But I really wanted to record a "snapshot" of what she's like as a 5-year-old, brimming with personality, creativity, and off-tune songs as she serenades shoppers at Superstore.
The other day, she brought her dad breakfast in bed. We waited dutifully downstairs for her (I had already eaten but didn't want to stifle her creative process too much), and she selected a number of low carb options for him--3 pieces of salami, a handful of nuts, some blueberries, and a chocolate nut bar, wrapper already opened for him. He sat up and ate it sleepily as she sat beside him in her ninja turtle pajamas and watched with delight. She LOVES giving things to people she loves. She aggressively tries to share her food with us all the time. Mostly we have to say no, because it's usually some bit of candy she's procured--or sometimes a cookie. I'm often having to talk her out of giving her prized possessions to friends and cousins.
She has what can only be described as an intense imagination. It is very wonderful, but also makes her slow to do things. When the world is your playground, tidying up your room at night can easily take an hour. Ever since she was a toddler, she has been pretending to be several different characters per day, and it's hard for me to keep track of who she is at any given moment. Most recently, I have begun to set her green owl timer for 20 minutes of uninterrupted pretend play time with me (which is a very taxing activity to my logical, goal-oriented mind) each day. It's almost always Paw Patrol.
Q is reserved. Her teacher at preschool says that she rarely seeks other children out, but is always occupied and appears to be very content. She is willing to play with a friend or group when invited, but ultimately cycles back to a solo activity. However, she isn't shy--she orders her own food at restaurants and is almost always willing to speak with someone when prompted. She responds to questions that are asked of her by adults and is fairly confident. She seems to be content as an only child--she doesn't badger me for a sibling or endlessly beg for play dates or gravitate ceaselessly toward other children when we're out and about.
She is enjoying dipping her toes into the world of reading and can read simple, short vowel words. She can read words that follow the two vowel rule with a little bit of prompting. She is constantly asking me to spell things because she wants to write everything down. She has also shown a predisposition for numbers, though I haven't been as consistent in trying to teach her math--when I do teach her something, though, I'm generally impressed on how quickly she picks it up (like adding 2 digit numbers in a column).
And finally, crafts. Paper. Scissors. Gel pens, crayons, markers. Stickers. Pipe cleaners. Tape, tape, TAPE. I am constantly finding bits of crafts around the house--random pieces of tape stuck to walls, tiny bits of paper all over her floor, a sticker in an unexpected location. She goes for quantity over quality, but she can easily be engrossed for hours with making construction paper clothing for her stuffed animals (did I mention she loves stuffed animals?) or creating elaborate, design-filled "banners" to tape up to her wall.
This daughter of mine, with her wispy blond hair, bright eyes, wake-up-talking-a-mile-a-minute mouth and tiptoeing feet (yes, she still walks on tiptoe a lot!) is just the kid I've always wanted. I tell her she's my heart of hearts. And I want to save these little descriptions of her for her to read some day when she's quite grown up, and to know how I deeply, deeply love her.
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