She's reading, she's reading! She can officially read now, although she doesn't seem to realize it. If you ask her if she can read, she'll answer No. But she can. She loves reading all the books that are assigned from school. She reads them aloud to us, and then we sign a form and send it back to her teacher. She got a lot of early reader books for Christmas, and she still loves to be read to as well. Currently, we are reading the chapter book Tangled, from the movie.
Current Music:
She just asked yesterday if I could put "Gangnam Style" on my ipod, so she's a little late to that party. She and Emma both love "What Does The Fox Say." Have you heard that song and/or seen the video? Oh my. There must be some sort of subliminal message audible only to kids, because the girls go nuts over it and I just don't get it. Although Glee covered it, so maybe the song's appeal is less about age and more about my (lack of) coolness factor. Other current favorites: "Demons" and "Forget You."
Current TV/Film:
TV shows: Sofia the First. Like, at the top. But also: Peppa Pig, Strawberry Shortcake, Powerpuff Girls. Movies: Frozen, Neverending Story, Little Mermaid 3, Aquamarine, and "The Harry Potter movie where she writes blood on the wall and that guy forgets stuff, except not the part where Ron throws up slugs." She's talking about Chamber of Secrets, and though I love me some Harry Potter, I rue the day she saw the slug bit because since then, she has been deathly afraid of vomiting. It's a full-fledged phobia, so the fact that she listed that as one of her favorite movies is rather ironic.
Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
Same damn thing as last time I wrote a post like this about Sophie...almost two years ago. She picks her nose and then delicately puts her finger in her mouth and eats it. I have tried everything I can think of - short of out-and-out shaming - to get her to stop. I don't want to embarrass her, that doesn't feel right. But we have talked about it and talked about it and talked about it, and I think at this point it's going to take one or several of her peers calling her out about it before the behavior disappears.
Current Other Pleasures:
She loves board games and playing pretend. She's just starting to get into play dates with other friends from school. She really enjoys swim lessons and gymnastics. She loves to snuggle and hug, is very quick to give and receive affection. She adores sneaking downstairs early in the morning on weekends and snatching the ipad, then creeping back upstairs and watching Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony to her heart's content while the rest of us sleep in. This morning she woke me at 6:30am because she was too excited about Taco Night to sleep, so apparently pre-planned dinners bring her pleasure as well. Honestly, she's a generally happy kid who gets pleasure out of almost everything around her.
Current Color:
Purple or pink.
Current Fetish:
Sophie lives to change her mind, particularly over food. For years, she ate 2-3 Gogurts a day. She loved them, to the point of obsession. Now, she won't touch them. Why, you might ask? "I just don't like them anymore." We went to Panda Express recently and Sophie ordered her usual, the same meal she's been eating from that restaurant for three years. But this time, she took a bite and declared she hated it. We will make all her favorites for dinner, and sometimes she devours it. Other times, she won't touch the food. She has been known to actually change her mind mid-meal. She'll eat half a hot dog or taco and then label it "disgusting" (one of her favorite words) and ask if she can have a piece of cheese instead. It. Drives. Us. Mad.
Current Outfit:
Right now she is in her princess robe because she just got out of the shower.
Current Drink:
We are back to near-constant orange juice. She used to drink Crystal Lite lemonade, but doesn't like it anymore. (See Current Fetish.) She will drink Capri Sun lemonade and slushies, but will not touch milk for any bribe in the world and will only drink water out of a water fountain. She does, however, love fruit smoothies. Both girls have them every day for breakfast. Sophie's favorite combo is banana, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and mango.
Current Wish List:
- To be able to do absolutely everything that Emma gets to do at the exact same time that Emma gets to do it.
- To see a shooting star.
- To get a puppy.
- To go swimming in Florida "in a real pool OUTSIDE where it is warm and not winter."
- For her hair to be long, or at least long enough to wear a ponytail. (She wore small ponytails to school recently and it looked so damn cute, and then the kids in her class - "even my friends, Mommy, even my friends!" - made fun of her "short little baby ponytails" and she won't wear them again. Peer pressure rocks, doesn't it?)
Current Triumph:
She recently mastered a "fast cartwheel," which she is excited about. She is highly skilled at tying shoes, takes her own showers, and can make her own toast and waffles in the morning. For a six-year-old, these are big things.
She is also very proud to be writing whole sentences and even whole stories at school. They have the kids write phonetically, so sometimes her writing is a challenge to read. But it's fun to try and figure out the thought processes behind how and why she spells words certain ways. Often times, her version of the word makes much more sense than how it is actually spelled. Plus, Chris and I get a kick out of seeing if we can decode all of her writing. It's like our own little mystery quest or something.
I cannot believe how far she has come in less than a year. Below is just one sample of something she wrote...check it out, Aunt Cara! (Click on the image to make it bigger.)
Translation: One
of the best days is when I went to Indiana Beach. It has rides. We went
on water rides, roller coasters and a real fast ride. We went into the
water and we splashed each other. After, we watched fireworks. I love
going to Indiana Beach!
Current Bane Of Her Existence:
- Chapped lips.
- The unfairness of life. (Her very favorite phrase is, "That's not fair!" Used once a day, easily.)
- Anyone throwing up anywhere near her, within hearing or sight, ever. It absolutely terrifies her. If it happens in a movie or show, we must shut it off immediately. I did not realize how much throwing up happens in "family" movies until now. I'm guessing because most kids find gross things funny? I don't know, but it makes my kid borderline catatonic. She starts shaking, turns totally white, and hides her face and covers her ears. A lot of times, she literally goes and hides. It's an intense reaction, although slowly, by small increments, it is getting better.
- Her stupid damn skin rashes that she keeps getting.
- Her tonsils, which are so swollen that she's had cold-like symptoms for two months.
- Everyone always thinking she's a boy because she has short hair. Just a short list of the people we've encountered who have called her "little buddy" or otherwise flat out referred to her with male pronouns: two teachers, the grocery clerk, several kids at school, our UPS guy, and the receptionist at our doctor's office.
Current Celebrity Crush:
Probably The Tooth Fairy and Cee Lo Green
Current Indulgence:
Stealing anything she can from the pantry and eating it on the sly. Oddly, this behavior has never occurred to Emma, but Sophie is all over that sneaky stuff. So far she's stolen candy, Oreos, fruit roll ups and Pringles. She also has a new habit of hiding things she doesn't want to eat in strange places. Ask Chris sometime about the squished-sandwich-under-the-sink episode.
Current Excitement:
She's lost her first two teeth, and another is loose. This causes BIG excitement around here. She's also very excited to be learning new things. She comes home from school every day with new tales to tell. She sings us songs from music, details the fun games she plays in gym, and reviews the stories she is comparing and contrasting in class...always with a huge smile on her face.
She's at 19 marbles in her marble jar, which means just one away from a reward. Hence, all afternoon today, she kept pausing at whatever she was doing and declaring dramatically, "I wish I could get just one more marble." When I reminded her that marbles are earned by good behavior, she responded, "Yeah, I know. But that will take too long."
Current Mood:
On the whole, she is a sweet, slightly reticent, warm, sunny little girl. She can also be stubborn and moody and prone to tears, of course. But she is our little lovebug, throwing out frequent declarations of "I love you" and telling us all the time that we are the best mommy/daddy/sister in the whole wide world. Her smile lights up any room she is in, and she completes our family in ways I could have never ever dreamed.
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