I cannot believe my sweet little baby, the one that first made me a mother, is already 5 years old. She is becoming so mature and so grown up. The things she says and knows amaze me every day! She is so easy to teach and so eager to learn. She has a zest for life and is generally cheerful all the time. She rarely rests (even if she wakes up in the middle of the night she seems wide awake) and loves to play!
Leah is a princess all the way! She still loves all things Princess and sometimes I wonder if she even knows the difference between which are real and which are fairy tales. Her favorite thing to do is dress up in her Princess costumes and make up stories with her baby dolls or Princess dolls. TV shows are a springboard for her made-up stories and she builds on plots she sees. She also loves butterflies, ponies, rainbows, and anything pink. So much so that she doesn’t ever want to do things if they don’t involve any of those things. She loves to pretend to “read” her books (and if she’s heard them enough she’s really good at remembering them word for word!), especially to her little brother or sister. She would love to wear a dress all the time if I let her, and she goes around flipping her hair and making sure everyone knows how pretty she is.
Leah loves to pretend to “read” her books out loud, to anyone who will listen—and if she’s heard it enough, she’s pretty good at remembering it word for word. She is doing well with reading in school, too, and catches on so quickly to whatever she learns. She has a knack for math, even more so than reading or writing, and already knows some basic addition facts. Just recently, she has developed a love of writing and wants to write signs or cards all the time. Most of the time I help her spell things but she insists on writing them and drawing pictures on them—she especially loves to draw people.
I would definitely consider Leah a people-pleaser. She hates to disappoint any adult and will get very upset if she thinks she’s in trouble. She’s so sensitive and gets sad when she hears about death or dying or even anyone getting hurt. She’s very protective of her little brother and sister and hates when they get hurt or even when she thinks they might get hurt. She’s fearful of so many things—I have to be careful how I tell her about things like earthquakes or hurricanes because she’s automatically worried that will happen to us. She also fears being left alone without an adult, and if we’re playing outside, she won’t even let me run in the house for a second without her by my side.
Lately she’s been asking a lot of questions about God and heaven. She has told me she believes in Jesus and wants him to live in her heart. She says daily how much she loves Jesus and even prayed that he would be in her heart. It’s not something I want to take lightly, but in the same way I don’t want to make a huge deal about it. I think she’s still too young to understand sin and how we must die for our sins but Christ was our sacrifice. Still, she definitely has a child-like faith that I hope continues to grow and grow. I pray daily that I have the wisdom to answer her questions and to be a role model as she learns what it means to be a Christian.
She can get completely dressed by herself (and is sure to tell us, loudly, every time she accomplishes this) and she loves to help out with cooking or setting the table or cleaning. She can almost buckle herself into her car seat and she can pretty much manage doing a lot of things on her own and even sometimes help me do things for Abigail. She is great at taking care of her baby sister and always willing to do anything for her, even give her a prized toy or entertain her when she’d rather do something else.
She is soo excited today about being 5. She is constantly asking me what 5-year-olds can do, and she thinks she’s automatically going to be bigger and able to do certain things the day she turns 5. She has been anxiously awaiting this day of her birthday all month and has told everyone her birthday is August 29th. She is certainly not shy and not afraid to tell how she feels!
Now that we’re past the terrible two’s and three’s and Leah is much less whiny and needy and I generally enjoying being with her. I am excited to see her grow into a young lady and yet I realize this means how much more she’ll be watching everything I do and say. I pray that I can show her the type of lady God wants her to be.
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