I've told these stories many times in the last few months, but I never can remember who has had to listen to them 3 times already and who hasn't got to hear them yet! So it's time to write some of these down, before I forget them. These are some of the stories that make me proud and make me giggle. Stories that cheer me up on days like today when my little girl is not-quite-herself with a low-grade fever and she's mostly just miserable. This is who she usually is when she's feeling well - happy, curious, and very chatty!
Oh, I should probably explain- she does this thing a lot lately, where she's trying to put together these complex sentences. She knows that certain little words go places, like prepositons and question words, but she doesn't quite grasp which word she's supposed to use there yet. So instead she just puts this little space into her sentence where she knows a word should go. It sounds a bit like "uh" so that's what I use in my transcriptions of her speech. That's what it means when you see "uh..." She's not really pausing to think (I don't think), I think she's substituting a word with that sound.
Sophie (looking at a picture in a magazine and pointing): Man!
Mama: Yes, that's a man.
S: I uh....man.
M: No Sophie, you're not a man. You're a girl.
S: (Rolls her eyes, sighs at me, and says in a slighty exasperated voice as she explains to me) I KNOW! I LIKE man!
M: Ohhh. right. of course. I like men too :)
S: Yes.
S: Uh...is Daddy? (shrugging shoulders, palms up, indicating "where?")
M: Daddy's gone to work.
S: I go work? I uh.. I go Daddy's work.
M: When you get bigger, do you want to go to work like Daddy?
S: Yes. I go work... I uh p(l)anes! I work P(l)anes, uh..Daddy, uh Mama!
M: Ok, you're going to fly planes when you get big too?
S: Yes!
M: And you want to fly the planes with Daddy and mama?
S: YES! :)
(She gets very excited when we finally seem to 'get' what she's talking about!)
Sophie's been very pre-occupied with the idea of going to work lately. She likes to list off people and where they are at the moment -"Daddy work. Pete work. Bec work. Grandy work. etc." and then she has to name who is at home at the moment. "Mama no work. Mama home. Zush home uh baby. etc.." If she's not sure about a particular person at any point in the day, she will ask me if they are at home or at work. "Papa work? Bittney home?" etc.
So anyway, the day following that last conversation, she had a new set of career goals!
I was buckling her into her carseat to go out for the day.
S: I go work?
W: Well, not today. Today we're going to the park (or the shops, I can't remember exactly.) But when you get big and you grow up you can go to work.
S: Yes. I big...I go work.
W: When you grow up, where do you want to go to work, Sophie? You could fly planes at work like Daddy, or you could be a teacher for children at a school like Mama, or you could be a doctor and help people who are sick to feel better...
S: I work..I people's doctor! uh...better!
M: That's a great idea Sophie. You would be a very clever doctor.
S: Yes!
Oh, and the first long sentence I remember hearing her say - on the day of her baptism we were all getting ready. I did her hair and we talked about her pretty new hairclips and new dress and pretty new shoes - all for this very special day. We talked about going to church and then having a special party for Sophie and dinner. She walked up to our full-length mirror, admiring herself and having a chat to herself.
S: Hello Soshie! I uh.. two hairpicks uh...my party!
I'll leave you with a few of her latest, surprising new words! octopus (aw-pus), jellyfish (jay-pish), chimp, tricky
May your week be joyful and free from illness :)
30 May, 2009
02 May, 2009
Another movie of the chatty Miss Sophie
A few weeks ago, we visited Anaconda - giant camping store. Sophie and I explored and played while Dan wandered the store drooling over toys and picking out a birthday present. Sophie and I had some interesting conversations on the little set of steps by the emergency door - here is one of them that I got on video.
Oh, and at the end of the clip, where Sophie is naming friends (as she loves to do lately - big long lists of everyone she knows. She's much better at it since this film was shot) I missed one of the names at the time. She says "Gandy" which is her name for Granddad, but I didn't figure that out until watching it a few times. Also, at the end she names Nikita (Kitty is what she usually says), and then I switched off the video. So you just missed the next word she said after the camera was off, which was Bobo - her cousin Sebastian.
Enjoy!
01 May, 2009
Sophie's spinning game
One of Sophie's favourite new games. She made it up, and she makes up the rules as she goes along. She cracks me up :) Enjoy!
26 February, 2009
Lovely Little Person
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!)
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!)
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