Five Going on Fifteen

Kylie is now five. Wow. As usual, the time has flown - but sometimes it feels like she's been at this general age forever.  She is still the same old Kylie with a bit more spice than ever mixed in. 

 We made and decorated cupcakes together.  Actually it would be kinder to me to say that Kylie made them all by herself.  They didn't turn out too great - and the fault was likely mine.  She did the dumping of contents into the bowl (can't really go wrong there) and the toppings (and that was by far the prettiest part).  Cake decorating is not really my thing - but then neither is cake. We did it primarily for the experience - and she appreciated my efforts:)

 Kylie is still an excellent player with a GREAT imagination. I still love just listening to her play and chatter away to herself.   I hope she doesn't lose this.  Being the only girl, she definitely has to rely on playing alone  for a lot of things, so I am thankful that she does it well.  She is still very pleased when someone is willing to join her in her play though!

 Kylie is a VERY good big sister.  Sometimes a little too good.  About a week ago, I was working away upstairs and could hear Karter crying a bit - but not too much.  I knew Kylie was downstairs with him, but didn't think too much of it.  When I did go downstairs, I found her in the boys room. She had done a complete diaper change on Karter and was doing up the last snap on his sleeper. I checked it all out and she did a really good job - except that he peed somewhere in the process, so his onesie and his sleeper were rather wet. But other than that, she did pretty good. I showed her a few tips and suggested that she wait for parental supervision the next time she wanted to attempt this.  She was pretty proud of herself too.  She is helpful in running for things and putting soothers in too. I sometimes wish she was a little more hesitant to pick him up an carry him around, but she does do a good job and is very confident - and it helps that he is strong too!

 Two weeks ago, Kylie got to go to school for New Student Day. She was pretty excited, but also a little nervous.  She wasn't sure about riding the bus. She kept saying that the big boys were scary.  (I think that Jonathan at one point had said that the older boys -like Uncle David - might tease her.)  When the bus pulled up, she hesitated, then grabbed Kade's hand, and on they walked together. Cute!!

 She came home at the end of the day very happy. She loved it and of course wanted to go back the very next day.  She is ready for school for sure. But I am not entirely ready to let her go, so I am glad it will only be two days a week come fall.

 If I had to choose - I would have to concede that Kylie is a "daddy's girl".  She loves it when Jonathan comes home - during the day or at the end of the day.  She is always very excited when the truck pulls in the driveway. Daddy's lap is THE place to be after supper and she always loves a snuggle and a book with hime too when the opportunity arises. (though I don't think she'd turn down a book anytime!)

 She LOVES being read too. Every time I nurse Karter, she pulls out a book and asks me to read.  That is fine, except I also like to read MY books when I nurse - so we have to take turns. I give up my turn a little quieter and kinder than she gives up hers!

Over the winter Kylie really made progress on her skating.  She didnt' always love staying on the ice for the whole time - especially if her friends were playing elsewhere in the arena, but near the end she really enjoyed skating and was excited to skate each week!

 What else can I say about this girl?

Sometimes I read a post like this and think to myself, that I really hadn't seen ANYTHING yet at that point.  She was practically an angel still.  This girl has oodles and oodles of attitude - and its certainly not all good!  I like spunk, but she's got a few extra doses in her.  There are many times in a week when I'm just really not sure what to do with her or what the best way to react to her is.  We just pray for wisdom!

Other times, she is so absolutely charming and helpful that its hard to believe she can be a bad girl. She can be agreeable, sweet, and respectful - and I have to check that it really is my Kylie!

Although, we sometimes think we'd like to change her, I think we'd really miss the "Kylie as we know her".  She is who she is and yes, there are changes that should be made and there are disciplines she certainly needs to be taught, but I have no doubt that we would miss her spunk and her attitude if she became a docile, sweet, and quiet little girl! We absolutely LOVE her just the way she is.  We will continue to try to train and guide her, but we will cherish the way she is now too - if nothing else, it teaches us patience and shows us our shortcomings and dependence on God for help in raising our children.  We certainly can't do it on our own!

