2.20.2014

Sophia is 3!!

Sophia is 3 yrs old now! It is a intense, fun, challenging, messy, beautiful season of life with our girl! She is growing in her independence and requests (sometimes in the form of a demand) to try things out on her own! "By myself!" is a big part of her daily vocab. She is a perfectionist, and after a few attempts, if not accomplished as she hoped, she will usually as for help. She is a leader, with plenty of creative ideas of what to do next. "I have a good plan!" "I have an idea!!!" or following her plan, "That's a good idea!" no question inflected... it IS a good idea, mom! :) her initiative and confidence are strengths of her character! She is absolutely decisive and rarely changes her mind (which I think is unusual for a toddler!) Sophia still goes by CiCi interchangeably, but has been calling herself "sophia" more these days. She is black and white in her thinking and "rules oriented-ness" BUT is so open-hearted and teachable. She loves when I show her a new way to do something and is so good at changing gears to try new. She is not stubborn, which is much more like her dad than her mom! She absolutely knows what she wants and yes, we have tantrums if things don't go her way sometimes, but she can change gears and be distracted relatively easily.
Sleeping.....
- Sophia moved into her big girl bed in November!! She has done GREAT and has not gotten out of it once in bed for nap or night-time ONCE. much much smoother than we thought it would be! She was the one who initiated a big bed after sleeping in a bunk bed in Adelboden. We kept the crib "up" in her room for at least a week or two... reminding her that if she did get out or disobeyed the rules (jumping off of it, etc), we'd move the mattress back in the crib and wait a while longer to move up.
- She has been STTN again for months now, its lovely. She goes to bed anywhere between 8:15 - 9:15 (on small group nights, it is 9:15 pm), and wakes up between 7:15-8 am most mornings.
- She still naps every day, but it is more flexible as to when she goes into nap. lunch is at 12:15, nap is at 1 pm... but she is to the point where she *can* be stretched and could even go down as late as 2-2:30 pm if she HAD to. It is so nice to have that flexibility! I usually have to wake her up at 3:30 pm (2-2.5 hrs in) or she will have trouble falling asleep for bedtime
Eating....
- she is a good eater overall! Sure we have our days, but she eats veggies GREAT. everything from broccoli to peas to brussel sprouts! to salads! She also loves beans, rice, noodles (no sauce), tacos, soup, hot dogs (when she gets them, which isn't often), BANANAS, apples (swipes them when I'm not looking... not that they aren't allowed or anything!), grapes, blueberries, olives, PICKLES (all.day.long if I let her), jello, and of course cupcakes and anything chocolate! She still likes applesauce sometimes, but only through a straw. same with yogurt (which has to be soy anyway).
- she eats oatmeal, pancakes, cereal, or toast for breakfast. eggs is hit or miss these days. always loves fruit
- our rule is that she has to eat at LEAST one bite of everything on her plate (even her least favorite thing in the world... chicken) but doesn't have to finish it if she doesn't like it. however, until her plate is gone, there will be nothing else to eat, no snacks, no dessert. She definitely can choose not to eat lunch or eat supper, but then she will go into nap or bed without any other choices unless the plate is gone. I give her really reasonable portions too. *most* nights she eats what we are having without problem. Some things are just not her favorite, which I get! She does well though and it is so nice not to even think about whether something is "kid friendly" when I make it for dinner. The only consideration would be whether it has dairy or if it is crazy spicy (although she tolerates moderately spicy well!)

Playing...
- Sophia loves puzzles and is very good working at them on her own! She will easily spend 45 min in one sitting putting 4-6 together. They are 20+ piece wooden or thick cardboard puzzles.
- She LOVES her animals and sleeps with a plethora every night. Eric and I try to weed them out because there is hardly any room for her in the bed! But she knows and accounts for them all so if one is missing, she is sure to find it. Favorites: titan the puppy, panda bear, pony, squirrel, dolly (made by Oma), bear (she has quite a few but they are all named varieties of bear... pink bear, white bear, little bear...), and of course, daisy. :)
- Jacob is welcomed into her play at her discretion. She loves to play chase and will even get down and crawl with him. He is allowed to play with the empty play dough containers while she is playing w the play dough and making shapes on the table. He also is who she unloads unwanted food on... maybe Jacob wants my chicken? maybe jacob can have one of my ___? he is a happy recipient :)
- She asks for movies at least 10x per day. we try to limit screen time but she definitely gets a show or two at least per day. options are usually princess sofia, monkey george, calliou, dora, veggie tales, and tinkerbell

Sophia loves music and to dance. She frequently sings her own songs (made up) or a favorite like twinkle, twinkle while spinning around the room. She loves wearing princess dresses and having her hello kitty umbrella. She sleeps with a gazillion stuffed animals but knows exactly which one is missing if we try to clear the bed a bit. She sleeps with her water bottle and daisy for SURE and then usually another animal is her choice of the week. Her bedtime routine is still sound machine (esp now that we live on the main road in town), two books, two songs, pray, hug, a kiss then goodnight! She is starting to sleep deeper and really isn't stirred by anything going on in the house. Ex. She did not wake up on New Year's Eve with the fireworks in town. Anyone who has been in Kandern or Europe knows it is CRAZY loud and seems like it would be impossible to ever sleep thru! Even with her skylight open and lighting up w all the booms, she slept thru.

Sophia is sweet, cuddly, and affectionate. Gives us kisses, hugs, and loves to be held on our laps still. Now that Jacob is on the move 24/7, I don't take the cuddly stillness for granted with my girl. Sophia is my helper, loves to be in the kitchen cooking with me, handing Eric tools on a project, loading the washer with me, unloading the dishwasher. she really desires to help and is 100% task oriented. :) another difference from her mama. She knows what she wants and is totally confidant to take initiative. She is a natural born leader!

Can't believe 3 years have already passed since she was held in our arms for the first time! Time really does go too quickly. Looking forward to our year ahead with our sweet (and a bit dramatic) little darling!