Ages and Stages My FIVE Year Old

Samantha will be 5 first thing in the morning. And this is one of the hardest birthdays for me yet. It is a big age. (I'm sure I say that every year.) But...

This is the age that she is no longer a baby, toddler, or preschooler. She is a kid.

This age means that she is exiting the early childhood molding stage. We have left our impression on her. The impression of what friendships and marriages should look like. What it means to have a relationship with God. We have shown her the values that we hold dearly. Honesty. Forgiveness. Service. (And sometimes I have to cross my fingers and pray we SHOWED her, not just told her, well enough for it to sink in. Yes. I know she can still be taught. It's never too late. But I am thouroghly convinced that much of my values came from my early childhood.)

Continuing on...

This is the age of huge leaps in learning. She is reading so much more fluently. Books. Not just random words. She is adding. Subtracting. Asking questions and wanting to know where the answers came from. (And this is just the beginning. We have a whole 365 more days for learning until she is 6.)

This is the year of many friendships. She has made so many new "friends" already. Friends that she has a lot in common with. Friends she picked by herself. Not because Mommy is friends with their Mommy. She is running  off with her friends. Only looking back on occassion to make sure I am still there. (That is comforting.)

This is the age of understanding. The age where she can hold an intelligent conversation about more than her favorite food or friends. (Which is completely fine, and I Love to hear it.) But I like to hear about the discoveries she has made and why she thinks they are that way.

This age means that I have been a Mom for 5 (Almost 6 years if you include pregnancy. That takes parenting too.) Either way. Half a decade. We have made it through pregnancy. The excitement. The arguements-being not only new, but young parents. The sore feet and foot rubs. That one craving/mood swing that nearly scared Jessie to tears. The newborn stage, and after birth soreness. No sleep nights. (Although those were rare.) The age of cuddles from a miniature being. Learning what it is to be a Mom. We made it through the baby stage. The strollers. And rattles. Bouncy seats. And high chairs. We have made it through the crawling and learning to self feed. And all those abnormal things like swallow studies and therapy. We made it through the toddler stage of hiding toys. Throwing fits. And saying no to EVERYTHING. The age of learning colors and loving to dance. We made it through the 3s, which were just as delightful as they were horrific at times. A mix between 2 and 4. She was learning herself. She was playing with others. She had to know how her world worked. Always eager to learn. But still the fits from time to time. And the 4s. Still eager to learn. But "knows everything" there is to know about anything. Her talents, likes, dislikes, and beliefs really started shining through.

We have made it through years of birthdays and Christmases. We have made it through each of the seasons many times around. We have made it through two major moves. Three cars. Several different bed comforters...Odd, I know, but it holds special meaning to Jessie and me. We have made it through every valley, every mountain top together. And we have grown as a family. Jessie and I have never been closer. Samantha has never meant so much to us as she does today. And tomorrow she will mean even more. And now here we are. 5s...

To another year that is worth every minute of my time and every ounce of my effort. The year of new beginnings. A completely new adventure in childhood. Like becoming a new Mom all over again.

The Newborn Stage. The stage of "Homebound." The age of sleeping all the time.

Had to share a picture of MY Baby stage. I was 16, and just learning the ins and outs of being a Mom.

And...Jessie's Baby stage. The stage where he was just figuring out how to be a Dad.

The stage of learning communication. Learning what is funny. When someone is sad or mad.

The age of Playdough. (We still play Playdough, but this was the first time ever.)

The stage of Peanut Butter and Vanilla Wafers for snack every Friday.

The stage of Me going to college. And Samantha pretending to also.

The stage of first learning to bake.

The stage of Baby Dolls.

The stage of LOTS of dress up.

The Big Girl Stage, Extra Curriculars.

The stage where seasons got exciting!

The My Best Friend Stage. The age where she could have a REAL conversation. The age where she could go with me and behave the ENTIRE time. The age where Mommyhood became 100% bliss 99.9% of the time.

The age for Personal Style.

When she became a Beautiful Young Lady, not Baby.

The age of "I just want to sit and listen to my music, read books, and "chill."

This is our family Nowadays. We are still growing together, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

And here we are now...The stage of Many New Friendships

Learning to Read

Learning to Add and Subtract

And the age of Independence. Where she can have fun without Mommy, but always comes running back at the end of the day.