Sophie is growing so fast.  Well, both of the kids are growing quickly, but Sophie's changes just seem bigger right now.  She's moving away from being our baby and into a little girl.  She picks out her own outfits, which always include matching shoes, sometimes a handbag and sunglasses.  She goes through four or five ensemble changes each day.

She begs to go swimming every day, often appearing for lunch wearing her swimsuit.  She doesn't want to sit in the cart at the grocery store, but wants to walk or push the cart.  She loves to read and to be read to, and she has favorite books that she requests every night.  She's growing up, and I both love and hate it.

This weekend Sophie took two giant toddler-sized steps away from my nest.  First, we bought a shrimpy bike for our big girl.  Take note of the outfit - she wanted to wear a dress and a green shirt to go with her green shoes, only relenting to put pants so that we could go outside.

And we converted her crib into a toddler bed.  Here she is, pretending to sleep just moments after the conversion was complete:


Taking apart the crib was a big deal to me, an emotional reaction that I didn't expect.  When Martin moved into a big bed, I don't remember having any reaction to it other than hoping he would stay there.  We needed the crib for Sophie because she was much too big for the bassinette, so that move was out of necessity.  This time, there wasn't another baby who needed the crib (emotional reaction #1 = no baby), just that Sophie was growing up and ready (emotional reaction #2 = my baby isn't a baby).

These are both small steps, and I know that there are many more to come.  The good news is that for now, she's still my little girl. 

Next step: Retirement of the nuk (yes, Grandma Jane, it's time).