Grace at 7 years old

Grace turned 7 in January. I can't believe she is that old. I want to put a few things down about her at this age to remember for the future.

-She is still very sweet and kind hearted. She cares for others and is very aware of their feelings. She tries to make the person feel better when they are sad or hurt.

-She loves to play. She likes to play house, littlest pet shop, Barbies and art. She gets up extra early in the mornings before school so she has time to play for a little while before we have to leave. She never wants to stop playing when it's time to go to bed either.

-She still like Curious George cartoons. Even though she's growing up, she still wants to watch Curious George every morning before school. She makes me wake her up at 6:45am so that she can lay on the couch with all of her blankets, watch Curious George and drink hot chocolate before she has to get ready for school. After she gets ready for school then she goes and plays for about 10 minutes before we leave.

-She's still a deep thinker. She contemplates serious things and always asks lots of questions. She tends to worry a lot too. But, I'm happy to say that over the last 6 months, her worrying has subsided quite a bit.

-She has a "BFF" at school. Sara Kathryn is her bff at school. They have had several sleepovers and play days together. They also cheered together for Upwards.

-She is already experiencing the drama of girls at school. She comes home at least 2 or 3 times a week telling me all about the drama between her and the girls in her class. Someone always gets mad because the other is playing with someone else, or sitting by someone else. Poor Grace always seems to be in the middle trying to make everyone happy. She runs between the squabbling girls trying to make peace so they can all be friends.

-She's doing very well in school. Her reading and writing have dramatically improved since the beginning of the year. She has learned a whole lot this year. Joni tested her reading for me and she tested at the end of a 2nd grade level in reading. She doesn't really love to read but is starting to want to read a little on her own when she goes to bed at night.

-She is getting picky about food. She doesn't want to eat what I fix for dinner. She wants sweets WAY too much and always says she wants hot dogs for dinner.

-She still likes to wear cute girly clothes. She wears more pants/jeans now though. She doesn't have to have a dress or skirt like she used too. But, the funny thing is, she doesn't like to go shopping. She has no interest in looking through the racks of clothes at the store. But when I just bring clothes home for her she definitely has an opinion and doesn't always want what I pick out.

-She does not like to do homework. We had some trouble with me having to nag her every night to get her homework done. So, I didn't nag her for 1 week and let her forget to do her homework. The teacher and I were working together on this effort. The day she didn't have her homework done, they talked about it at school and she got in a little trouble. The teacher help her come up with a schedule of when she will do her homework every evening. So far it's worked pretty well. I've been impressed with how she has stuck to her plan. She still doesn't like to do it though. She's too interested in playing when she gets home.

-She still loves to rides bikes and explore outside. Eric takes the girls exploring at the river and they love it. She LOVES to get dirty and muddy.

-She still sleeps with her blankie.

-She is a rule follower and a pleaser at school and at home, for the most part.

-She doesn't like to clean up but does it much more willingly now than in the past.

-She is very tall. She is 50 inches tall which is in the 83rd percentile.

-She weighs 53 pounds, which is in the 64th percentile.