Sophie is 19 months old, and she is really beginning to show off her personality. Of course, she has all permission and expectation to grow and change - I'm not putting her in any kind of personality box. But it is so much fun for me to be able to say that there are things I know about who she is right now, as a unique individual child.
Sophia loves to dance and sing. Her teachers in the toddler room at the early-childhood-education day care say that she is their best dancer! (They love her there. Of course.) If Sophie is ever unsettled or grumpy, here's a sure-fire tip: simply put on some happy music or a video with people singing and dancing, and she is calm. Or spinning around in circles, joining in with the actions, or trying to sing along. She makes up her own songs complete with actions too. Her favourite songs feature going in the car with daddy, momma and Nanna and Granddad. And there's lots of waving and clapping and complicated hand and finger motions...but I'm clueless about most of what's going on.
She most often chooses from 2 favourite activities. One is reading books - babbling and telling stories to herself, pointing to characters and even using different voices as she recites an uncomprehensable "dialogue" for the story. She loves books with familiar characters in them - at the moment they're Maisy and Curious George.
The other favourite activity is colouring. Well, colouring and painting, but she really only paints at school so far. Sophie has decided she wants to learn all the names of all the colours. I had no mission to teach them to her at 1 and a half! But she colours several times a day, for really loooong stretches for a toddler - 10 to 15 minutes easily! she draws circles and dots (both of which she can say now!) and heaps of other pointy and swirly shapes, boldly covering the whole page. She always must use every colour available at least once or twice. And she uses her colour words throughout the day. She points to new things and says "lellow!" her very favourite colour. She also knows blue and black today, and is quickly on her way to knowing pink, brown, red and purple (she loves to say purple). And I, being the proud mother that I am, think that her paintings are the best in her toddler class. But I am biased. And she adores painting.
If you haven't figured out already, or haven't talked to Sophie in the last few months, I still probably don't have to tell you this, but I will anyway. Sophia is very verbal. She loves to talk. She asks questions and tells stories and even talks to people she doesn't know very well (as long Momma is nearby and she's had some time to get comfortable). I still can't understand most of what she says - she's babbling more than she is not. But she is really practicing pronunciation - words only Dan and I could understand a few months ago are now very clear to anyone - hello, cheese, apple, up, DadDY. She's getting really good at please (although it's still peas) and working better pronunciation of painting, plane, umbrella and amen. She puts words together whenever she can - Momma Daddy go car? More cheese...P(l)EASE!! up up up...p(l)ane, daddy up p(l)ane.
Sophie loves to give kisses and cuddles. She does it affectionately and quickly- and then she's out of your arms and independent again. She loves her blankets and pillow - often pulls them all out of the cot and walks around the house with them. I really don't know why.
She is still terrified of high-pitched loud noises. She hates the vaccum cleaner and the food processor. She is comforted if a parent who is not operating said machinary holds her, or if she has a dummy and hundreds of soft comforting things in the safety of her cot while the noises whirr. So far, that seems to be the only way to stop the screaming.
Sophie doesn't mind animals in theory - she seems pretty fond of them in books (although she really seems to prefer people, and animals personified as characters) - but she is still very skittish around them in real life. She loves going to see the puppies and fish and everything else at the pet shop (I take her there pretty regularly), and she likes the dogs at Nanna's house, but she very rarely will actually touch an animal. As far as I know, she has never been hurt by an animal or had any kind of trauma related to them, but she always flinches and jumps away from them if they are close enough to touch.
Oh so many other things! She loves swimming and playing in water and sand. She likes to help and try to do the same things as grown ups. Sweeping and cooking are 2 favs at the moment. She will build towers with blocks and do shape sorting puzzles, but she hasn't got a very long attention span for that. She plays at parks and playgrounds and enjoys them most and longest if there are other children there to follow around and watch and laugh with. She is beginning to imaginative play with little people and dolls, and even occasionally with other children! The other day, she and Ryan were playing with her kitchen together; he cooked for her and she tasted what he made and told him that she liked it. They are awesome together! And her favourite TV shows right now seem to be Play School (she loves the people, the singing, the storytelling, the fun things they do.) Elmo's world, Maisy and Sesame Street. But she also likes cooking shows, and of course, anything that involves painting, singing and dancing.
Ok, that's probably enough going on about my daughter at the moment.
If there's anything else that you know about her that I've forgotten to mention, feel free to add it. I don't want to forget these things when I am old. (I seem to be getting there rather quickly!)
