Sophie turned 3!

December 2nd was our sweet girl's birthday.  I can't believe she is 3 already!  She is looking and acting so much older these days.  Here is a little about her at this age.

-She loves loves loves books.  She loves to "read" them on her own or to be read to.  On days when she won't nap, she yells out, "Mommy, I need books!"  I bring her a giant stack, which usually keeps her going for about 45 minutes.  After that, she yells out, "Mommy!  It's all done!  I need some different books please!"  I then exchange her stack for another one which lasts her about the same amount of time.  So, even though she only naps about 3-4 days a week, I still get some time to be child free while Sally naps since Sophie sits contentedly in her room for so long.  Some days, when I tell her she can get out of bed, she doesn't want to.  "No, mommy.  I want to sit right here and read my books."

-She was evaluated for speech one last time to see if she would be eligible for further services.  She has progressed so well though, that they found her to be at an average level for her age!  No more speech therapy for her.

-She is a long and lean girl.  61st percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight.  We recently weighed both girls, and Sally has a 5 pound advantage on Sophie!  Ha!

- She has an independent personality, but can still be clingy in unfamiliar situations.  She likes to snuggle sometimes too, but is not the snuggle bug her sister is.   She will entertain herself (and Sally) for hours with legos, coloring, playing in her kitchen, and reading books.

-She has a good relationship with Sally, although they do sometimes fight over toys, etc.  They enjoy screaming and chasing each other around the house and playing "no more monkeys" on our bed.

- I don't know if it is more her age or personality, but sadly, we have entered a  major whining/crying phase.  If the least little thing goes wrong, it is not unlikely that she will burst into full "freak-out" mode.  For example, if she is trying to make 2 lego pieces go together, but can't make it work, she will scream, kick, cry, and push the two legos together so hard that her hands and whole body shake slightly.  She also just generally whines/cries about things throughout the day instead of asking for them or for some help.  It is not a fun phase.

-She seems to have perfectionistic tendencies.  She doesn't like messes or to get messy.  She doesn't like when any type of food or drink gets on her or her clothes.  She likes things to be "just so" when it comes to her toys.  We were putting some stickers in a book in the car one time.  Each sticker had a corresponding spot where you were supposed to put it.  She tried it a few times, but couldn't get it perfectly in the spot, and so, went into "freak-out" mode.  After that, she wanted to continue with the book, but insisted that I put the stickers in place for her.

-She has an amazing memory.  She remembers people's names after meeting them only a few times.  She memorizes tons of books and songs.  I read a Sandra Boynton book to her several times, and was amazed at how quickly she picked it up and read it to herself just by repeating what she heard me say.  She knows all her letters, numbers, colors.  She has this toy that has the alphabet on it and an animal on each letter.  She has memorized all the sounds these animals make, even though most of them don't really sound like the animal and most of the animals are kind of obscure.  I mean, do you know what sound a sea urchin, newt, yak, dolphin, turtle, porcupine, jellyfish, or turtle make?  I think she has an auditory memory like me, so she can easily remember things she hears, even if they are obscure animal sounds.

-There are too many things to list, but she is always coming up with cute little things to say that we have never heard from her before.  This age is so fun because verbal communication is becoming so much more than what it used to be.  She hears us say something one day, and several days later will use it in some context.  It is just fun to watch!

-She is somewhat potty-trained.  I plan to do a separate post on this.

Here are a few pics from her little birthday party.  We just had family over, and I was glad it was small and simple.  Birthday parties are work!  And at this age, we can get away with doing not very much and her not really caring.