Watch Me Fly

 I often say that God knew my Clair was going to be a middle child, even when we didn't, so he gave her a personality that would keep her from getting lost in the shuffle. She came out feisty. If this gives you any hint to her personality, I was scheduled to be induced with her but when I went into the hospital they told me I was already in labor and didn't need to be induced. She has always done things her own way and on her own schedule. By one year old she already had a vocabulary of a couple dozen words and was speaking whole sentences by eighteen months old. She has an incredible memory. She can hear a song once and remember almost the whole thing. She has a crazy imagination and can tell you the most dramatic story. She is also the sweetest girl I know. Everything is always answered with a "yes ma'am" or "thank you". She loves to give out compliments and cuddles.

 We started out the school year, having recently turned three, doing preschool work pages. She insists on doing school work with the big kids. She breezed right through those worksheets and wanted more. Then we moved onto some old kindergarten books that I had in the closet. She did those without a problem. This fall she will be turning four and will be officially starting kindergarten. I think my only real challenge will be remembering that she is still little and that she has a little person's attention span.

 My two biggest fears with Clair are that I may squash this amazing potential that God has placed in her or, on the flip side, that I may expect so much out of her that she feels pressured to be something she isn't. Don't you ever wish as a parent that you could see the future? Maybe it's better that we can't. I've come to the conclusion with this precious one that my job is to give her the strong roots that she needs, steer her in the right direction, and then just watch her fly.

A card she wrote, by herself, for her cousin's birthday. I just told her how to spell it.