{Eight}

{Emmalee ~ One Month Old}

{6 1/2 Months}

{5 Months}

{7 Months}

{Ryan 4 1/2 years, Emmalee 5 months}

{Eight Years Old}

 

Dear Emmalee,

 

Oh, dear Emmalee.  I don't even know where to start.  Looking back at the pictures of your first year makes me smile, but they also make me sad.  You are not a little girl anymore!  It's so hard for all of us to believe that you are EIGHT years old.

 

Here's a little about you at eight years old:

You almost always have a smile on your face.  Unless your brother has really made you mad

or if you see something that makes you sad, you are smiling.  When you do your belly laugh, the rest of us just have to join in.

 

Your favorite word is "meep."  What does meep mean?

According to you, it means whatever you want it to mean, except for bad words.

 

Your daddy just said yesterday that we need to have a video camera on

you at all times.  You so often say things that just crack us up.  Your teacher comes up to me just about every day to tell me another "Emmalee story." 

 

You have several really good friends, and I love to watch you play with them.  When you are together,

you and your friends have such great imaginations.  You get your toys out (lots of them!), and I hear over and over, "And then let's pretend, or "How about we do this?"  I love that

you are able to tell stories and use your imagination so well.

 

You are in your third year of your three year "Let's Play Music" piano course.

Over the past two years, you've learned so much about music and piano and now it's

all coming together.  You'll go downstairs, sit at the piano,

and just start playing.

 

You are a very brave little girl!  Just before Winter Break, you had your music program at school.  The day before the program, the music teacher asked if you'd perform a solo speaking part throughout one of the songs.  I fully expected you to say no as you have a pretty strong case of stage fright.  I was so amazed when you came home with the music, the CD and started practicing.

You got up on that stage and did a great job.

 

You LOVE school.  You have an amazing teacher, and I think that has a lot to do with it.  You ask for me to give you math worksheets on the weekend.  Your favorite subjects are Math, Readers Workshop, Art, PE, Music, and Computer Lab.  You still spell phonetically, so we are working on that.  Your grades are awesome...and you're becoming an even more well-rounded person.  Today, you were a bit quiet.  I asked what was wrong and you said you were "school-sick," kinda like homesick.

 

Ryan would like you to know that you're loud, extremely energetic and loves to play outside. 

{smile}

 

Your most favorite thing to now is play with the kitten, Dash.  You love to play

with her, chase her, take care of her, talk to her ....

 

My most favorite part about you is your heart.  You have the sweetest, softest heart.

You care so much about others, and you'll go out of your way to help

those that need it.  Just today you told me that the most important thing to you

is your family.  We still get those monkey hugs that we love (yes,  you're still a tiny thing and we can still lift you). 

 

We are looking forward to see how you grow and change between now and your next

birthday.  We are so lucky to be your family.

 

Love ~ Mom