Sophia's strong personality has blossomed over the past six months. Her independent-mindedness is in full swing. We'll frequently hear her saying, "No Sophia like it," and then, "Actually....Yeah, Sophia likes it." One of our favorite "I'm in control" phrases comes out of Sophia's mouth when we're stopped at a stop light, "Mama, GO!" She needs to be the one calling all of the shots. This has led to us giving her two choices for almost every mundane task we want to get done. "Sophia, you can either brush your teeth now or let Mami comb your hair." "Sophia, would you like to take a bath now or in 5 minutes?" And then we set a timer for 5 minutes. Choices and a timer have been two very helpful strategies for parenting our demanding little girl.
We're grateful to God that He's paired empathy and affection with Sophia's strong will. We often find her pursing her lips and giving a little pat to those who look distressed saying, "It's okay." As her parents, we love Sophia's affectionate side, but our dog, Mocha, finds her headlock squeezes a bit overbearing.
Sophia as Nacho Libre
Play is Sophia's life right now. Her favorites still include books, books, and more books! She's started reading them to US now and will correct Papi's pronunciation when he reads a book in Spanish or will simply take the book out of his hand and say, "No Papi. That Spanish. For Mami." She also still loves jumping, running, and now skating. Hide-and-seek is still top on her list of favorites as well. She loves hiding in her tent, under the covers, or in the closet best. Babies are still a big hit and since Christmas, she's added barbies to her favorites. She currently has a family of three barbies (all girls) who she refers to as Mami, Papi, and Sweetie.
Sophia's mind is certainly active as she plays pretend. She is often Dora or Belle. Mami is Tico or Tinker Bell. Mocha is a polar bear or Benny, the cow. Along with imaginary play, Sophia loves to role play scenes from our everyday life. Her play kitchen is a favorite spot for cooking and eating. One night, while pretending to be "Mami," Sophia gave Papi a time out until he ate all his supper.
Last, but not least on Sophia's list of favorites, is "school". Being home with Sophia during the day has allowed Mami and Sophia the opportunity to enjoy some parent-child classes. On Mondays it's ECFE or "English school with teacher Ann" and on Wednesdays it's Juguemos Juntos or "Spanish school with maestra Victoria." Mami couldn't be more pleased that Sophia is a school lover through and through. Our morning classes together are definitely our favorite weekly outings.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that come September Sophia will be continuing on at Joyce Bilingual Preschool all by herself! Even though she just makes the cut-off for preschool by two days, she has made it very clear that she is ready for "school" and would go every day if that were a possibility. Her two favorite songs are currently "Old McDonald" and the alphabet. Along with reciting the alphabet, Sophia also now recognizes letters everywhere we go and will tell us the sounds that they make!
When talking with her about going to preschool two days a week in the fall, Sophia asked if she could ride the school bus. Mami, not anywhere near ready for this level of letting go, gently told her, "When you're older...maybe when you're five." Sophia then promptly responded with, "I three, Mama." She continued to argue this point for a good while, no matter how many times Mama reminded her she was only two.
Honestly, we sometimes do forget just how little Sophia still is. We ventured out to the park on Friday to enjoy the balmy 40 degrees. Sophia showed us that even after a long winter of being trapped inside, she's still got what it takes to conquer all the climbing and sliding (even with a bit of snow and her clunky snow boots). Every time she'd fall down, she'd just stand back up and say, "I okay, Mama. You wait there. You watch me."
We have no doubt that Sophia will be a fabulous big sister come August. She already talks about the"little baby in Mami's tummy." While she changes her mind daily as to whether she wants a baby sister or a baby brother, there is no question that she WANTS a tiny sibling to hold. Much will change with a new baby, but we'll always make sure Sophia knows she is and forever will be our first precious little baby.
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