Sophie at Two Years Old

Here is a little snapshot of Sophie at 2.

1. You are extremely polite. You say "please" and "thank you" all the time and usually without prompting. You've started to say "sorry". And you always say "bless you" when someone sneezes, coughs or hiccups. In fact, when someone makes one of those noises you say they are "bless you-ing".

2. You love to sing and you love to dance. You've been in music classes (really just directed musical playtime) since you were 6 months old and I think it's really made an impression on you. You really love music (and Miss Amy, the teacher). You can sing probably two dozen songs by yourself. You know tons more and will ask to listen to specific tunes either from "mommy's phone" (my iPhone) when we are home or from "the ceiling" if we are in the car. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is part of our bedtime routine and you sing "Happy Birthday" and the "pound hello" song from music class to your toys, your cousins, animals at the zoo - really anyone you can think of. You dance to just about anything - usually it's a waddle/stomp movement or you running around with your arms straight back (thanks, Grandma Yoj!). You think dancing around the dining room table is about the funnest thing ever.

3. Your two favorite places are the library and the conservatory. We can't even mention them without you running for the door. You've always been a bookworm, plus the library has a fish tank and an "alligator" (elevator) for you to ride. The conservatory has a desert room with a zillion cacti which you LOVE!! I don't know what is about cactus, but you can't get enough of them even though you know they will give you "owies". We go see them at least once a week. It's a testament to how much you love them that you are willing to walk through the rain forest room to get to them. The rain forest room has parrots and it turns out you are TERRIFIED of parrots. Who knows why? The swimming pool is a close third.

4. You are starting to play pretend. You play dress-up now, cook in your play kitchen and crawl around on the floor meowing. You carry your stacking rings around singing "Happy Birthday to Sophie" and then pretend to blow out the candle. You love to be a doctor. Your favorite it to use mommy's headphones to listen to heartbeats. That killed a lot of time when mommy was still pregnant because you loved to "hear" the baby's heartbeat. It's so fun to watch the development of your imagination.

5. You talk a lot and most of it is understandable. Your verbal skills are very advanced for a two year old which we love! It's a riot to hear you narrate your activities to us. Or tell us what you've been up to when we are apart. I even caught you explaining to one of your friends about how mommy was in the hospital with the doctor and got an owie on her tummy to get Baby Clara.

6. You say the funniest things! We laugh out loud at you every single day. Some of your gems:
~ when you want mommy to do stories instead of daddy, you say, "bye, bye Daddy. See you next week."
~ you make your hands into claws and say, "Sophie fierce tiger. Rooooarr!"
~ when I take your picture you say, "Mommy's cheesing me."
~ when you make pretend phone calls you say, "umm... diet coke." (where does that come from?!?!)

7. You know your ABC's. You can count to about 15 in English and 8 in Spanish (thank you, Dora). You know pretty much all your body parts, including your sternum and clavicle. You know your animals and animal sounds. You even know some of your colors already. Overall, you are a genius. What can I say?

8. Clara is really lucky to have you for a big sister. You are very sweet and gentle to her and worry about her all the time. The first thing you say when you wake up is "Where's Baby Clara?". You always want to help change her diaper, help with her bath and you think she needs a binky all the time (because you apparently still do). You even want to feed Baby Clara and get jealous when I nurse her - you want Clara eat from "Sophie's boobie not Mommy's boobie!! I do it! I do it!".

9. As cute and as fun as you are, you are definitely turning into a two year old. You like to do things yourself and you like things your way. Getting down the stairs takes FOREVER these days! Mealtimes are turning into battles and you are figuring out our weak points. If we don't give you what you want you say "Sophie's crying" (like we hadn't noticed). And if that doesn't work, you give us puppy dog eyes and say X will "make Sophie feel real real better". It's hard to say no to that!

10. You say "I love you too, Mommy/Daddy" all the time (even if we don't say it first). Luckily you haven't figured out that that is the real secret to getting what you want. It melts our hearts every single time!!