Preview of What's to Come...

Here's a little clip of Sophie's first successful attempt at wearing sunglasses without freaking out.  It appears she's now one with her shades.  Enjoy!

Easter Highlights

Our little family spent our Easter out east with some of Pete's family. As with most things, the highlight of the trip was watching all of the kids interact. Here are a few pictures of Sophie, Sam, and "baby wubee" (Ruby).

Po Hot

Sophie is obsessed with Pocahontas ("Po Hot"). She walks around with her little Pocahontas book saying things like, "I love you, Po Hot. I love you, John Meeth (John Smith). I love you Mee Mo (Meeko)". She even sings one of the songs from the movie...and she sings it with the right rhythm. Yesterday I was pushing her in the cart in the grocery store, and she was chanting, "Way Wuh, Way Wuh, Nu Nu, Way Wuh". :)

Other than "Po Hot", she has been very into counting by herself. Throughout the day, she just starts counting: "one, two, thee, fo, fie, six, se, eight, nine, TEN!" She also likes to throw the ABCs in once in a while, which sounds like this, "a, b, c...x, y, ZZZ!" She seems to forget that there are a few more letters than that.

She has also started putting more and more words together into sentences. Instead of just, "read book", she says, "Mommy read book" or "Mommy hold Sophie" or "Sophie go outside". I have heard a few sentences with four or more words too.

She is so much fun!

Dopey

For the last few weeks, Sophie has started referring to herself as "Dopey". Seriously. It is hilarious! And she is obsessed with taking turns, so we get to hear it all the time. With anything, including singing, making a funny sound, reading, etc., she says, "Mommy"...I do it. She says, "Daddy"...Daddy does it. She says, "Dopey"...she does it.

Also, she has been very into saying she loves everything and everyone. She says, "I uh YOU, Mommy!" "I uh YOU, Daddy!" And she goes through everyone. It is so cute!

Christine Hoffman

Lots of News

I have lots of things to share. Most importantly, Sophie can walk. I really think that she has been able to for a while now, and I'm not just saying that because I am her Mom and I want her to seem "advanced". :) I just think she has been scared, and she still is pretty scared.

I almost hate writing updates on what Sophie is doing, because I ALWAYS forget some of the best stuff. She is just doing so much that it is hard to keep track of everything. But, I feel like I really did forget to put some of her best words, like the way she says, "help please" ("hop pees") or "read please" ("ree pees"). Her little "please" is just about the cutest thing in the world. Also, she loves to count. I'm not saying she really knows what she is doing or what she is saying, but when I ask her to count something, she points at each thing and can SORT OF follow along and say her numbers. She is especially good at remembering "two", "eight" and "nine". :) It's the same thing with the ABCs. She sometimes will join in at the right time with the right sound. It just seems like she loves filling in the blanks. Like during songs, she gets very excited when she can finish the line of the song. Or, if I say, "up", she immediately says, "down". Same with "high" and "low", but that's probably more thanks to our music table than anything else.

I hate to even post this knowing that I am probably forgetting things again, but oh well. Maybe I will just add to the list every day. :)

I have never had a problem with periods of my life moving too quickly or too slowly. It seems like everything, so far, has been just right. I loved my childhood, but when I went to high school, I was ready to be there. I loved high school, but when it was time for college, I was ready and excited to go. I loved college, but when it was time to graduate, I was ready to move on. I loved living with friends and my sisters after college, but when Pete and I got married, I was ready. I was happy being married and living in Appleton, but when I found out I was pregnant (even though it was a surprise!), I was ready and excited to have a baby. Sophie's first year didn't move too quickly or too slowly either. When she turned one, it seemed right. It seemed like it had been a year since she was born.

HOWEVER, all of a sudden things are moving too quickly. This is the first time in my life where I just want things to slow down. It seems like all of a sudden she is a walking, talking kid, and she is almost halfway through her second year (okay, she is only almost 16 months, but still!), and I am almost 30. What?!

I can't even keep up with the new things that she does. I bet she says at least a hundred words (Mommy, Daddy, Nonnie, Uncle Drew (uh DOO), Ning Ning, Reebs, Dog, Abe (Aaa), Smith (Meee), Grandpa (Pa), Grandma (Ma), cheese, yogurt, bunnies, pudding, milk, water, toast, bread, noodle, banana (nanana), book, ball, up, down, bath, duck, paci (ba poo), night night, yes, no, toy, car, movie, elmo, hat, shoes, boots, jeans, more, all done, eye, nose, mouth, uh oh, bonk, etc.). Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it seems like she has tons of words and that she understands most of what I say.

Books are probably still her favorite toy, but her "babies" and kitchen are favorites now too. She also loves drawing and coloring, and every time I ask her what she is drawing, she answers, "bbbbbb" (which is the elephant noise, meaning she is drawing yet another elephant). She loves singing songs, and her favorites are "head and shoulders" and "the itsy bitsy spider" and others that she can do the hand motions to. She likes to get out of the house, and she makes this clear when she starts bringing her boots and coat and my shoes over to me.

She is almost always happy, and she is constantly clapping and saying "yeah!". She is also very loving, and she constantly gives kisses and hugs to everyone and everything. I do also see that she has developed a stubborn streak, and even though this could be just a toddler thing, I think that with Pete and me as her parents, she probably wouldn't have avoided it anyway. :) She is just the most amazing little girl, and we really couldn't love her more.

I just hope things slow down a little bit, even though I know they won't. I'm sure my next post will be when I am in my fifties and all of my kids are out of the house and it will seem like just yesterday when I wrote this post. Let's hope not...