I've been wanting to do this for awhile now, but now that Thanksgiving is fast approaching- I thought it was the perfect time. My kids are growing up so fast, changing, and doing and saying new things everyday. And while sometimes time feels like it is standing still, I have learned that kids grow up too fast and soon these days will all be a distant memory.
I'm gonna try to feature both of them in their own posts about every 6 months or so and list some of the things that are important to them and what they've learned.
So, I'm going to begin this time with Cara. I am oozing with things to write about- this girl is very entertaining... so here goes...
The girl is obsessed with folding. Folding, folding, folding- she folds everything that can possibly be folded. Whenever I do laundry, she has to at least get all of the washcloths and towels, otherwise I'm in serious trouble. Here's her with her batch of laundry that she folded all on her own- I was very impressed, I didn't have to redo any of it.
Along those same folding lines-she loves to give presents from around the house, matter of fact, that is ALL she's done this morning. She finds random items from around the house, wraps them in baby wipes and gives them to various members of the family. This morning alone, I've unwrapped about 20 gifts, most of them Halloween candy. She'd rather wrap it and give it away than eat it. She also wraps her small stuffed animals in wipes ("blankets"), makes pillows out of wipes, and puts them to bed in an empty Kleenex box. Her favorite stuffed animal is a beanie baby pig that she carries around in its "wipe" blankets. This pig is always cared for, even if she's busy, she'll find someone to watch it or hold it, usually me, or she'll put him to bed in his box.
Bedtime is a whole other issue... the girl LOVES to get ready for bed. She puts more effort into getting ready for bed than getting ready for the whole day. Lately, she has to have nightgowns-
jammie pants will not do. It must be nightgowns because she has to wear her dress-up shoes also. (It's a fight to get her to take the shoes off for bed- she wants to sleep in them.) To go along with the shoes, she needs necklaces, smelly lotion, and lipstick. Mind you, I do NOT condone this behavior, it has become a battle at bedtimes, usually because I just want the kids to get in to their
jammies and go to sleep as quickly as possible- of course, this NEVER happens. Bedtime is a long drawn out process of helping me feed the dogs, baths,
jammies, reading, prayers (calling dad),
ect... and now- Cara getting completely made over before sleep. Somehow, even when I'm watching her and saying- "no lipstick"- she sneaks into my make-up bag and finds some. I'm starting to believe she has a secret hoard of it somewhere....
She's very academic and artistic. I'm thrilled that both sided of the spectrum seem to merge so effortlessly for her. She loves to read, write, count, say ABC's - and find "ABC'S" everywhere. She writes really well, she's been writing her name on all of my mail lately- and is an excellent
colorer. She stays within the lines and has done this for over a year now, but she really gets particular about what colors she uses and where those colors go on the page. She goes into a conniption fit if anyone colors over her pictures or tears them, not that I blame her- she spends countless hours on all of them. She loves art. Pictures, paintings, music, singing (I'm always bursting with pride when she knows the words to my favorite songs- it's purely awesome)- books, decorating, and creating. She makes awesome little pictures and hangs them on the fridge or "gifts" them out to people.
Writing her name on my mail...
A picture of Clinty (can you see the glasses??) So cute...
And her orange pony- she's very proud of this one...
She's also very concerned about my personal happiness. Whenever I'm even slightly annoyed at ANYTHING, she says "OH! I will give you a heart!" And then blows me a kiss. She's smart- it works
every time. Who could resist that?
She's also my
cuddler child. She'd hang out and watch movies all day with me (if we ever had enough time for that!)- And not little kiddie movies, either, although she does love all of the typical 4 year old favorites, but she LOVES Harry Potter! L-O-V-E-S. She still calls him Heavenly Pother. I've coached her endlessly about it being HARRY- but, I've recently given up. Apparently her image of Heavenly Father is a twelve year old boy with round glasses and a magic wand. She loves the spells and potions and gets really irritated at
Voldemort when he kills Cedric. - That's never a good 10
minutes. - She watches movies exceptionally well- she has ever since she was really young. Her attention span has always been marvelled at. ;) She stands at the kitchen sink and tries to mix up her own "potions." Clint teases her and tells her to drink them and that maybe she'll turn into a cat if she does. - I'm happy to say she doesn't drink them- I'd throw a fit if she did, because they usually consist of water, soap- hand and dish soap- and whatever kind of food she can reach from the counter. I know, gross. I've seen some scary stuff. But, I can never get mad- it's just too cute. ;)
She's sweet, compassionate, patient, loving, imaginative, warm, helpful, girly, funny, mature, motherly, smart, lovable little girl and I truly hope she always has the love for her family that she has now.
You're wonderful CARA! I'll always be so thankful to have you as my daughter! I love ya!
