Sofia at 4 1/2!

I keep asking: Where have the past 4 1/2 years gone?? How has it gone by so quickly and how is it possible that Sofia will be starting Kindergarden this Fall?? Well, she certainly has grown up on us and is such a delight. She is a great combination of a girl who loves to pretend she's a princess while playing trains and explaining how the train's boiler works. There literally isn't a day that she doesn't spend a few hours playing with her trains and making up elaborate stories, including props such as little plastic animals from the zoo, small marshmallows as 'rocks' from the querry, a box for a tunnel, plastic cups of water for the train's water towers, etc. I absolutely love listening to her play and make up stories. When she isn't playing with trains, she still has a very active imagination and will pretend her big bouncy ball is named "Caroline" (a recurring favorite name) and is a friend from the forest. Sofia will be a horse, a bird, ladybug, or a butterfly or some other animal and will completely want to act the part.

She still enjoys school and her best friend is named Maggie who reminds me a lot of Sofia. They play very well together and I hear a lot of "Today, Maggie and I....." stories after school. On most Fridays she goes to Bob Jones Nature Center for a three hour nature class that focuses on a different animal such as "deer" or "penguins" for the entire class. They go on hikes down toward Grapevine lake and look for wild animals, animal tracks, and animal scatt (I can't believe she even knows the name). She absolutely adores her time at Bob Jones and I usually get asked several times during the week if it's Friday yet.

Broccoli and salmon as still her favorites, although she's recently discovered roasted cauliflower and now asks for that instead of broccoli. She's a pretty adventurous eater, although still loves a good old fashioned grilled cheese sandwich. She usually takes a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich to school or a few hard boiled eggs, crackers and cheese. She's still hit or miss on meat, but seems to enjoy it more and more. Sofia loves to listen to "Papa music" which is bluegrass, and I must confess I've become a bit of a fan. We do still listen to kid's music occasionally while we drive but it's usually bluegrass and as she told her Papa the other day "It's so good. I haven't heard a bad one yet." Ha!

She adores her little sister and is usually gentle and helpful with her. Of course, she also loves playing with baby sister's toys and I'm constantly taking them from her and redirecting her to her own big bin of toys. Otherwise, she loves to talk to Olivia and is convinced she "talks" already whenever she makes a sound similar to a word. Sofia is the best entertainment a 5 month old could have, especially with her endless train stories.

Our big girl is growing up so fast


Such a beautiful girl!


She's also wearing her current favorite dress that her Grandma and Grandpa sent her


With her baby sister


I love the look on Sofia's face in this picture. So sweet!