Our Little People

Sophie and Cameron have become these dynamic, independent, joyful little people.  In what feels like the blink of an eye, Doug and I are parents to two kids who have such incredible talents, interests, and personalities.

Highlights lately:

Sophie's obsession with reading is now matched with a love for writing.  She has written and illustrated several books.  I find sticky notes, notecards, and cards all over the house covered in sentences and doodles.  She has such a love for language, for the expression of ideas, and for experimenting with words.  From playing with Barbies to playing school to playing the piano, Sophie finds ways to include writing into any game. Her spelling of words is hysterical.  I'm keeping all the bits and pieces she's written so years from now, when she is some famous, full-fledged author or professor, I can show her some of the crazy ways she sounded out words!

Sophie still loves fairies and believes in their magic and mystery.  She has written many tiny notes for the fairies and documented all of the "Fairy Sins" (her spelling for Fairy Signs!). Recently, the fairies left her a beautiful picture of Tinkerbell which reignited her belief.



Sophie signed up for her first run, and she completed her first 1-mile run in 12 minutes, 29 seconds! She ran the whole way (with me on the side of the road).  Doug and I were again proud of her for trying something brand new, for doing her best, and for having fun! She even sprinkled fairy glitter dust on her shoes to help her fun faster.  And it must have worked!

Sophie won a Cougar Pride award for the month of September at her school.  She was nominated and won the "RESPECT" award for exhibiting this trait.  We were so proud of her to be recognized for this characteristic after only a few weeks at school.

I started a new Girl Scout troop and am leader to a troop of 12 Daisy girls.  Sophie is so sweet and wonderful, and it's a special gift to be able to work with all of the amazing girls but especially my baby girl.

Cameron has become such a smart, thoughtful, and kind young person.  He gives compliments so freely and genuinely.  He is gregarious and confident, running up to Sophie's teacher, other parents/neighbors, random people at the grocery store and telling them stories.  He has befriended three grandmas at school pick up, and he charges toward them on a daily basis to converse.  He honestly has more to talk about with them than I do.  I'm the introvert around him. He loves spending time with Sophie and her friends.  He was able to join in on one Girl Scout adventure, and he had awesome ideas to contribute to the group.  The girls loved him.

a sadder moment I captured!

He has learned an incredible amount at school this year already.  He is bright, showing such an interest in the alphabet, in spelling, and in numbers.  He remembers interesting facts. Truly, he doesn't stop talking! He is a chatterbox!

 Cameron and his best friend, cousin, and partner in crime, Grady, enjoyed their first field trip!

One night at dinner, I was cutting more slices of fruit for Cam on his plate.  His finger got a little close to my knife, and I nicked his knuckle a bit with the knife; he started crying, "mommy, you knifed me! I can't believe you knifed me! Worst mommy ever cuz you knifed me." I couldn't stop laughing because all of windows were open and I'm sure neighbors wondered why I knifed my son...

Sophie bumped her head before school one morning.  She sometimes doesn't have the greatest depth perception or awareness of her surroundings.  So, she was being dramatic about this bump, and Cam came around the corner shaking his head at her, saying "Sophie, God wants us all to be safe. You have got to be safe cuz that's what God wants."  He was serious and knew that he was egging her on.  She screamed at him and he replied "I have God right here in my heart.  He lives there." Then, Sophie hit Cameron and the morning deteriorated quickly.  But Cameron pushed her buttons, and I quietly loved it.

Cameron's newest obsession, not surprisingly, is professional sports.  He loves pretending he is Russell Wilson. He remembers the "bad guys" like the Steelers and "that Wild Cat team." But, what is interesting is his sudden love for ice hockey.  He frequently requests to watch it on tv, and he talks about how "when he was a daddy" he would always take his kids to watch ice hockey.  So, tonight, as I type this monster-blog-update, Doug has taken Cameron to the opening night of the Boise Steelheads ice hockey.  Cameron was "so e-cited" all day long. He could barely contain himself running around the house pretending he had a puck and that he was skating.  Doug just sent me this photo of their night so far, but it captures how mesmerized he is by this sport.

That completes the September and October odds-and-ends. Just when we think we couldn't be more proud of our two kids, Doug and I find more reasons to fall more in love with them.  They are just cool, cool kids. Heart overload once again!