My littlest love turned 5 this week.
5 years old feels so little, yet so big at the same time.
5 is full of hugs and kisses and bedtime stories and snuggling while we watch tv.
5 clings to mom’s leg when I drop her off at daycare in the morning, but is the life of the party and begs to stay a little longer when I pick her up in the afternoon.
5 wants to do everything herself, but needs help too.
5 goofs off and laughs hysterically with her brother one minute, then screams at him for touching her toy the next.
5 is starting to notice things. She knows when mom and dad are talking about her. She knows when she’s done something naughty. She knows when a friend is not being nice to her.
5 is both shy and extroverted depending on how well she knows you and how much she likes you.
5 wears her fancy dresses on the regular, has a nightgown in every princess theme, and has her tiara headband permanently attached to her head. She loves tulle and pink and sparkles more than life itself. 5 is EXTRA.
5 also runs through the grass and dirt barefoot, with half the polish chipped off her little toes, hair in a tangled pony tail, and remnants of dinner on her dress.
5 hunts for crawdads in the creek beside our house while wearing her red sequin formal gown.
5 loves to sing, and can pick up the lyrics to a song from the radio and sing it in the shower after hearing it only once.
5 is brave and bold and smart and thoughtful.
5 is sometimes sensitive too and cries at the drop of a hat.
5 is stubborn and doesn’t back down.
5 loves to wear her hair in an Elsa braid, and put on makeup before school while mom and dad are not looking.
5 memorizes books after hearing them read only once, and then “reads” them to me at bedtime.
5 has Mom and Dad wrapped around her little finger, and she knows it.
5 is a hurricane, but she’s also the ray of sunshine and the rainbow after the storm.
5 is not quite little anymore, but still not quite big.
My 5 year old is a late August baby, and so I get the gift of another year with her before she’s off to kindergarten. I am so grateful. I know each year after this will bring more and more maturity and bigness. But right now, even as I watch her grow, I still search for tiny glimpses of that sweet little baby she used to be. And I cherish these moments with my girl.
