2/27/2012
Precious Ellie, on your 5th Birthday:
What a bittersweet year. The countdown is on until you start Kindergarten in August and we have begun to see clearly how quickly time has passed. You are now twice as old as your brothers and you don’t appear to have memories of your life before they joined our family. Since you go to preschool five days a week, it seems that our time together is limited and even more precious than we could fully admit before.
Some of the more tender moments come at the end of the day. Occasionally it seems like you are trying to stay up later, but you frequently give us the privilege of having pillow talk. It usually involves laying in bed, asking deep questions, laughing, or sharing thoughts about your day. You do this with mom or dad; it’s different topics but the same idea of sharing a moment together alone. May you always have the good fortune of ending your days surrounded by love and an inner sense of peace.
This last year has been dominated more by school than home life. Though your teachers report that so much of your school life revolves around you sharing details about your family life, the school is the center of much of your activity. The cognitive aspects of school come easily for you. Most concepts seem effortless for you to grasp and you enjoy finding ways to challenge yourself once you have mastered an easier skill. You are reading with great ease. The biggest advantages of reading are that you can entertain yourself independently by reading (and you love to report back new things you read or understand as you engage the material at your own pace and in your own way) and that you can read to your brothers. Although they prefer “mommy do it,” it is both helpful and sweet to have you engage them in this way. Your teachers have been proactive in providing you opportunities to learn new things. You recently reported to us that you know subtraction, but then you didn’t understand what the word subtraction meant. Later, it did appear you could understand simple mathematical problems involving subtraction, but you hadn’t yet fully grasped the vocabulary to describe what you could do with the numbers.
School has also been the center of your social life. The beginning of the school year was challenging for you as your dear friend, Ava, was in another class, as were many of your classmates from years prior. It was initially hard for you to be comfortable breaking into already established groups, as it is even for us as adults. As the year has gone on, it is fascinating to see how you have determined who to play with depending on the activity. You have your playground buddies, your arts friends, and your housekeeping friends. You love to retell stories about what you or your friends did that day and you usually do so with a bit of humor and laughter. You have enjoyed playdates both at our house and your friends’. We are always impressed by how well you get along with others and the good manners you show.
Your communication and analytical thinking seem to have no limit. Though you have recently reported you want to be a pilot, you seem well-gifted for one day being an attorney. You regularly out-wit us and out-reason us. It provides great laughter even though it often leaves us scratching our heads. You are undoubtedly mature, but also normal for your age. When you get frustrated or disagree with us, you can become dramatic and say, “but I’ll NEVER get to play with the doll AGAIN!” These are good reminders of how you develop emotionally. Furthermore, we recently watched “The Little Mermaid.” You got upset about the plot as it neared the end. You were concerned that Eric and Ariel would not be able to get married since she had no voice. And, you were worried her daddy was going to be very upset with her for not listening to him. I loved how this revealed your growing empathy, but also your innocence as you have not yet discovered that all Disney movies end happily.
We have seen you develop a great imagination. You were once very shy and reserved when it came to pretend play or people asking you questions. You still call all your dolls, “Baby,” it appears, because you know they are not real. Yet, you have moved beyond that and create elaborate parties, school lessons, and activities for your dolls and animals during your afternoon quiet times. You have also engaged James, Thomas, and sometimes Jack into your creative play. Your imagination has allowed you to entertain yourself better independently and also with your brothers.
A summary of your fifth year would not be complete without addressing your faith life. You’ve begun to explore what a personal faith with Jesus Christ means as you pray that He would be in your heart. You have a growing knowledge and memory of Bible stories, and you enjoy being part of a church family. You regularly attend Children and Worship (which means you sit through the first twenty minutes of the adult worship service before dismissing with the children for your own songs and lessons) and you frequently ask to stay for the Sunday School lesson as well. You have asked profound questions about the relationship between God and Jesus, death, heaven, and how to treat other people. You love to pray. Your sensitivity shines through as you initiate prayers for sick teachers or family members and ask God for help during difficult days. If nothing else, we hope that your enthusiasm and curiosity continues and flourishes as you get older.
We thank you for another great year as your parents. As life settled into a better routine for us as a family of six, we felt like we got into a better rhythm with you as well. We look forward to the next year and its inevitable joys, challenges, and changes.
We love you and we love your heart that shines through so very often,
Mom and Dad
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