2 years of reading...and a silly video!

It has been about 2 years now since I started reading. I was 15months when I learnt all my letter and 16months when I read my first word. My first word was 'Sophie'- I walked over to a drawer labelled 'Sophie' and pointed to it and said my name. By 17months I was building up sight words just through being read to.

A video of me going through letters at 15months


18months was the turning point- this is when I started asking Aiti and Daddy to 'put daddy' or 'write cat'. They would write the words I asked onto my magnadoodle or paper. Over the next few months I built my reading words up to 100 (by 21months) and then to 300 by 22 months.

Here is a video of me at 20months doing some words.


I then progressed to reading bits of books or very simple books. Here is a video of me reading 2 books at 23months. As you can see my pronunciation has improved!


My sight vocab grew and grew and then one day, when I was 2y6m I read the words 'Natural History Museum'- they were not sight words and Äiti realised I must be using my phonics and decoding words.

I read my first simple chapter book at 2yr9m....

Fat Puss was fat. He had thin little arms, small flat feet,a very short tail and an amazingly fat tummy.What shall I do thought Fat Puss. I cant swim! Soon Fat Puss found that he didn't need to swim. He was floating. And he rolled and he rolled and he rolled all the way down the hill, right to the bottom. So when FP came to the next hill, he rolled down that too. Yippeee, this is fun he cried. Then FP was happy. He didn't mind that the other cats could do the things that he couldn't because at last he had found an exciting thing that he and only he could do!

I like to read anything from baby cloth books to encyclopedias. I love non-fiction mostly.

Finally here is a very silly (spoof) video of me reading something you may recognise! My reading isn't great here as I found the text very small, so it was hard to follow.

The princess started. Apparently Pierre’s words had touched a sore spot. “Ah, that is just what I say!”she said with her society smile. “I do not understand, I absolutely do not understand why men cannot live
The two weddings were celebrated together on the same day at Otradnoe, which had now come back to life and was flourishing once again. Nickolai duly left for the regiment and entered Paris with it, where he met up yet again with Andrei.

Last week

Last week was another busy week. It started on Monday with Gymnastics. Val came to watch me which was good. I really enjoyed going on the beam this week. On Tuesday I had school. On Wednesday, after school I went to MagicLand with Maya. It was Maya's birthday so we had chocolate cake there, it was very yummy. On Thursday I had school in the morning and then I went swimming with Äiti. I am now trying to swim under water. I really enjoyed my swim.
On Friday we did an 'un-nature walk' at school. We went into the woods and looked for things that weren't meant to be there. I found a old rubber glove, a teddy, a wheel and a plastic fish!

When Daddy got home from work we packed the car and went camping. It was nearly freezing at night time, I slept in my pyjamas with a fleece all in one on. I then snuggled into my bed with an extra blanket, and then... a huge duvet on top! I was lovely and warm.

On Saturday we went to Maya's party at her house, we bounced on the trampoline and ate lots of food. I have discovered a love of chocolate cake! After the party we went back to our campsite and used the swimming pool. I went on a water flume for the first time ever, it was excellent. I went a few times with Äiti and then loads of time with Daddy! We then had dinner, wrapped ourselves up into duvets and all read books! On Sunday we woke up at 8.15am, had some breakfast and then went swimming again. I loved the water flume, Daddy made us go really fast by lying down! We then took the tent down, went for lunch and then drove home.

Next week is going to be even busier!

Jabbering

In the car today:

Me: I'm feeling very fagbalacious
Ä: Great! What does fagbalacious mean?
Me: It means un-sad!
Ä: So that means you are happy?
Me: Well done!

Me: Did you see that valapatorus?
Ä: Er no, I think I missed it, what is a valapatorus?
Me: It is an animal that makes things die, then turns them soggy and red
Ä: Nice!

First thing this morning:

Me: Äiti, wake up, Äiti wake up... what is a comet?
Ä: er, um, it is 6.30, cant this wait?
Me: What is a comet?
Ä:It is like a star
Me: Oh well done, it is a star made of rocks and ice and a tail. It moves slowly.
Ä: Go back to sleep please!

