Words and Music

Some cute words that Sonia says:
"Bloom" instead of "Balloon"
"Do-Babies" instead of "Blueberries"
"A-P" instead of "Empty"

She can count to 14, sings along with most of the ABCs, knows all colors, is singing about half of the words in approximately 10 songs such as"Twinkle Twinkle" and "The Muffin Man." I work with her as much as I can on all of this stuff, so she really has fun with it.

She started a music class for toddlers at the local music store a few weeks ago. The teacher told me when I came in to be patient...that she may be shy for a few class periods and then, eventually start participating. About a minute later, she was fully participating in class. She loves it and she picked up on it right away. She understands that you need to watch the teacher for instructions. She loves walking/galloping/skipping in the circle to "Jimmy Crack Corn" and tapping on the floor tom drum that gets passed around the room so that each child can have a turn. It's a GREAT little "music and movement" program and I'm excited times ten to give her the opportunity to start fostering her love and talent for music at such an early age. She is around people who play music because of her daddy and I, but this gives her a chance to be with other kids her age. I just can't say enough about the program. I try and go over the songs with her at least three times a week at home listening along with the take-home CD.

I have also recently given her an old alarm clock so that she can play a little kids' songs CD all by herself without having to ask me to put it on for her. She loves her new-found freedom with this, but often gets mixed up with which buttons to push, so we have to help her. So cute. She's such a good little girl.

Videos of Christmas Morning

Christmas Post

It's been a month and a half since the last entry on this blog and Sonia has grown up so much since then. The biggest change has been in her vocabulary. It's exploded. Here's a funny example of it... This morning, Sonia was next to me when I yelled out to Don from another room, "Honey... Can you make a bottle for Myah?" Next thing I know, Sonia is tearing down the hallway calling, "Honey! Honey! Honey!" Now THAT was REALLY cute.

Sonia is a GREAT big sister. She gets down in Myah's face and makes her laugh and the two of them giggling together is enough to make even a grinch's heart do little happy somersaults.

For Christmas, Sonia got a rocking horse, a mini grand piano, a shopping cart with fake food, two dolls, a beautiful handmade blanket, a new outfit, a movie and other smaller yet very fun items. When we heard her wake up on Christmas morning, we went into her room to say "hello" and get her ready to open her presents. While she was on the changing table, I asked her, "Do you have any idea what might be in any of the presents?" And I got the cutest answer... She got a big, big smile on her face and said in her oh-so-adorable voice... "stickers?" hehe... she would have been just fine with stickers. Her birthday is just around the corner and needless to say, I'm definately getting her some stickers. :-)

Here are some pictures all taken in December:

(For the record, she would NOT sit on Santa Claus's lap.)

Christmas Eve - I told her she could give her dolly a bath.

I go to check on her and...

Christmas Morning...

My Little Decision Maker

Sonia's new favorite word is "heavy." Everything is heavy: the chair, the purse, the ceramic dalmation... Anyway, yesterday she began to say "happy." She learns a new almost every day now. She picks out about 1/3 of the alphabet on the keyboard.

On Monday night, I took her for a walk in the stroller. It was a bit cold and I asked her, "Do you want to go home or continue on to the park?" And she looked at me blankly like she always does when asked to make a decision. So I said again, "Do you want to go home?" Again, no reaction. So I said, "Do you want to go to the park?" And she smiled and said under her breath, "Yeah..." It was so neat. That was the first time that she ever made a decision when asked. It was really neat to be there for that. Love it!

My Sweet Sonia

Sonia is a wonderful daughter. Most recently, we've been watching the "Your Baby Can Read" video series and a DVD called, "Potty Power." If you are in need of a potty training video, I highly recommend this one by Thinkeroo. Thus far, Sonia has sat on the potty and has gone #1 once by accident - I don't even know if she knew she did it, but I heard it so I know she did. That was about a week ago. Her and I go to the bathroom together and I try to get her interested in going potty. At least she'll sit up there for a bit now when I put her there--for a while, she was quite scared of the contraption. Here are some pictures of her at her Aunt Kerry's house last weekend.

A Tricycle

Sonia has been sitting on and scooting around the house with everything that has wheels --including small toys that are not DESIGNED to be ridden. We figured that maybe it was time to see what she'd do with a tricycle. She has a long way to go before she's a skilled rider. Here was the evening we brought home the tricycle.

Water and Rails

Our family went on the Water and Rails tour this year, which is a tour of area backyards with water features and/or train layouts. Here is Sonia enjoying the day with her Grandpa Don while looking down into a coy pond.Sonia loved seeing all of the unique scenery.