first friends:)

My sweet little Sophie has FRIENDS! Not the "you're my friend because our moms are friends" type of friend, but little people that can't wait for her to show up at daycare each morning.

She developed a friendship with a little girl, A, when she was with her old sitter. They were the two youngest, both girls, and Stacey used to report that they would talk it up like little old ladies:) I met A's mom at a kid birthday party a few weeks before Stacey closed her "shop" and we traded info we'd found about new daycares/sitters in the area. Once I found our current FABULOUS center, I e-mailed J about it. She went to check it out, was floored how hard it was to drag A away, and immediately signed her up. Unfortunately, A only goes 1 day a week, but luckily it's a day that Sophie attends. She talks all week about getting to see A again. I love that she looks forward to playing with her.

This Monday though, when we arrived and walked up the front steps (it's a house), several kids were looking at us through the window. We walked in and they all started yelling some version of "Sophie's here! Good morning Sophie! YAY, it's Sophie." A ran up and hugged her. Sophie, in typical form, just stood there with her hand in her mouth, lol. I think she was quite overwhelmed at the reception.

As a mother, it warms my heart that these little people look forward to seeing her, want to spend time with her. I, of course, know that she's super fabulous, but so often in public places she will clam up and not say anything. I worry about this type of behavior, it's not shyness, something different. I see it in myself too. It's one reason we may keep her out of her first year of pre-school, and just work on social skills at home/daycare. Unless it's myself, Dan or the babies, and occasionally my parents, she rarely says "hi" or "bye." She knows what they mean, but just clams up/shuts down and refuses to say them. We'll see...hoping this is just a stage for her. I try not to compare her to other kids, but it seems odd to me that all her little friends will yell "bye, Sophie" and she just looks at them. And of course, the second she gets outside, she starts chattering away about anything and everthing.

I DON'T think she's going to be the social butterfly. That's not her personality. She's a follower, for sure. She will NEVER be the first one to jump in to anything. I think we're going to have to always encourage her to try things.

Speaking of, she recently had a trial gymnastics class. The first few days after the class, she claims that she didn't like it. I'd ask if she wanted to go back and she very adamantly said no.  A week or so later, she changed her tune and wants to go back. I'm torn, simply because of the money. It's $82 a month, for four sessions. I'd be all for signing her up, if I knew that she'd actually ENJOY it. Sophie is the type that it would take at least a month to get into it. The instructor did say that it was a good sign that she actually participated (although didn't really follow the rules) in the class. She said many times kids come their first time and hang along the wall because they are so overwhelmed. I may give it a few months and try again. Once she can be in the 3 yr old/4 yr old class, more options are available for class times, which would help out greatly. For the 18 mos to 3 yr group, the only class she could attend is Saturday morning at 9.

But isn't she stinking cute in her leotard? I was rushing around the few days before the class trying to find one. I swear, this was the ONLY leotard in all of STL that fit her. And, I hate that it only came in that icky pastel pink.

She loved the beam, and actually did really well.

A classic Sophie expression when she's not too sure about something.