[it's the bundle of boo]

i am so grateful sophie is too young to have even a glimmer of understanding about what is happening in our country right now.

it's worse than the damned semis--how can i ever keep her happy and safe when there are inattentive drivers on the road, when there are people who honestly think it is acceptable and even honourable to crash a planeload of innocent people into a giant building full of innocent people?

how can i ever let her out of my sight?

sophie has an intelli-table, which looks something like this:

we have a running discussion about her not standing on it. she loves to stand on things, especially electronic toys, so that she can operate them with her monkey toes. "sophie, that's not for standing on." "sophie, please don't stand on that." "sophie, that's a toy for hands, not feet."

so, last night she once again climbed on top of the table. "sophie, please don't stand on your toy." she looked at me, and wiggled her feet so she was not stepping on any of the buttons, but was still on the electronic part of the toy. "sophie, you know that's not for standing on, the buttons will get broken and then it won't work. please get off." deep sigh, and she clambored down, picked up the electronic ring, very carefully walked it across the room and placed it on the table. then back to the base, a little climbing and she's back on top.

she's smart girl. and a literal one. i'm going to have to watch how i phrase things.

jim came back from florida on tuesday night. it was by far the longest he'd ever been away from sophie, and the both of them suffered terribly through the separation. jim managed by calling home every night to talk to me and the boo. sophie managed by throwing little fits and chanting "dadada dadada" whenever the mood struck her.

on the positive side, i was able to spend two weeks with sophie, all day and all night. and though it was difficult at times, mostly because it was hard to bring her into the office and both watch her and get work done, it was wonderful to be with her. she is so funny and sweet. even when throwing a fit or whining in that almost-2-years-old way, she is cute. and those phases never last too long; she is back to giggling and climbing and running in no time at all.

sophie's poppy, jim's father, died on the 17th. in general terms, this doesn't mean too much to her; she spent a month with him last autumn when he was here for a visit, and she adored him, but she's 19 months old--she doesn't remember a whole lot about him and she won't. which is too bad, because he thought the sun the moon and all the shining stars rose from her.

sophie is a water nymph.

jim takes her on daily walks and a few times a week they go down to the lake. usually she just sort of stands on the edge of it, getting her feet wet, but tuesday, she looked around, and then flung herself right into the water. wet head to toe, and not the least bit upset about it. jim, however, was a bit freaked. you can't take your eye off her for even a second these days.

we went to my company picnic yesterday, which was also at the lake, albeit a different spot. and again, she waded in the shallow depths near shore and eventually ended up completely wet. at least this time she didn't just fling herself in, but went about it very methodically, walking in deeper and deeper, a little bit at a time, coming out completely then running back in. if she hadn't slipped, she might have remained dry, at least about her head and shoulders. it was not particularly warm so we kept trying to get her to come out and play up near the picnic tables but she'd have none of it. she'd wail and scream and kick her little legs until she was back at the water's edge.

we don't want her to become one of those rotten spoiled brats who kicks and screams until she gets her way, so we finally put our collective foot down and hauled her up to the main picnic area until we'd eaten and she'd warmed up a bit. but, it's hard. the other small children at the picnic were quiet and calm and placid. none of them trying to drown themselves in the lake, none of them with an interest in the lake at all. on the one hand, i am glad she is curious and has a wonderful sense of adventure, loves to explore, loves to get out and see whatever she can see. on the other hand, sometimes i'd like her to sit quietly for a minute or three when we are out.

when we are in for that matter.

sophie+heat=cranky

the theatrics have expanded to include forced hilarity.

really, there is nothing funnier than to watch sophie make herself laugh, there is sort of a hysterical edge to it that just misses toppling over into real laughter. sometimes it does, and then she is rolling around, really laughing so hard she can't stop.

my favorite forced laughing behaviour: every night when we read "the going to bed book" she plops down and laughs like crazy with every page i read. no other book, just that one. she also has to point out all the toes on the animals between laughing fits. it is so damned cute.