SEVEN years old!

A is seven. I am not sure why, but SEVEN seems like it's SO old (at least for my kids to be). She is done with first grade and is now in second. This is a HUGE jump for me! Is she really old enough to be a second grader?! The answer is a resounding YES. This little (or should I say, "big"?) girl is pretty mature and very smart.  Too often are my expectations for her set a little too high and I do have to remind myself that despite how bright she is and despite how mature she can act, she still is just seven.

She is an amazing reader. I love to read, and even as a child I could be found in bedroom reading for hours, but I don't remember doing that at her age. I can always tell when she is starting to feel a little overwhelmed by her siblings because she will go into her room, lay on her bed and read. Even at night time, she will be up for an hour past going to bed, reading. I love seeing her passion for it.... now it's just a problem of keeping up with her book demands! We will be making LOTS of trips to the library!! :)

She has such a caring heart. She is always suggesting praying for people, or doing something for others. She loves planning things. Just this past weekend she attempted to plan a surprise party for our family for when we got home from a trip. She even created a guest list, decorations and menu. Unfortunately, she wrote all this down in a note to her grandma and the note was never delivered. You could tell that she FULLY expected her instructions to be carried out, though! :)

A is still very much the oldest child. She is constantly trying to take care of her sister and brothers. One minute she may be telling on them for doing something bad, and then the next minute, when her sibling is getting in trouble, she will try to defend them so their punishment isn't so severe. 

Right now we are trying to figure out some sort of fun after school activity for her. She works so hard on her school work and is starting to act as though it might be stressful for her. No seven year old should feel stressed about their school work, so I'm hoping that if she has something fun to focus on as well, then she won't focus and stress so much on the school work. We will test it out and see how it goes. I also don't want to put too much on her plate, so we will have to find something with a good balance. 

I am sad about my baby girl growing up so quickly, but at the same time I am enjoying the relationship that we are forming. I can't wait to see how it grows this next year!