Where do I begin...

I have not posted in so long about Sophie's development. She is doing INCREDIBLE!!! She does something new every single day!!! She just amazes me.

Physically...Her balance is getting so much better. She climbs on anything and everything which is very scary at times. She is able to go up and down the stairs by herself. She usually walks up the steps by holding onto the spindles or bracing herself against the wall (in other words she is no longer crawling up the steps) and she usually goes down the stairs by sliding on her butt which is good for safety issues. If she is out somewhere else and it is only a few steps, she can walk up them without holding on to anything and if there is something to hold on to she will try walking down the steps. She is also able to pedal on her tricycle, kick a ball around and bounce on her trampoline.

Cognitively...She understands almost everything we say to her. It amazes me everyday of how much she understands. I will tell her to do something that I did not specifically teach her and she will do it. She is picking up on things just by hearing us talk. Though she does not seem to understand what we are saying to her when it is something she does not want to do - that is how much she understands. On the other hand, it is sometimes hard for us to understand what she wants. That is where the frustration comes in - for all of us. Sophie is starting to throw temper tantrums which is very age appropriate! Most of her temper tantrums revolve around food. She knows exactly where her snacks are in the pantry and she does not take no for an answer. Also, at dinner, it is sometimes hard to figure out what she wants to eat even though she is an incredible eater. She eats almost anything. But if you try to give her a bite of something that she does not want at that moment, she can have a complete meltdown.

Fine motor skills...Just a few days ago, she started putting her plastic coins into her piggy bank. That takes a lot of fine motor skills to line up the coin just the right way to drop into the slot. Of course, we have been working with her on this for quite some time and Sophie just so nonchalantly walks over and just starts doing it on her own. That is Sophie for you. She loves to do things out of the blue on her own terms.

Speech...She is learning sign language. Her first real sign was "more". She uses the same sign for eat and drink so we are working on changing her sign for drink. She can sign bubbles, baby, cry, all done and milk. I am sure I am probably missing a few. She also does some signs for which I do not understand. I am not sure if she is starting to make them up herself or if it is things she is trying to imitate but she is just not doing it correctly. It is so wonderful that we are starting to be able to communicate without having to point at everything. She is also starting to imitate sounds. When asked what a cat says, she will say "mmmw". Not quite meow but close. She will also repeat "lalalala" when asked.

This post does not do Sophie justice when it comes to her development. The list can just go on and on. She has just improved leaps and bounds. It is all the little things she does and understands that amazes me.