Something There

"We'll wait and see...a few days more...there may be something there that wasn't there before." (Something There, Beauty and the Beast)

Laura has changed by leaps and bounds from summer 2012 to summer 2013.  Some of it may be due to the fact that last summer, she was dealing with a huge change with the birth of Ryan.  But up to about age 4, Laura had always been a pretty shy, timid girl, hesitant to take chances or try new things.  She would cry upon separation or out of frustration in not knowing how to handle something new (swimming lessons, smacking a pinata at a birthday party, etc.)

This summer Laura has become a much more confident, grown-up big girl and Mike and I could not be prouder.  She takes a lot of pride herself in being a good big sister, and loves to entertain and help with Ryan.  If you remember, swimming lessons last year was kind of a disaster.  She entered the same "guppies" class this year and was still a bit hesitant about putting her head under the water, but didn't cry every day at lessons.  Parents only get to watch two of the days in the session; once in the middle and once on the last day.  On the middle viewing day, she did ok but was still trying to avoid water on her face.  Both Mike and I watched the last day and were astounded to see this little fish in the water, bravely ducking her head under, floating on her back, and jumping in without hesitation. He thought I was kind of a dork but I got a little teary thinking of how far she had come in a year.

Another sign to me that she was more confident was our yearly summer park party.  The park and rec department puts this event on and offers crafts, snacks, face painting and hairdos, and the police car and fire truck visit.  In previous years, Laura would want a cookie, would maybe do a craft or two, and check out the fire truck.  She's probably declined face painting on about 5 different occasions.  This year, she marched right up to face painting and asked for a butterfly all by herself, and then scooted over to the hair station and had her hair sprayed with pink and purple streaks.  She climbed up in the fire truck and had a chat with a firefighter, and when she saw kids were getting police badges, walked right on over to the uniformed police officer and politely asked for a badge.  One of her gymnastics friends appeared on the scene and she ran right over to say hello and ask her to play.  It was so fun to watch her get the most out of an event and really enjoy it.

When we were at Ruttger's for vacation a couple of weeks ago, she really wanted to attend Kids' Kamp (the child care program) one morning for a pirate island pontoon ride and treasure hunt.  My stomach was in knots all morning long before I dropped her off - she didn't know any of the kids, all the leaders were new and unfamiliar to me, they were going to be out on the water - but she was very firm about wanting to go. When I dropped her off she was definitely the youngest but there was no hesitation when I said goodbye, and when I went back to pick her up she asked to stay longer!  She also was not afraid to approach or speak to other kids (we are trying to break her habit of actually calling unknown kids "kid"), saying hi to kids she met at Kids's Kamp or approaching older kids to ask to borrow pool toys.

A couple of days ago, a big sparkly pink princess backpack arrived in the mail.  It's for preschool.  I can't believe I have a kid who is going to put that on her back and walk in the door to start her education in a little more than a month.  She knocks my socks off and I can't wait to see what happens when we unleash her on the rest of the world.  As Mike and I say, "Love that Gooz."

I leave you with a conversation from this evening:
Laura (quietly to herself): "In two more days I get to be a princess..."
Mom: "Why do you have to wait two more days until you can be a princess?"
L: "Because mom, that's my schedule."