Today, Sophie crawled up on the couch & sat beside me so I could give her a snack. I found myself staring at her for a minute. When did you become a person??

Not to say babies are not people, of course. Even at their most helpless of stages they deserve our respect. But wow, Sophie, now 17 months, has become this person…with a personality: able to share her wants, desires & needs carefully & clearly rather than just laying there, crying waiting for mommy or daddy to figure it out…not that we always get what she wants, but for the most part, days here are so smooth & wonderful!

The other day, I had a basket of laundry to fold in the bathroom. As I cleaned the sink, I watched as Sophie went over to the laundry, pulled out the microfiber cloths & proceeded to put them in the proper cabinet in our bathroom. I was dumbstruck. How did she even know that they went there?? Obviously, she is at that age where she observes everything (by the way: Sophie has her own microfiber cloth. She keeps it with her things, & if she happens to spills something, like her juice, she will wipe it up enthusiastically. How awesome is that!). When I put on my lip balm, and purse my lips together, she does the same. I scratched my head the other day, and there she was scratching hers. The other night at dinner, I wiped my hands back & forth to remove crumbs, and she stopped eating to do the same thing. Talk about cute (and highly scary. To have a mini-me)!

I must say, I am blessed with a very easy going child. She likes to play quietly while I sit at the kitchen table making jewelry. Every so often, she will come up to “feed” me some of her “soup” from a wooden spoon that she has carefully mixed in her bowl. Again, something we never taught her to play, she just picked it up from times I have fed her. Rick laughs and remarks, that Sophie will feed me when my hands are full. Too funny!

“What a great little helper you have!” everyone says. And I beam with pride.

Rick & I laugh hysterically at her choice of music. This morning there was polka music on, and she sucked it up: dancing away in a circle, with a can of mushrooms tucked under her arm (don’t ask. We don’t quite understand it either). Today while having a hormonal moment & feeling a bit sad, she went to the cupboard & brought me the big box of pita bites. I guess she thought comfort food was just what I needed…

The best moments though – is when she climbs up beside me when I am on the computer to give me a big giant kiss. Or snuggles beside me for a nap. Those are truly precious moments to be cherished…

Never, ever, underestimate your children. Regardless of their age.

We love you, dear Sophie. You will be a wonderful big sister!