Six

Dear Songbird,

As always, May has been a very busy month for us.  I have been looking forward to sitting down and remembering your life, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to do that now.

You are six years old!!!  Your birth was such a sweet time for Papa and I. I had to be induced rather suddenly, and 4 hours later you were born.  It was not exactly how we were picturing things would go, but as I was thinking about the events of that night, I remembered a specific conversation.  It was about 45 minutes before you were born, and my contractions were getting stronger and stronger.  I had to hold totally still, close my eyes, and squeeze Papa's hand to make it over the hump.  But during the calm in between contractions Papa and I were dreaming about gardens, and Laurie, our midwife, was telling us about her garden.  It kind-of gets blurry from there, but I remember thinking about plants, butterflies, birds, and all things garden during the minutes before you were born.

This is the first time I have really thought about that conversation since that night, but I think it ties in nicely with what I was going to say to you.  You are our garden girl.  Like your Papa, you love learning the names of plants, and you take such joy in helping plant seeds and watching them grow.  Even though we are only in Maine for a few more months, we let you have your own wildflower garden, and every so often I hear a scream of excitement from out back because you've discovered a new sprout.  I love learning more about plants alongside you, and I love that I only have to tell you the name of something once and you've got it memorized.  There's been many a time that we've gone walking through the woods and you've pointed out a plant by name, and I had already forgotten its name.  It really is another language, and you approach it with ease, and glory in the Creator while doing so.

You also continue to grow in your love and appreciation for art.  I have overheard you say more than once that when you grow up you are going to do one of two things. 1. Have a garden like Tammy so you can give all your food away to poor people, or 2. Be an artist like BMa and have your own studio in your house.  You had an amazing opportunity this year to take an art class from Mrs. Harris of the Merrymeeting Homeschool League.  We have been a part of this Classical co-op for the past 5 months, and I have seen you grow in so many ways through it.  But one of the most tangible ways has been through Mrs. Harris' art class.  You now have your own "mini studio" in your bedroom where I have hung my favorites of your most recent pictures.  You love showing people your work when they come to visit, and I love seeing the great joy it brings you.

Another amazing thing for you this past year has been ballet.  You started off in September being stiff, a bit clumsy, shy, and a little fearful.  A few weeks ago you were able to participate in your first ballet, "Flight," written and directed by your awesome teacher, Elizabeth Drucker.  You were a little bird, and when I asked you if you felt at all nervous about the performance you said, "not a bit!"

Another thing I love about you is that you are a faithful friend. You have made several sweet friends this year who you are going to miss a lot, and you have continued writing letters to and praying for many sweet friends from the past.  It will be nice to be within driving distance of many of these people again in the (very near) future.

You continue to struggle with unexplainable tummy pains, and we continue to be baffled as to the cause of them.  And we continue to pray for you that you would grow in your understanding that God is good all the time, and that you would not be so quick to worry and fear.  We pray that God would use your sweet, super sensitive spirit for His glory, and that it would be something that drives you to love others well and recognize when people are in need, rather than something that drives you towards self-preservation.

I love you more than I could ever express, and I treasure this time I have with you. It is not always easy,  and I am stumbling around alongside you trying to grow in poise and grace, but I am so thankful that we are together in this journey here and now, sharpening each other...

With love,
Mama

I Baptize You...

quotes from the kids while taking a shower together...

"Christ died for your sins.  Now take this wine and drink."

"I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with this water...oh , please don't spit in the baptism cup...or in my hair"

insert crazy dance.

Songbird is 6

More to come about my oldest a girl turning 6 on May 11th, but for now some quick stats...

So we went to the Dr. for a well-visit this past week and Songbird had grown 5 inches since August. 5 inches in about 10 months! No wonder she eats more than I do...

She is 49 inches tall and weighs 49 pounds. Incidentally, in August she was 44 inches tall and weighed 44 pounds. What a symmetrical little girl:). In case you are wondering, that is very tall. In fact, if she continues growing at this rate, she will be taller than me by the time she is 10...

