Sweet Sophie

Here’s another old journal entry I’d like to share:

 

 

On Saturday Kris, Sophie, and Jake met Rob and me at Native Nurseries. It was a surprise; Rob and I hadn’t expected them at all. Sophie was so excited to see us. She hopped out of the car and headed our way with a big grin on her face.

 

“Well, fancy meeting you dorks here,” I said.

 

Jake was only interested in “swimming” in the fountains and petting the shop dog, Pansy. Sophie was interested in talking and informing us about things.

 

“I finded a caterpillar, Wez,” she said. “Actually, I finded two. Actually three, Wez. Did you know a four-year-old could find so many caterpillars?”

 

She was pointing out butterflies, too. Usually she calls every butterfly she sees “a painted wady,” but Rob and I taught her to identify gulf fritillaries on Saturday.

 

“Wez, I maded my mommy a butterfly garden for her birthday,” Sophie said. “Now it has a hundred butterflies, Wez. Actually, it does.”

 

Sophie was so busy pointing out wildlife and “bragging.” It was so hot and her cheeks were bright red and her hair was all sweaty.

 

Rob said, “Sophie, can you see the caterpillar inside these leaves? It’s a silver spotted skipper caterpillar. Can you see it? No? Oh, well, it’s hard to see.”

 

“No, I say I can see it,” Sophie said.

 

“You can’t?” Rob said.

 

“No, I can!” She turned to me: “Actually, I can see it, Wez.”

 

“I suspected you could,” I said. “You’ve got a good eye.”

 

Sophie blew a raspberry at Rob.

 

Rob is always giving Sophie a hard time. And Sophie is always trying to take him on head to head. She’s always trying to come up with a zinger to get him back with. If she can’t do it, she puts on her fake sad-clown face and says, “No, no, Rob,” and shakes her finger at him. He hates that. But I feel for her. It’s hard being a little girl having to match wits all the time with a grown man.

 

We all decided to go out to Samrat, the Indian buffet, for lunch, and Sophie decided she’d ride to the restaurant with Rob and me. You could tell Sophie felt like big stuff riding with us and not with her mother. We started talking about amusement parks. Sophie had a lot to say on the subject because she and her family had recently been to Wild Adventures Water and Theme Park.

 

“Actually, I am not afraid of any rides,” she said. “I am brave.”

 

“None?” I said. “I’m scared of rollercoasters. Terrified.”

 

“I rided on the Boomerang!” Sophie said. “My mommy cannot do it because she will throw up!”

 

Sophie really did not want anyone else to talk because she had a lot to say.

She told us all about every ride at Wild Adventures.

 

“Actually, I rided a hundred rides,” she said.

 

She told us about the white water ride.

 

“I did not get wet,” she said. “Only my poncho get wet.”

 

“Luckily you came prepared with a poncho,” Rob said.

 

We stopped at a convenience store to get a drink since Sophie looked so hot. Sophie was so excited. She chose a Sprite out of the fountain.

 

We headed to the candy aisle. “Can I get this?” Sophie asked me, only she pronounced “this” like “dis.” “Dis” was a lollipop shaped like SpongeBob SquarePants. You could dip him in green gloop and pink sugar.

 

“Sure,” I said.

 

“Thank you, Wez,” she said. And she hugged me. She was being so sweet.

 

Rob said, “You need to eat something healthy, Sophie. How about if I get you this loaf of bread?” He held up a bag of Wonder Bread.

 

“No, no, Wob,” Sophie said. “I want to get dis.”

 

“Sophie,” Rob said, “are you sure you want that? Do you even know what it is?”

 

“What is it?” Sophie asked.

 

“Well,” Rob said, “it seems to be a lollipop that you dip into some sort of goop and sugar.”

 

“I want it,” Sophie said.

 

“Okay,” Rob said, “but I would have gone with the loaf of bread.”

 

As we waited in line to pay, Rob said, “I bet Sophie’s not even going to like her old SpongeBob candy.”

 

“And I bet you she will,” I said. “I bet you five dollars!”

 

“I will like it, Wez,” Sophie promised.