I just can't keep up....

...with Sophie's rapid changes this month...this week.

She just seems more aware, more intelligent every day. Less like a baby, and more like a tiny little person with a developing sense of humor.

She's been sitting longer for stories...whole books, and sometimes several in a row. She really pays attention to Elmo's voice or Cookie Monster (she's actually the only member of my family that thinks my attempts are even valid at Cookie Monster or Elmo's voices, though I can perform a very convincing 'Zoe'). She eagerly answers Elmo's questions by pointing to the right picture, laughing with excitement..... or possibly, she is just laughing at how silly I sound.

She has this new face of shared humor...both hands covering her mouth, which is open wide showing her few and very crooked teeth, as she snickers and wrinkles her nose, eyes sparkling. It is so. cute.

I love laughing with her.
Usually when I walk into her room to get her up, she's standing at the end of her crib, jumping up and down, dancing with her shoulders, the light is on...because she can reach the switch from her crib, and she is laughing wildly. And of course, I can't stop laughing either.

We read several animal stories today, lots of dogs and cats. In fact one of her new words today was "doggy". She of course, loves books about animals and the sounds they make. And lately, she's been eagerly trying to imitate more of their sounds... "Baaah," and "Meeeowwwweeeeeowwwwww," and "Cheep cheep," and her favorite...

"Rrrrrahrrrr."

It's actually not very loud; it's more like a whisper. A very serious whisper-y growl.

She's always loved anything that roars. Our soft lion mask has been a favorite toy/costume of hers for a while now. When she puts it on, all you can see are her big eyes behind the holes in the mask. She crawls around delightedly 'scaring' us with her ferocious 'growl.'

more of our month of may...

...mostly in pictures. (again)






Sophia has been changing so much in the last few weeks. She seems more eager to interact socially ...not that she's ever been shy.
But she seems to be listening and trying to discriminate more carefully how words are formed and how to attach meaning to the things around her.
Her big cousin Emma taught her to hold up one finger in response to the question, "How old are you, Sophie?" For a while, whenever she saw Emma, and only when she saw Emma, she held up her one finger proudly. Now she shows everyone. She loves her impressive trick.

She also loves to wave to everyone (and even inanimate things) we see. It still sounds surprising even to me, whenever she so clearly articulates "Hi!" with her small and feathery soft voice.

Her gibberish also seems to be getting more serious, complex, and 'sophisticated'...and more imitative of our language. But she still really loves it when I respond to her in 'her' language with "doogle, doogle, oooh, bah-da, bop, pshoo, ....etc...." :)


Maya's new favorite word lately seems to be, "what?" My ears have become so immune to it, that I sometimes find myself repeating the same thing to her 5 times in a row...before I realize that she did in fact hear me the first time, she's just testing her powers. She thinks she's hilarious when she 'teases' us.

Her favorite story lately is Little Red Riding Hood. She has memorized much of the musical version that my students performed earlier this month. And we act it out at least once daily. We love to include other willing family and friends in our shows too (Uncle Andy made a great wolf...sinister and convincing. Similarly, Uncle Sean was described by Maya as "really silly, but... kinda scary").
This week, my students at school gave me a storybook of the 'real' Little Red fairy tale , beautifully illustrated, and signed by all of them. It's a pretty dark story. The wolf eats Granny and Little Red, and the heroic Hunter holds up his gun to the sleeping wolf's chest, then on second thought takes out his knife and slices open his belly rescuing Granny and Little Red.

I was hesitant to read it to Maya without editing, but she's pretty perceptive of my occasional attempts to alter what's written. So I read it on Tuesday when I came home from school. And by Wednesday, we'd read it so many times that she was familiar enough to correct any words I may have tried to skip. She still pretends to be scared rather melodramatically...I think she actually was a little nervous the first few times we read it, but she kinda likes to be scared (in a very 'safe' sort-of way)...

I wouldn't exactly call her a risk-taker, but she is a bit of a 'thrill seeker'.

Sophia took....

...seven steps tonight!

She's been stubbornly refusing to walk for a few weeks now. She can walk, she just won't let go of our fingers. She'll stand for a long time without help...but if she wants to go anywhere, she sits down....then crawls.

But tonight she did it. Again and again.

And I think she likes walking.

Maya turned three today.

And she was so excited that she could hardly eat her breakfast.





She'd like for you to think that she is a poor, sad, lonely child here. But no sympathy is needed. She is always acting out a very dramatic story. After I took this one, she asked to see it. I think she was pleased with the way I captured her 'convincing' look of despair.


After we got dressed and ready....

...three (approximately three-year-old) friends came to celebrate Maya's birthday.





We had a lovely lunch.

Happy Birthday, Maya, my now sleeping three-year-old.

i meant to post this long ago...

...but the phase ended and I forgot.

And suddenly today, Maya reminded me. For a brief moment, she brought them back into circulation.

For quite a while, Maya was obsessed with using a couple of nonsensical words. These 'words' could mean anything and everything. They could be used as verbs, nouns, names, adjectives... or just for 'filler.'

I had completely forgotten about this phase; it lasted about 2 months, I think.

But tonight, Maya slipped into her
"Doop-doop" and "Dub-dub" language.

For example:

"Um, I forgot to...ah get my doop-doop....so ah.....(dismissively) ehh....dubdub."

"..annnnd ah. ya know (funny twisted face), dub dub, & stuff."

"Um Sophie. you tant dub dub, o-tay???"

"Dat's my doop doop."

We'd ask all the time about their meaning and origins. But we'd usually be answered with more "doop doop" and "dub dub".

the glass house

On Saturday morning, after our breakfast of oranges, toast, and scrambled eggs with sausage, mushrooms, and cheese, we packed the car with sippy cups, snacks, diapers, an umbrella, the camera, and 2 strollers. Maya was very excited to see the 'glass house' with gardens and butterflies inside. The Frederick Meijer Gardens did not disappoint her high expectations.

When we arrived, it was warm but the air was thick and wet. We hurried through the parking lot and just as we walked in the doors, the rain let loose. Forceful, sideways rain. We weaved through the indoor gardens and sculptures until we arrived at the 'detox' chamber where we had to 'check' our sealed juice boxes before entering the butterflies domain. When we left the butterflies, the rain suddenly cleared... just long enough for a sunny visit to the whimsical outdoor play area and gardens. A giant bird's nest with eggs, a little 'Goldilocks table', a garden maze, bridges and forts. Maya was shocked and delighted to see the 'Little House' log cabin (she was certain that it was Laura, Mary, and Carrie's). She has asked to go back inside that cabin several times in the last few days.











But the butterflies themselves were the biggest hit of the day. She got to bring home a little plastic butterfly, her little 'Mariposa', from the gift shop which she has not slept a night since without.

Sophie slept all the way home, while Maya, on the other hand....