Grace - Five Years Old

This week, Grace turned five - one-whole-hand years old!

Grace is living glorious childhood in all its fullness. She often plays outside all morning. When I take her to a new playground, she explores every nook and cranny. She loves building with train tracks and her new marble run. She watches Winnie the Pooh almost every day, memorizing the stories, songs, and each character's personality for fun re-enactment later in the day.

Five years ago, Grace was born so quickly, we nicknamed her "rocket girl" which is entirely ironic because now she does most things slowly. It's as if she used up all her fast juice during labor and delivery and now lives in slow mo.

Sometimes Grace's slow pace is caused by simple disobedience. But, we also think she gets distracted by her rich, inner, daydream world of stuffed animals, made up languages, and imaginary friends.

Grace is often processing the past and shocks us with how much she remembers even from a couple of years ago. She also often plans for the future. (She started telling me almost a year ago that she wanted purple shoes for her birthday so she could dress as Prince Wednesday from Daniel Tiger. You'd better believe she got some purple shoes this week.) 

Because her mind is constantly whirring and her mouth is constantly chatting, Grace gets distracted from the task at hand, and moves from task to task at a glacial pace.

With the "terrible two's" and the "three-nager" year well behind us, Grace has learned to handle her emotions really well, so the past few months she's been calm and happy. She's also become the queen of transition. In the past half year, she's gained a sibling, moved out of her home, flown around the world, and spent about six weeks in Colorado and in California. Isaiah's birth threw her for a loop, but since November, she has learned to embrace transition. She even gets excited about getting on planes, seeing new people, and experiencing new things.

Grace has really grown into her big sister role. Her younger sister, Cora, really leans on her for bravery and Grace has often led her through transition sometimes literally holding her hand to help her. 

Grace also enjoys caring for her brother. She is so proud to be one of his favorite people in the world. When he's fussy, she sometimes says, "Isaiah needs someone to keep him company." And she plays near him which almost always calms him down.

Grace loves all things medical and wants to be a doctor when she grows up (unless Jesus comes back before she grows up in which case she wants to be a ballerina). Anytime there's a new sickness (which happens often with three kids!), she asks many questions to add new info to her medical knowledge.

Getting to use a real otoscope at Nana's clinic

Grace has three stuffed animals, Doggy, Donkey, and Funny Bunny. She refers to them as her triplets, though they are usually different ages, and she throws a birthday party for one of them almost every day. When I was pregnant with Isaiah, she was often pregnant with or birthing one of these stuffed animals. She bathes them, naps them, and feeds them everyday. She even tells me to babysit them sometimes.

Grace, we love you. We love watching you grow up and become more and more you -- our Grace.

Caring for funny bunny