My FIVE year old

My dear daughter turned five yesterday. I can't believe I have a five year old. Time goes by so quickly, I realize how much of who she is has already formed. Her character is developing and the time where WE as her parents are her greatest influence is running short. We've not done a perfect job by any stretch of the imagination, but I am so very proud of the little girl she is. I took a few moment yesterday to reflect on some of my favorite things about Ava.

1) Ava follows directions to a T and strives to keep others in check;) She often can be heard trying to direct her brother to obedience. Often this quality in her makes me laugh. A few examples:

-The dentist told her we are supposed to help her brush her teeth until she's 8. Heaven forbid a night goes by when she does it herself. At the mere suggestion, she will quote the dentist's instructions verbatim.

-The first time Marc used conditioner on her hair, he read the instructions aloud (he'd never used conditioner on himself, so he didn't know what I was asking him to use;). She now wants to make very sure that we have "let it sit for two minutes" before rinsing.

-Similarily, when we bought her Flouride mouth rinse, we read the directions. She could be coughing up a storm or have cotton mouth, but if thirty minutes have not yet elapsed she will not take a drink of water because "the bottle says wait thirty minutes before drinking water."

2) Ava is one of the most grateful children I have ever met. She get's VERY excited about receiving gifts and is genuinely touched at the guesture. She is quick to say thank you without needing a reminder from mom. Just yesterday we took her to a movie for her birthday (a big treat for her), when we got in the car to go home she said (completely unprompted) "Thank you Mom and Papa for giving me such a special birthday.":)

3) She is VERY helpful. I am aware of parents tendancy to put too much responsibility on the firstborn. I try to keep it in balance, but she is just so darn helpful. If I am busy she will get the stool and get her brother a drink of water and has even put her brother to nap while I am feeding Chloe. I don't ask her to do these things, but it warms my heart to see her servant spirit in action.

4) Her teacher called her "a compassionate leader". I don't know how we could be more proud. She doesn't follow, she sets the tone in the classroom, but she sets out to make sure everyone is included and cared for.

5) She is a girly girl. She loves pink and princesses. She dreams and dances. I love her femininity.

6) She loves our family and makes effort to tell us so.

7) She has a heart that if learning to love and follow Jesus and asks such thought provoking questions about God and the bible.

8) She is SMART and loves to learn and explore.

9) She is imaginative and a dreamer. She is different from me in this way but I love to hear her crazy stories and watch her make up games to play with her brother. It's fascinating!

10) She is very honest. If you ask her what happened and she just hit her brother, she'll tell you "I hit Phin". This year, she told me my belly was big (painfully honest) and my very favorite was when we went to the dentist in September for her six month check up and the dentist asked, "Do you floss your teeth?" Ava replied, "We never do, but my mom DID do it today before we came here." (busted:)

Happy Birthday, my dear, wonderful five year old!