I don't know quite how it happened, but First Daughter turned five about ten days ago. Could it really be true?
First Daughter, five years ago
Making a wish
She's both a delight and a frustration. This girl doesn't care a fig for any sort of punishment so I often feel like she's running rampant over everything, but she's actually pretty well behaved. It is true she refuses to clean her half of the living on a regular basis, but she does bring the dirty clothes for me to run through the laundry and I think she'd wash all the dishes if I let her. Now that I think about it, I should set her at the sink after lunch every day to wash a few...the unbreakable ones.
After playing in the fountain at the State Fair
When we asked her what she wanted to eat for dinner to celebrate her baptism anniversary, she said, "Ice cream!" She doesn't just want ice cream, either. She wants ice cream with some sprinkles or cookie crumbs or bits of candy on top, doused with chocolate syrup or hot fudge and a dollop of whipped cream (or more). There's a girl after my own heart.
With the obligatory pancake as big as her head for her birthday breakfast
She's learning to read. She started sounding out words last week and even learned her first sight work (the).
She's not always excited to read. She still has trouble mixing up b and d. She also has trouble remembering the sound for n. So I'm not in a big hurry with the lessons. Last week we took a little break to spend some time with the sandpaper letters and sound and picture cards. She enjoyed them so much she asked for another letter.
First Daughter on the first day of school
She often spends our lesson time pretending something elaborate involving babies, sleeping and alarm clocks with Second Daughter, particularly amusing since we don't have any alarm clocks. (Unless you count Second Son.) She's not interested in listening to many of the lessons herself, though she does still like the picture books. She is interested in distracting her brother.
First Daughter in the deer hat she made for our Native American study
She loves to paint, stamp, cut, tape, staple...basically anything that will make a mess in the kitchen.
She has little fear. At the State Fair she had more fun on the fast dragon ride than First Son or Second Daughter.
For her birthday, she wanted a princess party. She especially requested a princess pinata. So we went to the store and picked out the perfect one with Grammy. It was so full of candy, Kansas Dad said we had to hang it from a doorway instead of the ceiling. The girls didn't complain.
All dressed up in her Pretty Princess game jewelry
Ready for the party guests to arrive
She loves to borrow my camera. Every time she does, I find a picture like this one.
