Life's Little Joys

Actually, I think Sophia is our greatest joy. But, since I was just going to post some pictures of all our recent little joyful moments, 'little' is maybe not too off. Anyway, Sophia really just makes us so happy. For Thanksgiving we had family visit, and it was a little crowded in our little 2-bedroom apartment with two more adults and 3 more kids. Sophia, however, was just loving having kids at our house 24/7 for a couple of days. Instead of clinging to me all day like she usually does, she was off playing all day. I guess she really really needs siblings. So, I posted some pictures of one little outing with our relatives, and a picture of Sophia in the tub with her cousin. Aren't they so cute?

Then, we think Sophia just does the cutest things. She's always liked books, but now she's totally into singing. If you give her anything with notes on it (hymnbooks, songbooks, sheet music, whatever) she'll instantly start singing. We just drove out to Missouri last weekend, and when Sophia got bored, I gave her a little song book, and she just sang for 30 minutes or so in her car seat. It's so cute, and I just lovelovelove to hear her little voice. She's also started copying us a lot. Her vocabulary really is exploding and it seems she can say almost anything she hears if she wants to. I think by now she has a good 40+ words she can say (Baby, Katze, hat, Hase are still some favorites). So, now that she talks more I've noticed I really need to watch what I'm saying more. The other day I was saying something about butts. Just after I finished I heard Sophia say 'butt'. Well, I don't think butt is a bad word. But, there are some not so choice words I occasionally use (when mad). I guess it's time to cut those out, unless I want a baby who swears.

Our favorite thing Sophia does right now though is her tickling and sizzling. I taught her to 'tickle', so she'll always walk over to Henry, saying 'kitzlkitzlkitlz (tickltickltickl) and stretch out her hands and try to tickle. She also noticed once how I touched Henry with my finger and sayed 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz' (for Henry being so sizzling hot). She thought it was really funny, and gave it a try, too. I really had to laugh though when I found her yesterday, touching herself with her index finger and going 'zzzzzzzzzz'. What can I say. We love her, and are her biggest fans.

So, now enjoy the pictures and videos. I added some pictures of our studious, computer-literate and well-travelled child as well. :)