Partners in Crime

Ok, I think a post about Sophia has been overdue. So, here it is...

Today, I was determined to have Sophia play more by herself. Also, I've been wanting to have her play instead of watching a movie while I take shower. So, I more or less just dropped her off in her room today when I was about to take a shower and told her to play. She did really well. When I piqued to see how she was doing at different times, I saw her cooking stuff with her kitchen, stacking rings on her ring stacking thingy, talking to her dolls, and reading books. I think the cutest though was when I saw her doing 'Ring Around the Rosies' with her stuffed doggie. She was holding both his paws, and was dancing with the doggie while singing the song. She really loves that little doggie, and usually drags him lots of places with her. He has to come out with her to see the bunny. He has to watch her eat, and he also gets to try her foods and drinks. Often times, you'll find Sophia dragging her blanket "Sleepy" in one arm, doggie and a book in the other heading for the couch, just to sit down, spread "sleepy" over herself, get the book ready, while cuddling with the doggie and then shouting for her milk. She definitely loves cuddling up with a book, a blanket and some milk. That's my girl alright.

She's also already really into dressing up or at least putting stuff on herself. It's not rare that you'll find Sophia running around with random things over her head. That could be anything from a dish towel, a normal towel, her blankets, to just clothes. I don't know why she likes it, but she just puts stuff on her head, and usually so that it covers her eyes and face. Then she runs around like she has perfect vision. But, if it's not stuff on her head, it's probably my shoes on her feet. At some point today, she saw my flipflops and chose to put them on. Right after that she discovered Papa's hat, and put that on. Then she found her glasses, and voila - we had one cute little Sophia. But what would be the fun in dressing up if Doggie didn't get to as well. So, she ended up putting the sandals, hat and glasses on her dog as well (with my help for which she very adamentely asked).

Ahhhhh....I love this little girl. She is so much fun. We went for a long walk today, and as pretty much always, she was just happy and content, getting excited over every flower and bird. I love how she seems to enjoy nature. When we go outside, it's hard to get anywhere, because she has to run over to every flower, and pick up every rock, and chase after ever bug or bird. And when we're inside, she loves to just sit and read books. This evening she walked over to the couch, climbed up in the middle and then asked me to sit down next to her. Then when I sat down, she patted the other side of the couch and asked for Papa. Then Henry came and sat down as well. At that point she handed Henry a book, and when he started reading (a story about Jesus) she was just smiling from ear to ear, and I could tell how much she loved just being with us, reading a book.

She also burst into song on a regular basis. It's so cute. The most random but regular outburst is "eieio" from Old McDonald's had a farm. That's one of her favorites right now. But Lollipop and any German bird songs are also really popular. Basically singing and dancing with her always gets you smiles, kisses and hugs from Sophia.

What else do I love about this girl? Apart from the fact that she's usually happy all the time, that she sleeps like a log, eats her veggies, and is just sweet and obedient...I love how cuddly she is. In the mornings often times she'll come hop into bed with me after she wakes up (with "sleepy", doggy and some milk), and she'll just snuggle with me, hugging me, kissing me and pointing out all the body parts she recognizes (usually combined with a poke in the eye). And now that I'm writing this, I just realize how much she really seems to thrive on being with people, and being physically close to them. We've had our good friends and their 2 kids stay with us for 2 weeks, and it's been 4 days that they've left, and Sophia is still talking about them being gone every day. She was so excited every morning when she woke up, while they were here. She'd hear their voices, and get all happy and wanting to get out to see them. And she's like that whenever Papa comes home, Grandma calls, or she gets a chance to skype. I think she really truly loves people.

So much so that I know her little heart will get quite a few heartbreaks throughout her life. So sad. The other day, we were walking outside, and she saw some girls from our ward walking somewhere. We walked over there to walk with them. Sophia wanted to hold the one girl's hand (she loves holding peoples hands), but the girl didn't want to. Her mom tried to get her older daughter to hold Sophia's hand, but she also didn't want to. So, then we told Sophia to walk over to the youngest daughter and hold her hand, but she ran off to her mom, and also didn't want to hold Sophia's hand. Sweet as Sophia is, she didn't cry but just walked over to me, and held my hand. But I felt so heartbroken for her. :(

Another thing to report is Sophia's interest in numbers. At some point I tried to teach her some letters, but she didn't seem interested. Instead she seemed more interested in numbers. Now she often asks me for 'help' when she's drawing, and she wants me to draw some numbers. She can recognize 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. So, now we're working on 1-4. It's so fun to see her discover the world.

Other things she enjoys is watching me cook, or helping me water our plants on the balcony. She has her own little watering can, and is always excited to run outside with it, and water stuff. Usually it's mostly the balcony floor, but close enough. She also loves watching movies. I try to really limit her movie time, but she'll definitely not waste any time getting over to the TV when she does get to watch something. Her favorite thing right now is watching 'Schafie' (Shaun the Sheep). And she keeps chattering like always. Her recent favorite phrases include 'that's funny' and 'I'm whaley cute' or 'that's whaley cute'. And, most importantly her favorite book right now is a soccer-related one. It starts of with 'Tor, Tor' (goal, goal) and Sophia loves shouting 'Tor'. I'd say she's definitely ready to watch Germany play in the World Cup. Oh, and last but not least, I should mention her awesome memory. When we flew to Florida, the second we sat down she was trying to get down the little tray tables, and was saying 'Moviemovie'. I was amazed that she remembered that when we flew to Germany that's where I put her little DVD player. We had something else like that happening, but I can't remember right now what it was. Also, she can already put on her bibs by herself, pull on socks and pants...

Anyway, I guess I went on long enough. I just feel so blessed that we have Sophia with us. I don't think Heavenly Father could have given me a greater gift than this beautiful, radiant, happy and loving little girl.

"Doggie"

Sophia and "Bunny-Harassement-Team"