Busy few days

Last week I went to school every morning (except Monday). On Wednesday I went swimming with Äiti after school. We had the whole pool to ourselves which was excellent, I made lots of noise leaping in and paddling about. After school on Friday I went to the library, I got another 15 books out. I am really into reading copious amounts of books again!

On Saturday we tidied the house and then went swimming, Daddy came with us. I managed to swim a length of the pool on my front... I did it twice! I can now leap very far into the pool. We had lunch at the pool and then came home. I had a little sleep as I was tired from swimming. Our friend Harri from Finland arrived. He and daddy used to work together and Äiti is good friends with Harri wife, Kata. We all went to the pub for dinner, then Äiti and I came home whilst the other two stayed in the bar.

Today was excellent as I got to go to Oxford. Some of my toys live and go to school in Oxford! We dropped Harri at the train station and then went to get lunch. I then needed a tour of Oxford's book shops! I read rather a lot of books. We had a coffee and then came home. The weather was excellent so I played in the garden with my ball, Äiti made me an archery target on the wall. I tried to throw my ball and score points. I then gave my toy cats a picnic on the grass. After dinner I moderated my blog comments, wrote some posts (click here to see my brilliant blog ) and read several books.

Then and now (and years before)

Äiti's friend Lorraine requested this....

January 2008 and September 2008



Blast from the past- Äiti's first day at playschool... probably aged 3!

A story!

I wrote this today....

I'm rather proud of it! It says.. I went to Butterfly World and saw my friends. I was painting a dog when Äiti said "time to go home". The end! I drew a picture of a butterfly with it's proboscis sticking out!

A video plus some other bits!

Here is a video that Äiti made of all the places I have been in the world.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I now have my very own blog and I love writing it. I update my own blog several times a day. I love reading all the comments that people leave me. Please visit my site here. I do all the writing myself, I still need a bit of help with posting pictures, but I do most of it myself.

I went to Gymnastics again yesterday. It was excellent. We played a game called 'Beans'. We had to be different types of beans... runner beans, jumping beans, beans on toast! I love going!

I did loads of painting yesterday, I painted boxes, made butterflies and did some handprinting for the first time ever! I have never liked having paint on my hands but I tried yesterday. Today I made a dolphin out of Hama beads. It looks really good!

Camping again

This weekend we went down to the New Forest to go camping. It rained the whole way down, but when we got to the campsite the rain had gone. We put the tent up and went to bed. On Saturday we went to the campsite's swimming pool and swam for a while. My doggy paddle is getting really good now. After lunch we went to the beach and I played with the pebbles while daddy and äiti sat in the sun. I added a few stones to daddy's face! We had a BBQ for dinner, I ate 7 mini-sausages! Today, we took the tent down and then went swimming again. I then had a yummy roast dinner for lunch and then äiti and I shared some chocolate cake! It was a fun weekend.



A school update... this week has been good. I did a bit of writing for Mrs G and I read to her. I got a few new reading books and a maths book too. It was good to see my friends and play with them in the playground.

My first day back at school

Today was my first day back at school. We were starting at 9.30am today instead of the usual 8.40am, so we had a relaxed morning. We left early, but unfortunately a road was closed in another village so we had to drive down the motorway instead, I was a bit late. After Äiti dropped me off I did some drawing, ate my snack, had my lunch, played outside and had a story. I had a good morning. Äiti took me to Borders and I got a new book called 'Mouse and Moose'.

End of the summer!

Tomorrow I go back to school. I tried on my uniform to check it still fitted- it did! I helped Äiti pack my PE kit, my aprons and my book bag. I am quite excited about going back now.

I have had a brilliant summer, here are some of the thing I did in the last 9 weeks...

I went to France for 2 weeks. In France I went to the zoo, some aquariums and to the beach lots.
I went camping a few times.
I went to Scotland to see my relatives.
I learnt to swim on my back and just this weekend, I learnt to swim on my front.
I took part in a running race and I helped Daddy and Äiti finish their races.
I went to Butterfly World a few times.
I taught myself lots of French.
I told lots of stories, wrote a book or ten and started drawing again.
I discovered I liked sums.
I spent 2 weeks glued to the Olympics.
I started Gymnastics.
I made a new best friend.
I went to a few parties and had a few playdates.
My feet grew and I reached 2st or 28pounds.
I re-discovered jigsaws and did a huge 150pc one.
I rode my bike with my friends and went to play parks.
I discovered I like raisins, carrots, brioche and roast beef dinners!

um... I can't remember everything, but it has been a busy and very fun 9 weeks.

