the sweetness of eightness



Little Dolly. I've been soaking up sweet-little-you at this tender age. There's something about your quiet but earnest way of talking, and your innocent way of going about life that makes me feel all soft and squishy inside. You are learning so much at this stage and growing in responsibility and work ethic, and your young detail-oriented brain speaks my language.

You're a pretty easy target for your big brothers who like to ruffle baby chick feathers. They daily aim at raising a reaction from you and often delight in their own success. You're learning to not overreact, and I think you're starting to understand that this is the brother-to-sister way of communicating love.

You've been developing your singing and music-reading skills on the piano, and practice diligently. When you play a song well for me during your lesson, you get embarrassed when I compliment you, and try to hide your smile. You tend to be quiet in a group, and don't express opinions too often in this house. Talking to adults is still a little scary for you, but you're learning to be polite.

Your artwork, handwriting, and playdough sculptures are delightfully little-girlish, and you often sit down to employ your creative energies. You're working on chores and cleaning skills, and have also been responsibly feeding and caring for your pet leopard gecko Charlie. To save money on his food, you decided to grow your own mealworms and know more than anyone in the family about the mealworm/beetle life cycle.

 A few months ago (after asking for months), we finally said "yes" to starting gymnastics. Apparently this was too good to be true, because the next morning you woke up and thought it was a dream. When you realized it actually happened, you gave us one of your best "Jada looks" (smirking with extra big eyes, trying to hide the smile), and so the fun began. Our living room now is constantly aflutter with arms and legs practicing cartwheels, headstands and somersaults.

While you are growing and learning and enjoying all the fun things in life, our prayer for you is that you would keep your eyes on the Lord, and be mindful of the overarching theme of life--the redemption from our slavery to sin that we ALL need, and the Savior that provides this for us through faith.

Psalm 119:2

How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.