time today at the park. They were a two-baby band as they tried out all of their cute, goofy sounds around the big girls.

Lessons from a toddler

It seems Sophia prefers to go it alone these days. She knows Mom likes to hold her hand, but she wants to show the world how independent of me she is. There are still those moments, however, when she comes to a hard spot in the road, and looks up at me, arm outstretched, knowing I'm there to help. And then, hand in hand, we step up onto the sidewalk together, or over a puddle, or up a stair.

It goes both ways, I've learned. During the week after my brother's accident, Sophia was there to make me smile, and occasionally, even laugh. She gave me kisses to heal my sad heart, and patted my back when I was hunched over and sobbing. I had no idea how much I need her help, too. All I have to do is reach out my hand.


Mom and daughter. Hand in hand. For life.

L'enfant cherie

Sometimes I look at this girl and think, "Has anyone in History ever been this beautiful?" She looks at me with those huge, blue eyes; she rubs her hand over her light, curly hair; and then she smiles and goes back to doing whatever it was she was doing: talking to her toys, reading her books, or wrapping the phone cord around her neck as if it were a necklace. What a girl.



Lately, I've really noticed how much she plays off her dad and me. I love to chase her around the house acting like a crazy person. She screams and crawls, but gets so excited / nervous that she just collapses on the floor awaiting her imminent "death". Then throw Isaac into the picture: He holds on to her tightly while saying, "Oh, no, she's coming Sophia! She's gonna get you! AAAAAHHHHH!". And THAT is when she really freaks out. She climbs up her dad, begging for him to save her while I get ever closer, and finally, reach her and eat at her ribs until she dies of a laugh-attack. I've never had so much fun in my life.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sophia has been hiding a Leprechaun in her closet all day. She's getting way too in to this luck o' the Irish thing.

As you can see, she's wearing a pretty new dress that her grandma Becky brought for her when she met us in the big city last weekend. For any of you out there who are interested in the pattern, we've taken an upclose shot to verify those clovers.

No pinch for Sophia this year!

It's official.

Our daughter is a princess.

Left, Right, Left

Our little girl has taken her first steps! 9 days after her first birthday, she has decided that she can do it. And she did it with no prompting at all, amazingly. She stood and held on to a chair in her bedroom, while I sat on the floor sorting through some papers. She turned toward me, let go and stood there - balancing perfectly on her two tiny feet - before she took three steps in my direction. I screamed with excitement. Her dad rushed right in to see what was going on, and was so proud to see his baby girl walking. It's been about an hour now, and all three of us our exhausted from practicing.

Birthday Girl

What fun we had today with the little birthday girl! Her daddy brought her out to the living room this morning to a birthday surprise - a life size baby doll named Molly, who "breathes" when you hold her in a certain position (and who also looks a lot like Sophia!). She gave her lots of kisses, and talked to her. She's so life-like, in fact, that I think Sophia expected her to do more than just stare at her. Not as good as her real friends (although sharing won't be an issue), but fun nonetheless.

The countdown begins...

Sophia just received her first ever birthday card in the mail today. When I got home from work this evening, Isaac mentioned that there was something in the pile of letters on the table for Sophia. She heard her name, and looked up. With card in hand she squealed, then she looked around at us to see if we, too, were sharing in her joy. It sure does seem like she appreciates things much more than we do. She really studied the card - and the envelope, too. She really loved the envelope. And, oh yes, she wanted me to give Herb and Carol a message, thanking you guys for her card. :)

2 days to go!!!

Memories, too, are worth a thousand words

No picture today - kind of deliberate, but only because I didn't want to ruin the moment. Isaac had a men's Bible study group to go to last night, which meant it was just Sophia and I for about an hour before we both hit the sack. I gave her a bath, taking her auntie Annie's advice to dump water over her head, instead of gingerly covering her eyes to protect them from the water. Sounds harsh, but it's a really great point and makes the whole bathing process (especially the rinsing part) so much smoother and easier. She's gotten pretty used to it by now, but I kind of overdid it by dumping three cups, one after the other, over her head and consequently, down her face. It scared her so bad that she actually yelled at me when she finally caught her breath.

After her jammies were on and we were back in her room, I reached for the book I read aloud to her nightly - Im Schlaraffenland der Tiere. She loves it. The pictures are great, plus it's about a bunch of animals who get to eat and sleep all day long and never grow old - right up her alley. When we were done and I said the last words: "...besuchen wir die Kurzerhand, die Tiere im Schlaraffenland.", she picked up another book, "Goodnight Alaska", and started reading to me. She was so serious, and she went page by page pointing out the animals to me, like I do with her in "Schlaraffenland". There she sat, with her tight brown curls still wet from her bath, looking up every once in a while to make sure I was still listening. How could I not? I could hear her voice, my own daughter's voice, and was almost convinced that there is some "Baby Language" out there that we adults will never be able to understand. If I didn't know German, I would think it were German, or English, if I didn't know English. Maybe it was Dutch? :)

Being read to by a 11 month - 3 week old baby. It was such a perfect moment - so perfect, that I just sat there and enjoyed it.