Can I pretend to be...

Sophia Maria recently passed the 3 1/2 year mark. But according to her, she just can't seem to grow up fast enough. Here's a snippet of a recent conversation we had:

"Mami, how old is my cousin, Joshua?"

Because he just had a birthday, I stop and think for a moment, "Eleven."

"Can I pretend to be eleven today?" she pleads.

Already I see the wheels spinning in her head, "What do you think eleven-year-olds can do?"

"I don't know," comes her reply.

But what I really hear her saying is, "Anything you don't let me do by myself!"

"Sophia, Sophia. Don't grow up too fast, My Dear," is all I can say, as I smile to myself.

As I recall this conversation, I'm reminded of Sandra Cisnero's short story, "Eleven." It illustrates that when we're eleven, we're also ten, nine, eight... and even three-and-one-half. When Sophia truly is eleven, I want her to remember a whole wealth of experiences. And my hope is that this entry will one day help her recall a few of them.

Sophia is all about pretending these days. This may be why she loves to hear stories. Like her Mama, she let's them carry her away to a different world. Her favorite storytellers are her grandmas. And the second they get a chance to sit down with her, she's commanding, "Tell me a story." Her favorites right now are princess stories, but Mama prefers to read a new book with her or make up stories about Señor Círculo and Señora Óvalo. (Anything, really, so that I don't have to tell the princess stories.)

When guests come to visit, Sophia quickly engages them in playing dress-up.

Here she is with Tía Emily. Sophia LOVES to lay out her clothes each day (even though she then proceeds to change them at least three times throughout the day). Sophia also takes pride in helping pick out Claire's clothes (Mama often intercedes here). I still like to be in control of making sure at least one of my girls is wearing matching clothes. Sophia is always quick to help buckle Papi's belt or button Mami's coat. We think she might go into fashion consulting when she's older.

If not fashion, then perhaps culinary school is in Sophia's future.

Sophia LOVES to help in the kitchen. Because of her inclination to push the limits, Sophia already knows far more about cooking than I did at twenty. She sifts flour, cracks eggs, and has become a master counter when it comes to setting out miniature muffin papers. Like most of us, she loves to munch along the way. Through our cooking together, Sophia is teaching me what it means to be a tactile learner. Because Sophia wants to touch each ingredient, I've taken to giving her some exploration space on the counter. Here she can test out a bit of everything without touching the part we're actually going to eat. Each day I find myself relinquishing yet another cooking task to her, one that I hadn't even thought of letting her do on her own. At three-and-one-half it's already hard to stay one step ahead.

Sophia is constantly on the move. She is our runner, jumper, tumbler, and splasher. Just the other day, as Sophia was asking for the tenth time if we could have a visitor over, I said, "Do you like our days at home or days when we have things going on better?"

Without missing a beat, she responded, "Days when we do things! Like when I go to school or have gymnastics or swimming lessons."

It's been so fun to see Sophia's development in the preschool setting. We've always known she was emotionally in-tuned to others. Now we see how friendship is of key interest to her. One day she tells me so-and-so is "the bestest friend I ever saw." Then next day it's, "Well, I don't really play with him. Now, so-and-so is my friend. He loves me." Nearly all the friends she talks about are boys. Is this because she's such an active girl who loves to run and jump or is this a taste of the boyfriend drama we'll experience when she becomes a teen?

Sophia remains a proud big sister. Watching her and Claire laugh together is a hoot. She pulls the "Big sister card" a lot. "I'm a big sister, so I can do it all by myself." While still willing to help her baby sister, Sophia often hints that she'd like Claire to grow up a little quicker too.

"Can Claire play barbies with me?"

"No, Sweetie. She would put the barbie shoes in her mouth or try to chew on the barbie's hair."

"How old does she have to be?"

"Three...well, maybe two."

"Can we pretend she's two?"

"Yes, but pretending still doesn't mean she can play barbies--she's still really only seven months old."

"I know," she says, and hands Claire a barbie.