This and that

We were riding in the car on the way to church and Hubry asked the kids if he could practice a speech he has to give. It was about five minutes long, and at the end of it Bro said, "papa, that was kind of unusual." Songbird was quick to follow at his heels," yes, it was both unusual and usual." So in case your wondering, that pretty much sums it up.

Raindrop has developed a new habit involving sunglasses. When she goes to bed she asks to have her "eyes" (aka sunglasses). We put them on her, she leans back, we cover her with the blanket and say good-night. In the morning when she wakes up, if the sunglasses have fallen off in the night, she asks to have them on again, and wears them off and on throughout the day. The funny thing is how serious she takes it, and how much she looks like a diva:)

A couple nights ago the kids put on a show for us. They dressed up (Bro was a kilted leaf monster), ran around the yard playing their different roles - leaf monster versus some sort of princess - and every once in a while Songbird would stop at the opening of the woods and present us with either a poem or song which she has memorized. In the background Bro continued to be a Scottish leaf monster.

Raindrop is obsessed with the blue balance bike. As soon as we walk out the door to play, she finds the bike, and rides it until its time to come inside again. She usually has several falls while riding it around which seem to be traumatic for her, but as soon as we kiss the boo-boo she pushes us out of the way and makes a beeline for the bike again. It is a love hate relationship, but she is definitely obsessed. There's something about the third child that drives them to prove they are one of the gang. She hasn't started coasting down hills yet, but she has started running on it, which seems pretty adventurous to me!

Dear Raindrop

 (Written a few weeks ago...black eye picture to follow)

Well, it's not your birthday or anything, but so many things have been happening in your life recently I didn't want them to pass by without writing them down...

About a month ago (when you were around 19 months), you decided you were all done with diapers.  You started taking off your diaper and pants (much to the embarrassment of older brother and sister) and going around "bare bottom" anytime we were at the house (or at the bank, or Target....) You didn't want to be naked for naked's sake alone, but you wanted to use the potty.  The big potty.  And every time I sat you on it you would successfully use it.  At first I fought your impulse, tried to make you wear tights because you couldn't pull them off on your own (I mean it was still 30-40 degrees while this was going on - if we could only make it to warmer weather).  You were like a little puppy, sometimes using the potty, sometimes going in the fort, on the pillow, or other "surprise locations."  But you insisted, and so I finally gave in. Now you wear your big-girl panties and use the potty more or less like a big girl (though you still like to pull your pants down in public places).  And it was all your initiation.

Last week we accompanied Papa on a research trip to Boston.  It wasn't exactly the best timing, as the marathon bombing had just occurred, and the police ended up locking down the city and executing a man-hunt for the suspects (cutting the trip a day short, needless to say). Anyway, earlier that week we had been kicking back, talking about how for the first time in about 6ish years we felt like we had finally reached a period of peace as far as bed-time and sleeping through the night was concerned.  And then we went on our trip and you realized that you were capable of climbing out of your pack-n-play.  That was a very long, sleepless night!  But we still held on to hope that you wouldn't think about it when you got back in your crib at home.

Alas, as soon as we put you to bed, out you climbed.  And again, and again...  Finally you went to bed, only to awake the next morning and fall down the stairs not once but twice!!!  The first time you cried and cried but were basically unhurt.  We were so confused - you had been going up and down the stairs without a fall. ever. and all of a sudden you fell down the stairs twice in one day.  The second time I was at the bottom and you were holding on to the railing, then you started toppling down.  That time you pretty immediately got a black eye, though we are thankful that nothing else was hurt.  We've been insisting you turn around backwards and scoot down the stairs again.  You can walk down the stairs when you're 5!

Otherwise, you are full of expressiveness, and for someone whose taking their good time using words, you sure know how to get your point across.  You love to be silly, make jokes, and make everyone laugh at you.  And although you don't have many words, you have a lot of silly noises, many of which involve wiggling your tongue around a lot!