 Some other things I want to remember:

She has a very real phobia of spiders and apparently a lot of other things that move.  Just last night she was playing in her room with a friend. Jonathan and I were working at the computer just outside her closed door.  All of the sudden there was screaming that VERY quickly escalated to terror filled shrieking.  I thought for sure someone must have climbed in the window or something.  Jonathan rushed in (better him than I) and they pointed to a spider - which was quickly squashed.  Kylie woke up in the middle of the night with the same terror filled cry - another spider - this time a dream.  She has had similar experiences with a snake (she saw it - I didn't - and every time she described the size, it got longer till it was as long as our house!), a skunk (well, it smelled like a skunk anyway), a rabbit, and other insects she meets.  She does still like our cat, so at least it is not a complete fear of all things animalish.

She is VERY interested and frustrated by the concept of her not yet being born.  She wants to know where she was when I was a little girl.  "Not born yet" just doesn't make sense to her.  How can one not be?  I understand that it is a difficult concept, but she doesn't let it go. She wants a better explanation. 

She loves her brothers - most of the time. She is willing to play "their thing", if they will give her a bit of their time. This works well most of the time.  She will be the goalie for Kevin or play a game of soccer - or insert herself into their game of baseball (depsite their protests).  She loves to go out to the woods with the boys and work on their forts. (Now that we are moving, they seem to have gotten excited about the woods again. Figures.)

She is finally sleeping in her own bed.  Well - that is not entirely true either - but she does not climb into our bed in the middle of the night any more. She now goes down to the boys room.  We often let her sleep on the floor in their room b/c of her fear of being alone at night. We then carry her to her bed when we go to sleep.  It is not a total surprise to find her back downstairs come morning. Funny girl.  During the day, she doesn't like to bed by herself on a floor of the house. If I am upstairs, that is where she will be. If I go downstairs, (doesn't matter how involved with her playing she was) she will quickly follow. The other day, we were both upstairs.  She needed to use the washroom.  I overheard her say to herself, "Good thing Karter is down there with me . . . .cause he's a boy . . . . and boys rescue people." She then took a few steps down the stairs and said loudly, " THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MONSTERS!" Talk about a pep talk.  

She loves to sing and is quite good at it too.  One of her favorite things to play is church. She pulls out her Bible and hymn book and preaches and sings away.  This is also rather entertaining.

She loves to go away.  Nearly every day starts with, "Where are we going today?"  If the answer is "nowhere", I can be sure to be greeted with a tantrum.  Yes she's dramatic. If we are going somewhere and that somewhere meets her satisfaction, I get to hear, "When are we leaving?" for the next while.  I have learned to be evasive in my answers.

She loves to wear dresses and skirts. Pants are okay, but if she gets to choose, it will be a skirt or dress. She loves to play dress up too.

She is always hungry.  I hear "I'm hungry!" SOO many times a day.  Nearly drives me crazy. It can be translated, " I want a candy." sometimes, but if I offer her a healthy snack, she is just as quick to accept. I often say, "You may have some carrots" thinking she may all of the sudden not be so hungry, but she always quickly accepts the offer.

She loves candy and gum. Too much.

She loves nail polish.

She loves storytime at the library.

She has lost interest in her "schoolwork" and so have I:)  Too busy I guess.

She hates oatmeal for breakfast and loves cereal. 

She makes pretty good messes and rarely likes to clean them up. But she does. (sometimes)

She loves her Bible story at bedtime.

She loves to pray - but usually reminds the boys that they are NOT allowed to laugh at her.

She has a thing for shoes.

She wants to be many things when she grows up, but the latest - heard just yesterday - was an electrician:)

She loves answering the phone and always does.

She has learned how to use one of Jonathan's business cards to call him. (She has to ask me first though).

She loves the trampoline and spends quite a bit of time there too.

She loves to swing and is trying very hard to pump, so that she can do it herself.

She really wishes she could skip (jumprope). She is working on practicing that too.

She's our cutie:)

I guess that's all for now.  Boy that was a lot!