No More "I'm four and a HALF!!!!"

Megan, 3/25/05

Age 1: 3/25/06

Age 2: 3/25/07


Age 3: 3/25/08


Age 4: 3/25/09


Age 5: 3/25/10

Yesterday we celebrated Megan's 5th birthday. 5!!! FIVE!!!!! That's half a decade! It blows my mind that we have a 5 year old in our house now, and that in the fall, she'll be headed off to kindergarten!

Bill and I just adore our little five year old. She has made tremendous growth in so many areas this year. She has come out of the difficult stage between ages 3 and 4 and is now truly such an "easy" kid. Sure, she gets disappointed when things don't go her way, but she is (usually) quickly consoled and redirected. She has her moments, as does any kid, but by and large, Megan is such a wonderful helper and an easygoing, easy to please little girl. In a house where a two year old also lives, for whom disappointment can bring on World War III, this is no small potatoes!

Megan continues to amaze us every day with her intelligence. She's SO ready to start reading! She knows all her letter sounds, and will sound out words to spell them. She really enjoys copying words from books. Recently, she laid out all the Valentines she had received from her classmates, copied all 17 names onto her Magna Doodle, and was able to read them all back to me later. Her teachers say it would be a good idea to let her take the lead with starting to read simple word books.

And boy, does she still LOVE to talk! I often tell people, completely honestly, that the only time Megan is quiet is when she's asleep. When she's awake, she is always talking (to anyone who will listen, and to herself if there's no one around), singing, or "reading" books out loud. Always. She is full of questions these days, always wanting to know why something is the way it is, how something works, etc. She has stumped her father and me many times. Her intelligence will surpass ours in a few short years, I fear.

Megan is really growing into her sense of humor, too. She loves telling knock-knock jokes and kidding around. I love it because it is still very easy to make her laugh with silly, nonsensical things. Sometimes she will hear something that she things is just hilarious and will repeat it and laugh anew at it every time. She often tells me, "Mama, you're silly," and I know that for her, this is a major compliment. (I will enjoy it now before it becomes, "Mother, you're embarrassing!")

I just went to Megan's preschool conferences today, and her teacher told me how social and nurturing Megan is at school. This isn't really a surprise to me, as she is certainly a "mother hen" with her little sister, but it's so good to know that her sweetness transfers outside of our home to the classroom setting. She is genuinely caring and nice to the other kids, and doesn't want to leave anyone out. (In fact, we are having a birthday party for her on Monday, and invited all 10 of the girls in her class, in part because Megan lists different kids as her "best" friends depending on the day you ask. )

This afternoon we were cuddling on the couch, and I told Megan how much I love to cuddle her, and how I want to do it as much as I can because someday, she will say, "Mama, I don't WANT to cuddle with you!" She looked up at me with her beautiful, old-soul blue eyes, and said, "Mama, I will ALWAYS want to cuddle you." I asked her if she promised and she said yes. I sure hope she's right. :)