Katie 4.4

Katie has taken another developmental jump. It's just been in the past week and maybe it correlated with a growth spurt (I think she grew two inches at the same time)! She's now 41" tall and we can schedule our trip to Disneyland since she'll be able to go on all the rides she wants. She just seems to have shed all her toddler-isms and even the pre-schooler-ness about her seems to be fading quickly. She's a young girl right now and frankly I'm quite sad about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of the person she is, but dammit, can it slow down a little bit for this sentimental mom to get tired of one phase before the next one come on?!?

Katie is still a very emotional girl and I'm so worried about how tough she may find the world to be sometimes. She has the biggest heart for her friends and is SO excited to make new friends. The best part about going to the park is that she might meet a new girl. It's such a joy to see what a happy child she is - after so many tough times and lots of tantrums and so many tears, it does seem that she is quite a happy little lark. Her big heart extends to animals (never met one that she hasn't just loved - except maybe the wiley wolf, aka big, fat coyote that was hanging around our house a few months ago) and even to those rowdy boys in her class. She is so eager to greet the world and see and do and be - on a little girl level, of course. We're trying hard to balance independence with still protecting her, providing guidelines and boundaries where appropriate and even letting her stumble so she learns her own limitations, her own boundaries, her own mistakes.

Katie is sleeping in her own big girl bed by herself now. It's been about a week and she visits us a couple of times a night and we visit her a couple of times but she's going to bed on her own now - sort of. She's pretty proud of herself but still not entirely sure about sleeping in that "big bed" in that "big room" all by herself. Frankly, I'm not so sure either. Butch says "progress" and I just tell him it's one less connection we have with her.

She does seem so grown up from the itty bitty we brought home a little more than four years ago. Ready to take on the world - although she's kinda timid and would like mom and dad right behind her as she takes that big world on! Ready for kindergarten this fall (yes, she asked me when she would be in kindergarten last night after a visit to the playground). There were two girls who will be starting that the local primary school this fall in kindergarten. These girls just turned 5 or will be 5 in a few weeks. K will be doing kinder at the French School and by their standards, is totally ready for it. But when I compare her to the girls on the playground (who were 8 months or more older than K), I just wanted to keep my munchie (short for munchkin) in pre-school for another year. The girls were so much bigger than K and not very friendly. I just wanted to protect her, but let her chase after them anyhow. She's doing well at the French School and won't be in class with them for years, if ever.

I asked Butch the other day if our children were an extension of us, a reflection of us or just their own self? I don't really know the answer, but I do know that she keeps surprising me with just how amazing she is.