My little girl is five. FIVE. I love the little person that she is :)
Izzy started preschool this year, and has been LOVING it. She goes two full days per week, and I know she wishes she could go every day. Her outgoing personality just shines when she enters a room, and although she was nervous about making new friends, I am confident she has plenty of fun playing with everyone in her class. She hasn't ever had a bad thing to say about anyone, so I hope that means she's been kind and friendly to everyone.
The girl is so smart. I can't fathom, actually, just where she's at for a preschooler. She is reading, and I don't just mean a word here or there. She reads complete books like Berenstain Bears, Elephant and Piggie, Pinkalicious, and Dr. Seuss. She knew all the letters, numbers, sounds, blends, colors, shapes, etc. to start preschool, and has been soaring ever since. This is my chance to brag about her, I guess :) But to be honest, we have not taught her to read. She has learned a few things from Cooper's journey to become a reader, and she has always loved books. Her teacher was surprised when she started preschool, and I think she keeps Ms. Julie on her toes. However, I know she loves all the regular classroom activities, whether or not she already 'knows' the skill being practiced. She likes to write, and is pretty good with all of her letters. There are a few she still reverses, but everything is legible, and she uses phonetic spelling better than some of my 4th graders... no joke.
Izzy loves to color, draw, paint, write, and doodle. Her personality is colorful and so is her creativity. She has art sets and kits coming out of her ears, and yet she would sit at the table every day and 'work' on them if she could. She has amazing patience and an attention span to rival an adult when she is into her activity. I cannot believe the amount of time she spends engrossed in a single activity!
She and Carson get along great, and when it's just the two of them, she is kind and patient. She helps him and guides him without being too motherly. When it comes to her and Cooper, now, that's a bit of a different story. I feel like there might be a bit of jockeying for attention going on between the two of them... maybe because they're closer in age? Or maybe because they're both in school? It's just a different kind of relationship between those two. The pick at each other and just do things to annoy each other that drive me crazy!! And then, just when I think they need to live in separate HOUSES, they go and start playing Barbies or deer hunting or treasure hunting or hide and seek together, and totally redeem themselves!!
Izzy has a flair for the dramatic... she tends to get worked up about things and wrapped up in business that isn't hers. Especially when she's a little on the tired side, she is emotional and sensitive. Last night, when I told the big kids it was my night to put Carson down and dad's night for them, she started crying and said, "Why is Carson so precious to you and we're like garbage?" Crying turned into sobbing and I was speechless. Of course, my first thought was,
what the heck message am I sending her if she thinks I favor Carson?!?!?!?!? And then it quickly changed over to a giggle when I gave her a weird sideways look and she started busting out laughing. I mean, really... where did she come up with that?!? She says some of the funniest and craziest things... that's one of the reasons I regret not keeping up with the blog--I have to remember to capture some of the funny things they say!! Just tonight I told her she needed to put things from the supper table into the fridge, and she said, "Mom, I'm not a slave." We had just discussed what it meant to be a slave a few days ago, so she was drawing on that conversation for sure, but still! She thought absolutely nothing of the comment, and she really thought what I was telling her to do what treating her like a slave!
She is active and has endless amounts of energy. She loves being in gymnastics, and she does pretty well with it! We did so much camping this summer and fall, and she loved every minute of it. I love that she has a love for nature and doesn't shy away from getting dirty--not even a little. And on the flip side, her favorite thing to wear is dresses and fancy shoes :) She likes to play outside in any season and kind of weather, and dance parties are her favorite evening activity.
Five years have flown by in the blink of an eye. Izzy is funny and energetic, spunky and sweet, a little bit on the sassy side (but apparently only to mom and dad...), and beautiful inside and out. I love the little girl she's growing to be. I know that she can hold her own in new situations, and she has her wits about her. I did try to make a deal with her that we could still celebrate her birthday, but that she would stay 4 forever. She wouldn't go for it... I wish I could freeze time, but at the same time, I love watching her grow into the little lady she is.
Celebrating Izzy's 5th Birthday...
She talked for weeks about wanting a surprise party for her birthday, so on her actual birthday, we invited any family that lives close by to meet us at Pizza Ranch for a little surprise after gymnastics. She was very surprised and I think she felt pretty special.
Izzy is totally into 'projects' so for her present from us, I found a set of Beados. It's the perfect activity for this age, because she can do it by herself, and it can take either a short time, or a long time... depending what she's up for!
And her most favorite food in the entire world is ice cream. Hands down. So when I saw this book, I just HAD to get it for her. As an added bonus, she loves reading the Elephant and Piggie books, and gets really into the expression of reading the character's dialogue.
That weekend, we had her birthday party for family. Our house is feeling smaller as our siblings' families continue to grow, but it's always fun to get everyone together to celebrate the kids!!
She loved her Princess Belle cake, and I loved making it for her :)
We had this crazy idea that it would be fun for the kids to put their Halloween costumes on so we could get a picture together. Well, Drake wasn't in the mood, Cora was sleeping, an clearly Eli was not into it :) Hahah! I have a feeling this is one we'll look back on and chuckle about down the road!