Swimming on my front!

Last week I started swimming on my back, even though I could swam 2 lengths on my back, I couldn't swim more than a meter or two on my front...until today! Here is a video of me swimming today on my front at a freezing outdoor pool! Give me a week or two and I should be more proficient!

Daddy was doing a local triathlon today, I went to cheer him on. I also helped him to finish the run which was fun. Daddy did well considering he has been working very hard recently. Whilst he was cycling, Äiti and I went swimming in the above mentioned freezing, outdoor pool!

Did you know there is a boat in my kitchen? Äiti and I built this using my Cranium kit. You can see in the photo that there are quite a few aquatic toys in the sea- I put them there as those are the animals that live in the sea. I made tickets for all my passengers. The boat has been to France and back a few times!

Another video!

Here is another video of me. Äiti tried to sneak up on me writing today but I heard her. I let her video me writing a letter to daddy though.
I wrote "The cats are on my table, love fom Sophie xxx"

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I went to play at Kayne and Lani's house this week. I wasn't in the best of moods but I did have fun. We played with some cool magnetic toys, played a logic game, looked at books, did some playdoh and measuring, drew a bit and played outside. I like Kayne a lot even though he is a boy! We drove past his school today and I said 'what do you think Kayne is doing today'.

I went swimming today with N again. I got a little over confident and started not listening. I jumped into the pool backwards today, Äiti got very cross with me for doing that, she said it dangerous. I was fine though.

I had lunch with N at the pool and then I had to go shoe shopping. My feet have grown again, in 10 days I have gone up another half size! I got some lovely school shoes and some normal shoes. I choose some purple boots for my normal shoes. Last month I was a size 6.5D, last week I was size 7F and today I was a size 7.5F! I think Daddy hopes my feet wont grow again for a while!

A silly video of me plus lifecycles, jokes and swimming!

The other day I got a new jigsaw, it came with a poster. I love this poster as it is a map with animals on...what could be better?
Anyway, here is a video of me and my beloved poster! Äiti has put a translation of what I am saying, though I don't think you'll need it really. I am so much clearer now.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I’m going to find a meerkat on a surfboard..oh I found one there...and there. I found two meerkats on surfboards. And now, do you know what I am going to look for...a ring tailed lemur in Madagascar...seen them! Now what are you going to find Aiti? There he is. Now, what can I find? Aiti, what can I find? Um, I‘m going to find a scorpion and a... oh I’m going to find a scorpion and a snow leopard...central Asia and north Africa. Fist I’m going to find a snow leopard. Seen him! I’ve see my snow leopard. Now I’ve got to go to Africa for my scorpion. I found the scorpion last night. What do you want to find? I’m bouncing. What can I find you? Why don’t I find you a toucan. So, he lives in South America...there, found South America, I found him Aiti, now bounce!



Here is a picture I drew the other day. I'm not sure why I decided to draw the lifecycle of a caterpillar, but I did! I sequenced my pictures by myself. 1= little egg, 2= egg hatching, 3= Caterpillar (with long arms to reach the leaves), 4= Pupa, 5= Chrysalis moving as butterfly is about to hatch, 6= Butterfly, 7= leaf with new egg! The stickers are just added decoration!

I made up a silly joke yesterday- why did the banana go to the doctors? Because it wasn't peeling well!

Finally, I went swimming yesterday. We bumped into my school friend in the pool. We played together, raced each other, dived in, played on the floating mats and swam lots. I swam most of the time on my back. Aiti had to swim sometimes to catch up with me! I love swimming so am off again tomorrow!

Olympics here I come...

