Look at the hair on this girl! Gorgeous, I tell you! I'm her mom and even I'M jealous of it! I am amazed at how long it is, and every once in a while, when we let it do its own natural thing, I'm amazed at how wavy it is. What a lucky girl! I guess if I can't have hair like that myself, at least I get to see it every day!
I've noticed a bit of a change in Emily's personality recently. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is... maybe she's just growing up, maybe I've just finally stopped allowing the other, louder and whinier kids to distract me and noticed her, but she's definitely been on my radar lately.
Perhaps it all started when we learned she was the only kid in her class to be put in the gifted program at her school. We heard that test results would be coming home soon and these results would determine who would be in the program. Jason immediately started watching the mail for the letter that would inform us of our daughter's brilliance. I, of course, rolled my eyes at him and told him not to hold his breath. Jason thinks I underestimate Emily. I don't think I do. I certainly thought she was capable of being in such a program, I just don't want to put any expectations on it. The fact that she did qualify, though, gave me that motherly pride that is so fun to brag about. Yeah, that's my girl. She's a genius.
After years of waiting, Emily has finally started learning cursive. She loves practicing her writing and sometimes, I can't tell the difference between the guide words and Em's writing. She is so focused on it... I thought she was so cute, sticking her tongue out in concentration -- I had to take her picture
I've also had fun with Emily lately through a shared interest in reading. For Christmas, she got a set of children's versions of literary classics -- books I have loved like Little Women, the Adventures of Huck Finn, Jane Eyre, and a bunch of others. My dad introduced me to such classics as a little girl -- I remember him reading Treasure Island and Black Beauty to us at bedtime -- and have always been gratefu that he started me on great literature at a young age. Em has been reading these books and we've been talking about them and are trying to watch the movies of the books we read. Its fun to share common hobbies.
An interest she lately has developed, which we do not share, but I find amusing is the wonderful world of tamagotchi. I assume she discovered them through friends at school, but she started asking for one and I let her do jobs until she earned the $15 necessary to buy one. I had my reservations, and sometimes I find the little thingus annoying, but I have never seen her play with any of her toys as much as she plays with that thing. One of her friends at school has several and she has let Emily borrow one of hers so that Emily could make them fall in love and get married. Then the tamagotchies eventually have a baby and the parents go off to the Parent House and Em gets to raise the baby until she can get it to marry another tamagotchi. She is very attentive to her virtual pets -- this is not making me consider letting her have a real pet though.
Another thing that is great about Emily is that she is so wonderful with Brendan. She is almost always happy to play with him and helpful in teaching him to talk. This morning, she got him out of bed when he woke up (oh how I love it when she does that and I get to sleep in a little more!) and I could hear them in the playroom as she worked on teachig him the parts of his face. "No, Brendan, that's your nose... where are your EYES? Yay!! Good boy!" She is a good little surrogate mommy to him. She takes him outside to play when I can't sit on the porch and watch him. She changes diapers happily, gets him snacks and he just adores her. I'd definitely say she's his favorite sibling.
Whenever the kids have a job to do together, Emily is the organizer. She assigns jobs and keeps the kids on task. Sometimes she's a bit of a crazed drill sargent, but other times she makes the job into a game and gets everyone to work and have fun at the same time.
She spent much of last summer trying to teach herself to play the piano, and finally, about two weeks ago, I found her a piano teacher. She is absolutely thrilled to be taking lessons and I haven't had to remind her even once to practice. In fact, we've had to tell her to STOP practicing so that Daddy can take business calls. She frequently calls me over to watch her play a song. I hope she maintains her enthusiasm, she makes me want to start practicing again!
I guess I've just realized lately that I'm lucky to have a such a great little girl. Usually I'm so wrapped up in getting things done, filing needs and trying not to strangle Dani that I don't notice the good things. I don't stop to be amused and amazed and impressed by my kids' growth and their developing personalities. She's a good one, my Emily is. I think I'll keep her.
