Sofi's Illustration

SoAbove is a drawing Sofi made with Mary, as an illustration to a story, which Mary wrote out near the top. Originally Mary thought this was a story Sofi was making up, but like most things at this age level the story was an imitation, in this case an imitation of an actual book that was read to her at the YMCA child watch.

I love this drawing! It is a drawing of, from left to right, Sofi, Grandma Ardelle, and Dad. Note the women are all decked out with bows in their hair. Also note that she has started adding joints to her legs and arms, represented by circles either half way on the limb or else closer to the body. Except for one of Grandma's legs, which had a bad knee, in which case she filled in the circle so that it became a black mark on the leg. Dad is distinguishable by his curly hair (I'd been letting it get quite shaggy when she drew this). In this drawing we are "all headed to church", as can be noted by the cross hanging in the air on the left.

Originally this drawing was only a pen drawing, which she put on display on our fridge. But the following day she decided to add some color, which was when the rainbow and the grass were added, along with a beard for Dad (which I notice is grey...), and some letters written across the top.

Sofi's Unicorn

Another drawing of Sofi's that she created without anyone around. This one amazes me in how she used the entire page (and she actually used the blank side this time!).

Santa Drawing

We were headed to Red Wing today, to go there to celebrate Isaac's birthday with "Gramma D" and "Papa". Sofi was ready to go LONG before I ever was. In fact, she got herself ready around 9am, though I wasn't planning our departure until 3pm. At 9am she put her jacket on, put her boots on, and declared herself ready to go in the car. I declared that doing so would be a long and cold wait.

But Sofi was determined, and a compromise was struck. So while I packed, Sofi sat in the car in anticipation of her travels. I'm not actually sure why the eagerness... it isn't like she is incredibly well behaved in the car, and she doesn't travel like she is exactly enjoying herself. Usually there is some whining for this and that, and the putting out of small fires in our regard.

But while she waited patiently in the car for me to finish packing, Sofi drew on her etch-a-sketch.

She showed me her last drawing after I was done packing, and what I found amazing is that for the first time that I can recall, she actually tried drawing something she could see. As she told me, "It's Isaac's Santa!" And sure enough, it was. She drew Isaac's Santa toy that was sitting next to her in the car. The Santa in the drawing has a belt, just like the toy, but what is more telling is the round body, which is not only like the toy, but is something Sofi doesn't usually draw---usually the legs attach directly to the head.

Isaac in Black

This is a picture of Isaac as drawn by Sofi on our black board downstairs.

Thanksgiving To Do List

In order to prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow, one of the first things Mary did this morning was make a list of what she wanted to accomplish today.

Mary really should be the one writing about this, because she was nice and generous enough let me sleep in, and I wasn't there when the above list was created.

But as you can see, at some point the list was taken over by Sofi. Not only did she add the figures on the paper, but she also added lines to which Mary notated Sofi's agenda items that she wanted added to the list.

On Mary's to do list:

• Clear Hearth
• Put Up Nativity
• Put finish on floor
• Vacuum floors
• Clean Bathrooms
• Clear Ping Pong table
• Grocery shop (finish)
• Get flowers
• Pumpkin fluff
• Cut up pumpkins
• Vacuum basement & stairs
• (Mow Lawn)
• (Spread Compost)

On Sofi's to do list:

• Get a new kite
• Sofi kite & Isaac kite
• Go to the Museum
• Go to the Circus
• Eat Gingerbread man
• Pick up toys & dog
• Clean Sofi's room & vacuum
• Clean the dishwasher
• List the chores to do
• Write note to Santa
• Go to the zoo and see the Lions & Tigers & Monkeys
• Go to the Puppet Show
• Clean sofa
• Wipe TV

Mary and I accomplished everything on our list except for the last two items. Sofi actually accomplished about a third of her list...

• Eat Gingerbread man (which she worked on throughout the day)
  
• Pick up toys & dog (not sure where the dog part comes in, this may be referring to her new flash light which looks like a dog, but she did pick up her toys)
  
• Clean Sofi's room & vacuum (This may be more Mom than Sofi...)
  
• Clean the dishwasher (she put away the silverware, which has become her part of emptying the dishwasher everyday)
  
• List the chores to do (which she obviously accomplished right away simply by dictating this list to her mother)
  

Just before bedtime Sofi did point out however, in a tone of shock, that "We forgot to go to the zoo!"

In regards to her drawing, I was informed that this is a picture of her and Isaac. Isaac is on the left with a "spider kite" and she is on the right with a "kite box" with an "owl inside, with eyes looking out".

Family

Above is a family of figures that Sofi drew tonight at our early Thanksgiving service. She drew them all one right after the other, in fairly rapid succession.

Mary's Brain

Sofi drew this yesterday morning, before Isaac and I woke up, during the one-on-one time that she has with Mom before she goes to work. She told Mary "This is what's inside your brain."

Mary can only assume that the big black spot must be the Madrigal Dinner, as it is becoming crunch time for this big event coming up on the first weekend in November.