...or so I think! Today I had my first gymnastics class. Just before class I went to the gym shop and bought a lovely new leotard. It is bright blue and I love it! I went into the class on my own as Äiti wasn't allowed in, she could watch me from upstairs though. There were 3 other kids in my class along with 2 instructors. After a warm up, we did some stretching. Then we did some circuits. The first circuit was a 12pc peg puzzle (small motor skills apparently), crawl through a tunnel, up a ladder, onto a bar, jump of, swing on the asymmetric bars and move across them, then throw some bean bags into the hoops. I did this several times. Then we moved onto the beam circuit, that was a lot of fun. Then we had to do some vaulting. I had to land in the foam pit aka big cheeses. Then it was warm down and home. I insisted on wearing only my leotard home.

I played for a while at home and then we went to Sainsbury's. I found a jigsaw that I wanted. When we got home I put it together. It is the biggest jigsaw I have ever done as it had 150 pieces! Äiti helped me get started and then I did the rest my self. Here is a short video of me finishing it off.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After dinner we went to feed a friend's cats. They are lovely big, fat, fluffy, black and white cats. I was very excited to see them.

Here are a few more gym photos...

Camping weekend

I've had a lovely long weekend. It started on Thursday when Val came over. We all went to Butterfly World which was excellent. I also painted a fish in the 'paint your own pottery' shop. On Friday I went over to see Maya. I wasn't in the best of moods all morning but cheered up after lunch. Maya and I took our bikes to the park and rode them round very fast. I fell off once as I was going so fast!

After we'd got back to our house, we packed the car up with all our camping gear and drove to the south coast. Äiti and Daddy set the tent up whilst I ran round and round and round like nutter! I went to bed quite late as I was so high!

On Saturday we went to an Otter and Owl park. I really enjoyed seeing the different Otters. My favourite animals though were the WildBoar. The Äiti one had had 8 babies and they were very cute. We ate lunch there and then we went back to the campsite for a BBQ. After dinner we went to the marina to look at the boats, I rode my bike there. I went to sleep early that night. On Sunday we had packed up the tent by 10am as it was raining. We went to the nearest town for some lunch. I got some new socks from GAP! We then came home and I played on my computer whilst Äiti and Daddy did various jobs.

Here are a few photos of my weekend...

Here is a little letter I wrote to Granny Val....

It says "To Val. I really want you to come to my house! From Sophie!" I love writing at the moment.

I swam 2 lengths of the pool!

I announced today at the pool that I was going to swim to the other end....so I did! I swam mainly on my back, every so often I would flip onto my tummy and say 'nearly there', then I'd flip back onto my back and carry on. When I got to the other end, I climbed out, jumped back in and headed back down the pool! I then swam from the edge of the pool to the side under water. I was so proud of myself for swimming 50 meters that I even told daddy on the phone! I was very tired after swimming all that way so fell asleep in the car coming home.


Here are a few pictures. The first is of a 'thermoruler' that I made- it measures temperature and spaces! The next photo is of an 'EyePad'- Äiti can wear it when she listens to her iPod...I'm very funny, aren't I?! I drew a few questions for myself the other day, I had to circle the right answer (and X the wrong one). The picture is of a bowl and I had to decide if it was wide or low. I can't remember what the pink line is! The last picture is of a bee collecting nectar from the flower.


I have made a lovely shell collage with all the shells I collected in Scotland but it is drying still!

Lastly- my feet are finally growing! I have been the same size shoe for the last 18months. Äiti takes me every few weeks to check my shoes and today.... my feet were bigger! I am now a size 7E!

My trip to Scotland

On Friday I had to wake up very early as we had to catch an airplane to the north of Scotland. When we got off the airplane we met Auntie Cat and Noel. They drove us 2.5hours further north to Granny and Papa's house. I hadn't been to Granny and Papa's house since I was 9months old, but I have seen them lots since then. After dinner my cousins Gregor (nearly 4yr) and Siena (16ms) arrived with their mummy and daddy (daddy's brother).


On Saturday we went to a lovely beach. We looked in the rock pools for shells and pebbles. It was a good, but long walk! We all went to a French restaurant for lunch where I ate olives, broccoli and chips! After lunch we went for another walk to feed the ducks, we walked home along the cliffs. I looked for stacks! Gregor and I had a great run around in the garden. We looked for treasure. I really liked playing with Gregor, he was a lot of fun. We then all had dinner, played some more and then went to bed very tired.

