The Lee Family: Sofia at 71/2 years old!

Our girl is on her way to being 8 years old and is officially halfway there today! Sofia is growing up so fast and is already 52 inches tall and weighs 63.4 lbs. When she grows up, Sofia wants to be paleontologist, space scientist and/or volcanologist. Sofia amazes us with her interests. Her love, obsession and desire to learn all she can about trains when she was 2 and 3 years old has changed into several different interests over the past years. She went through a horse stage (she still loves horses and plays with them often), dinosaurs (also still interested), volcanos, reading, and the latest is the solar system. She delves into a subject and learns as much as she can before moving onto something else. It's amazing to watch and she just loves to learn about things. She really loves reading and has a book in front of her most of the time, including while she eats breakfast in the morning, on her way to school and while she walks from the bus to the house. She loves the Magic Tree House Books and we have all 49 of them which she has read, in order, at least five times. She has also enjoyed reading Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty, the Little House on the Prairie series, as well as A Wrinkle in Time series.

She has only lost her two bottom front teeth with her left top tooth having been "loose" for weeks now and another one of her bottom teeth a bit loose. She said she plans on waiting until two or three of her teeth fall out before putting them all out for the tooth fairy, since then the tooth fairy will bring a bigger reward. She's so excited to loose her teeth and also afraid she may swallow it or lose it somehow. She STILL sucks her thumb and plays with her bell button when she falls asleep and when she's bored, tired, or watching a movie. She is starting to work on it though and is focused on not sucking it during the day, although we still need to remind her from time to time. She still cuddles and loves her trusty friend Green Beup Beup and falls asleep every night in what she calls "smash face" with Green. She pulls his face right up to her nose and must smell him as she falls asleep. She actually likes when he smells "like carrots" which means he hasn't been washed in ages and doesn't like it when he smells "like dryer sheets" or when he is clean.

Although it's tough to get up and to school by 7:45am every morning, Sofia loves school and her teacher, Mrs. Livingston. Every morning the class gets to get comfortable, open up their healthy snack (I usually send one of two of the following favorites: carrots, cheese, apple slices, crackers, homemade banana muffin or small bell peppers) and read. She loves it and often gets lost in her book when it is time to move on to the next subject. She also enjoys science, recess and p.e. She usually brings small stuffed animals and little toys to bring out at recess and play with her friends and also plays with them on the bus with her friend Emma. Sofia is a huge story teller and is excellent at making up stories and is very creative. She still pretends that her stuffed animals are "sick" or "tired" or "hungry" and there is usually a huge backstory on their condition. At night she is busy tucking in at least half a dozen stuffed animals in various "beds" that she's made with towels or baskets.

Sofia is a great big sister and is usually very good at playing with Olivia. She loves to dictate what they will be playing and exactly how Olivia responds to the game, but thankfully Olivia goes along with it and they are both very happy to play together. The girls usually play horses together or pretend they are dinosaurs or another kid of animal together. They also love to play dress up together with Sofia helping Olivia get into costumes that haven't fit her in years! They really do have a lot of fun together and although sharing can still be a problem, Sofia is generally good at involving Olivia. They also like to read together, but more often than not, they play together.

Our sweet girl!