Anything Owen can do, I can do also

If I had written this post about a month ago, it would have been titled "Daddy's Little Princess".  Sophie went through a phase where everything was "Daddy".  No, I don't want Mommy to get me dressed, I want Daddy.  I want ice, but I want Daddy to get it.  I want Daddy to change my diaper.  (All of that was signed, not spoken; if you're wondering, the sign for Daddy is an open hand with the thumb hitting the forehead.)  It used to be that if I was in the house, only I could put Sophie to bed (if she saw me leave the house, then Daddy could do it).  I am generally OK with all of this, but it is sometimes inconvenient.

Well, you will have noticed by now that I didn't name this post Daddy's Little Princess.  Sophie still prefers Daddy a lot, but it seems like now she tends to ask for whoever is not currently helping her.  No, I don't want you, I want *that* person.  And Sophie can be adamant; she's a screamer, and she'll fight physically against you too (like if you're trying to dress her, she can make it very difficult to do so).  Her therapists say she's exploring what control she can put on her environment.  So we pick our battles.

So she's moved on (at least a little) from the everything "Daddy" stage to the "I want to do everything that Owen does" stage.  If Owen asks for a fork for his strawberries, Sophie wants one too.  If we talk about Owen going to the bathroom, Sophie wants to sit on the potty too (I don't think she has any sense of going pee/poop, so she's not ready for potty training, she just likes to copy us).  Tonight Owen asked for the ice pack because he hurt his elbow.  Sophie then pretended she hurt her finger so she could also have an ice pack!  This keeps us on our toes; she'll often point to herself with a longing in her eyes like she wants something, and we have to figure out what we were talking about. 

It's not just Owen that Sophie wants to copy.  Keith and I recently found her trying to get into the garage with her purse in one hand and her toy keys in the other.  It's also partly her love of routines.  When she sees me getting dinner ready, she goes to the silverware drawer, gets a fork and puts it on the table; then repeats it for all four of us.  When we announce that dinner is ready, she stops what she is doing, heads to the bathroom, and waits on the stool for one of us to help her wash her hands. 

We also have to watch what we say.  Sophie was recently tested by her Speech therapist and was graded at her age level (2.5 years) for Receptive Communication (but only 18 months for Expressive, since she only has a few spoken words and 20 or so signs).  We had given up spelling things with Owen because he can read now, but I find myself spelling things like p-o-p-s-i-c-l-e around Sophie, otherwise she will motion "I want one!!"


In the last 6 months Sophie has definitely moved from the baby stage (crawling, not communicating well) to the toddler stage (walking everywhere and stating preferences).  Sophie will even start preschool in the Fall (the public schools offer a preschool for kids developmentally behind).  I might start her at Owen's school sooner than that because she is showing signs that she wants the socialization.  It's a little sad to leave the baby stage (we aren't planning on having another child), but we are also proud at Sophie's accomplishments.  And Sophie's new found understanding of things are leading to a child-like wonder at more things.  A stranger recently commented on Sophie's enjoyment in riding an elevator that kids find amusement is such simple things.  The woman said it in a way that made me think she thought that was a bad thing.  I felt sorry for her at that comment.  I do sometimes worry about what Sophie will be like when she gets old enough that her disabilities and "simpleness" are no longer cute.  But for now I feel blessed that I have two kids that can show me what is truly worth enjoying!

Wheeeeeee!!