On Sunday we went swimming. Gregor and I really enjoyed ourselves. After lunch Gregor and I had another play together- I was very tired and in a bad mood so we didn't play long. We then all went to a cafe that had a bouncy castle in it. Gregor and I leaped about for ages and then had an ice-cream. Gregor then had to go and see his other Granny so we said goodbye. I went back to Granny and Papa's and read some books, played with blocks, ate my dinner and went to bed. We got up early on Monday as we had to drive back to the airport and go home. It was a long day.

My day out in London

I had a brilliant day out in London with Tyan and Andrea. We left the house quite early to get the train. Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic and it took us 2 hours to get to the station! Once we were on the train the journey went quickly. After going on the underground train we arrived at the museums. I really wanted to see the big Blue Whale in the Natural History Museum (NHM) so we ran in and had a quick look. I loved seeing how big the Blue Whale was. On the way out I saw loads of other animals. We must go back to the NHM for a longer visit.

We met Andrea and Tyan in the Science Museum. We had lots of fun looking at the exhibits. We went to the Launch Pad area which has loads of hands on experiments to try. After lunch we played a bit more and then went to the shop. I got a book on 'Weather'- I have been after this book for some time. We then all went on a red London bus- I got to sit upstairs. We went to Regent Street, there is a huge toy shop there called Hamleys. It was excellent. Tyan and I played with lots of toys. I found some Schleich models that I hadn't got- a Tiger Shark and a Mako Shark. After Hamleys it was time to get the tube to the station. I had a McDonalds for tea, then we got on our train and came home. It was an excellent day.

Spot the theme!

Can you spot a theme here? These are some of the jigsaws I did tonight in front of the Olympic highlights!

Here is Marmalard wrapped up. I put him to bed with a toy, read him a few cat stories and then he stayed asleep for ages!

The other night I decided to make a bed on the bathroom floor. I used a pillow as a mattress, and some towels for sheets. I had a stack of books and toys too. I asked to sleep the night on the floor but Daddy said 'no'. In the end I slept on a pillow on my bed, I used the towel as my duvet!

I've had a good few days. Yesterday I met a new friend...a boy! His name is Kayne and he is 4. I liked him a lot, I'd like to meet up with him again. We played together really well. He is a great reader and very good at maths.

Today I went to my friend 'As' house. I fell off her trampoline and hurt myself... I even cried which is rare for me. I just bounced through the safety netting and landed a meter down on the floor. I had a nice time apart from falling on my head! In the afternoon I just wanted to play on the computer, so I did....whilst watching the Olympics! I made all my toy animals have a diving competition!

I'm very excited as tomorrow I am off to London to see Tyan again. It is going to be a fun day.

More Olympics!

This weekend I was glued to the Olympics. I love spotting the different countries and working out which positions the countries have finished in. On Saturday we watched the Olympics in the morning and then went out for lunch. After a quick whizz round Sainsburys we came home and watched more Olympics!

On Sunday, Aiti was doing her triathlon. You can read about her race here. I cheered her on in the swim, shouted at her during the transitions and helped her finish the run. I got a big cheer as I ran down the finish line dragging Aiti along! In the afternoon I went to a 4th birthday party. I had a great time on the inflatable slide.

Today I wanted to go swimming so Aiti and I went. I swam for an hour. I loved leaping in, paddling about, floating on the floats and mucking about. We had lunch at the pool and then went to Borders. I read books for 2 hours. We left with a new jigsaw for me and some books for my cousins. I came home and put the 90pc jigsaw together very easily several times (whilst watching the Olympics)!

Here are a few funny stories/quotes from me:

"I know where kittens come from.... they come from their mother's tummy, they pop out and then they drink milk to make them stronger....when they are bigger they can eat cat food like Marmalard can......(pause to eat)... cats are mammals aren't they? That means they drink milk to make them bigger...like whales and dolphins and me, then I ate soup...please can I have some more ketchup?"

On seeing a sign for Cowdrove Farm "One day a cow woke up and decided to go for a drive, so he drove to Cowdrove Farm"

On hot-dogs "One day there was a dog called Marmalade. He wasn't wearing any suntan cream so he got very hot and turned into a hot-dog"

I am so so funny!