Sophie's Development (4.5 Year)

This girl... she's seeming so grown up these days. She asks hard and thoughtful questions, she's learning how to read, she's taking swimming lessons, she's tall and has long hair. 

Photo by Carrie Weaver Photography

I love watching personalities develop. She certainly fits the role of eldest child. She is organized, diligent, persistent, and bossy. She has a tender heart towards things of the Lord. She is a great helper. She is extremely sensitive to anything scary, like ghosts, and I have had to be very careful when I think about books to read and shows to allow because even Curious George with a blanket over his head is too much for her. She's caused me to think a lot about how good and evil already is working through her young brain. I'm working with her on being kinder and more selfless toward her sisters. She's very much like me in that she knows all the right answers but sometimes they don't really penetrate her heart. I totally get Sophie. She's so much like me, which makes it easy for me to understand her but convicting to me to be cautious of my own actions and attitudes.

Photo by Carrie Weaver Photography

She loves nature (each day she finds new "pets"... spiders, caterpillars, moths, ants, worms, frogs, salamanders). Today, for instance, Brielle came out of the bathroom and said, "Daddy Spider!" (daddy long legger) I followed her into the bathroom so she could show me, and Sophie yells from the other room, "Wait! Don't kill it! Let me come and get it, and I will take it outside!" My little environmentalist. She also loves socializing. She loves being with friends... she's totally in her element when she can just play with friends all day. She loves writing letters and receiving letters. She love being read to... loves, loves, loves books. She loves school. She loves playing pretend. She loves singing songs. She loves talking. She loves watching shows. She loves when she gets to help work on things.

She doesn't like naps, ghosts, being stuck at home too many days in a row, Brielle or Lyla being in her way or taking her stuff... honestly, that's about all I can think of. Overall, there's not a lot that she doesn't like.

Photo by Carrie Weaver Photography

I like to keep track of things she says, because I find that this helps me remember best about who she is at this age. 

Funny Things She's Said:

- "Mom, can you get me water? And a napkin? You have two hands, so you can get me both."

- "Oh look, a pond!" (Walks over and puts her foot in it.) "Ooh! It's wet!"

- "I'm actually getting a hang of talking nicely."

- "I'm actually impressed with myself for remembering that."

- (It started sprinkling) Me: "Let's go inside because it's raining." Sophie: "It's actually tinkling."

- (Feeding squash to Lyla and Brielle) Sophie: "Ooookaaay, I'll try some." (Walks over and looks at the squash.) "Actually, nevermind. Whenever I see the color, I change my mind."

- (Struggling with her seat belt) "I don't know why I lost all my might!"

- "Phew, we're here! Now I don't have to distract myself from falling asleep."

- Sophie: "Is she talking about me being nice?" Me: "Yes." Sophie: "Oh yeah, I am pretty nice." 

- "Mom, are mosquitos part of the fly family?"

- "Mom, you're a lady. I'm not going to call you a woman because lady is a prettier name. If I was big, I would want to be called a lady."

- Sophie: "If you die, then daddy will have to get a new wife because he will have to work." Me: "Are you talking about me dying?" Sophie: "Yes, I'm just planning ahead for if you die before me. That way if you die, I don't have to think it all out then." 

- Sophie: "But I'm thinking of getting a kid." Me: "You are?" Sophie: "Yup, maybe when I'm 15, 16, or 99."

- (I was explaining to Sophie about how when you are done running, you need to keep moving so your body can calm down) Sophie (questioning): "So your body isn't all excited about running and decides to go running first thing in the morning when your kids aren't even awake?"

- Sophie: "Sometimes I wish we could just sell Brielle to the goats and she could hang out with them." Me: "Brielle, would you like being with the goats?" Brielle: "Yeah, me ride on horse!"

- "Since I can't show my friends my undies that I'm wearing, I'll just have to tell them all about them."

Sweet/Spiritual Things She's Said:

- "I love you, Mom. You're the best. I would never want a mom other than you."

- I was listening to the radio, and they read the verse James 4:8 (Draw near to God and He will draw near to you). Sophie: "Mom, what does that mean? That if we draw near to God that he will draw near to us." Me: "Um, it means that if we seek to know God and love God, that he will feel close to us." Sophie: "But I do love God and want to know him." Me: "That's good, honey. Keep doing that."
- Sophie: "Mom, do you know how much I love you?" Me: "How much?" Sophie: "I'll just give you a clue. It's from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head."
- (Looking at pictures of Sophie and Brielle when they were younger) Sophie: "Oh, such a cute little one Brielle was!"
- "I'm kinda scared to go up to heaven because I don't really feel like I know God very well. Like, I'm kinda confused how he made the whole world."
- "Dear Jesus, help me to not be nervous about coming up to heaven. I'm just a little nervous because I've never seen anyone so big before."
- Sophie: "When we go to heaven, we won't need cars to go see people." Me: "Why is that? Will we run really fast?" Sophie: "No, Mom, because heaven is in the sky and the sky isn't very big so people won't live far from each other. Like, I won't live far from my friend Calvin. And you won't live far from your friend Emily."
- Me: "Sophie, what did you learn about in church today?" Sophie: "I learned about how God created the whole world and he created it all for his glory. I learned that glory means that his happiness is our happiness." (Ben: "I don't think that two years of Bible school helped me. I need to go back to the preschool class.")
- (I was listening to Bethel Music's song "No Longer Slaves" and it says, "I'm no longer a slave to fear; I am a child of God.") Sophie: "That's Jesus talking and saying he's a child of God, right?" (She's been really confused lately about why people sing songs with words as if they are God speaking to us.) Me: "No. Jesus is God's son, but this song is talking about how we are children of God if we love him and see that we are sinners and accept Jesus' death on the cross as our sacrifice. We are adopted into God's family and then we are a child of God." (Sidenote: These things are so hard to explain! I pray for God to give me the words because I am always certain that I do not have them on my own.)

Some other Random Facts: She's gotten good at riding her bike (with training wheels), she loves praying for her friends around the world, she buckles herself into her seat now, she can read small words, she can write most of the letters in the alphabet, and she loves to pick out her own outfit.