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6 Years Old!

My youngest turned 6 on Sunday!  It would have been a perfect day except she was sick, poor girl.  It's some kind of virus that is giving her a fever and a lot of coughing, so she's had to be on some extra oxygen.  Minor illnesses cause problems for her that most kids never see.  But that's just how it is and we deal with it.



In so many ways, she is doing very well these days.  Just since school has started, she has become an artist!  She never drew pictures before kindergarten, just a lot of scribbling.  But now she draws suns and skies and grass and stick figures with eyelashes and fingers and hair and clothes.  It is so fun to see.  She used to be very delayed in her fine motor skills with very weak hands but she really has made a lot of progress in the last year or two.  She loves to write short letters, asking me how to spell various words.  At the beginning of the school year, she disliked having to write her name and she would get her neighbor to write it for her.  But now she is quite comfortable with it.  I'm so pleased!  I appreciate this progress more than I did with my other children, because it has been so much harder for her.




Another thing that's great to see is how well she is mixing with the other children her age.  We had her first birthday party on Friday.  I held it right after school and we invited six children to come.  Thanks to good weather, it went really well.  I fed them lunch, then cleaned up while they played outside.  We painted pumpkins (okay, this is a braver activity than I appreciated), opened presents and ate cupcakes, played with sidewalk chalk, and played some more.  The children got along well together and it was nice to see her be a part of the group.  I have worried about her ability to play with the other children who are not delayed in any way, so it was great to see her included.

 

Another great thing about my sweet daughter is her willingness to work.  She doesn't have many jobs and I won't say she is the most helpful but she stays with the job.  I've had her do a little extra homework for school every day and she has done it without a lot of supervision on my part.  That was another worry of mine--being able to stay on task--so it's nice to see that.


Most of the time, she is just a happy little girl.  For the first few years, as we struggled with health issues, I wondered what the future held for this sweet child.

The day after she was born, 16 1/2 weeks early

Initially I had a lot of worries and concerns and didn't enjoy her as much as I might have.  A blessing she received when she was born promised us joy in this child and I'm happy to say it has definitely come to pass!  We love her so much and she has brought us a lot of happiness.


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