Sophie had no trouble with this simple sewing kit.

Sophie is four now. She's endlessly cheerful, gregarious and busy. She loves imaginative play with her older siblings and is willing to try almost anything they do. She's enjoyed participating "on the fringes" of Noah's gymnastics class, and is doing another round of skating lessons this winter.

Recently Erin has been doing some math work with Sophie, using Cuisenaire rods, pattern blocks and the "Family Math" book. Sophie is mastering simple one-digit addition with manipulatives and having fun with patterns, counting and odd and even games. She is also recognizing a lot of words, and writing her siblings' names.

She's computer-literate to an impressive degree. She enjoys building maps in Age of Empires II, making art in KidPix, and using the music doodle pad to play with sounds and musical notation elements in Music Ace 2. She also loves playdough, jigsaw puzzles (which she has a real knack for) and Playmobil.

Sophie is our family's newest violinist.

Recently Sophie's interest in music has really blossomed. She can pick out lots and lots of tunes by ear on the piano, and at the beginning of December asked to start practising her violin on a daily basis with her mom's assistance. She's making terrific progress, and is already putting bow and fingers together for the first Twinkle variation.