The Girl is Seven

I still stare at you, the long skinny girl in front of me and wonder where my chubby little baby girl with the rolls on your thighs that met all the way to your knees went.

You taped your stick horse and scooter together all by yourself to pretend you were riding a horse.

Now you are tall, beautiful, intuitive and articulate. I often think you aren't paying attention at all and then you surprise me days or weeks later by pointing at some plant or animal and telling me what it is and all sorts of details about it.

You love animals, of all kinds. Kittens, dogs, birds, rodents, horses, you like them all. You will fearlessly pick up all sorts of bugs and make houses for them. You spent the summer catching butterflies. You actually caught quite a few. You are, however, afraid of spiders, because you know some are poisonous.

You actually got him to sleep here.

 You are an excellent big sister and a baby holding pro. I love having your help, and the way you run up and ask if you can hold him all the time. He likes you and grins a lot when you play with him. You can get him to laugh and stop being fussy faster than any one else.

You are always up to something. You have grand ideas for things you will make and if I leave you to it you usually bring it to completion. In that way your ability to focus is excellent. You leave in your wake a trail of paper, glitter, glue and random fabulous objects you have constructed.

You grated a guava to make the "guacamole" for this taco.

Your heart is so tender and lovely. Underneath all your silly flighty everyday interactions there are deep still pools where you process and treasure things. You are aware of everyone. You know when someone is happy or sad, and often how to fix it. You carry people in your heart and sometimes your natural empathy is crippling. You worry about things that the other kids don't and you sometimes cling to me when there is nothing to be afraid of.

You also feel every day slights and disappointments very deeply. But you are getting better all the time at self control, and letting go of things that aren't important. It makes me proud to watch you get stronger that way.

You love to be outdoors. You notice everything. Every leaf, every rock, you examine it all.

You are tough. You can take a fall or a tumble and just keep on going. You are the last one to tire on a straight uphill hike, the last to complain. You are also tough when it comes to wrestling around with your brother or daddy. Unless you are so tired you shouldn't be wrestling anyway, you can take your beats and give them out with out so much as flinching.

You are really good at solving problems on your own. You get tired of waiting for me or someone else to help you with something and you often invent a solution that is better than what we would have done anyway.

You love your big brother, and think he's super cool. I've also watched you take it upon yourself to protect him from time to time, in the way that sisters can. You want to translate him to others, and help him to fit in. You are a natural at fitting in. He isn't. I really hope that you can stay able to make others at ease and find common ground but that you never lose your sense of self and who you are. I expect it to be a challenging line for you to walk.

Did I mention that you are beautiful?

You are so different from me in many ways. I find I need to be the most mindful with you, to pay the most attention. I make more mistakes and misunderstand you often because of our differences. You are always so quick to forgive me when I wrong you by accident.

I'm ever grateful for the girl that you are and the girl that you are becoming. It's an honor to be your mother.

I love you always,

Your Mama