Not So Little

Goodness, there are a lot of December birthdays. Pretty much the whole month of December we talk about someone’s birthday. Ruby’s is first, then Matt’s, cousins, aunts, then our sponsored kid-Dina, more family birthdays, Jesus’ birthday, grandparents, a new cousin, more family, and an aunt.

Our oldest kid is four years old. FOUR. She’s not so little anymore. At times, her legs seem to stretch to the sky. She still reminds us that she’s little…but “not so little”. Sometimes she’ll talk about going back to being a baby and we have to talk about that it’s not possible to do that.

Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes we would like to have her as a baby again, but quite honestly we are enjoying each stage.

There’s a lot less of this:

And more of this:

She can also dress herself, go to the potty, not have very many accidents or hardly any at all, feed herself, separate from adults easily, drink out of a cup, kick a moving ball, throw a football, hit a ball on a tee, run, hop, skip, and jump off of objects without fear . She also knows all her letters, letter sounds, counts to 20, knows numerals 1-20, all her shapes and colors. She’s also working on sounding out simple CVC words (i.e. dog, cat, sat, sit, box, etc.), getting a good grasp on money and base 10 counting. That list isn’t a big deal to many people, but for us we’ve been working on it for a steady four years.

Nowadays she is almost a full time horse and her calf ears have evolved into horse ears. She would wear them 24/7 if we let her, but we have to give her hair a break every two days. She even has a halter that Matt made her a few weeks ago out of lacing strings. “Mama, is it alright I be a horse right now?”

She likes the snow and dislikes the heat of summer.

She does not get cold easily but gets hot and sweaty on a 70 degree day.

Her favorite toys are the ones that help her act like a horse, act out horse activities, ranch toys, her scooter that lives at the shop and a good stuffed animal.

She’s been working hard on learning about the money system. She has the option of earning money when she goes above and beyond her regular chores. After dividing the money out to spending, saving and tithes/giving jars, her dime for folding clothes doesn’t go too far. Some weeks she rakes in the dough. Other weeks, well, I don’t think any money gets exchanged. Her first purchase was at the Dollar Tree. A new crown, some accessories and a horse figurine was the total price of $3.20. Her next big purchase of a $5 horse has been her favorite. It takes her a long time to get to those five dollars and it almost burns a hole in her pocket. She’s learning though.

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are still the norm, but she loves Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry more and more.

She itches to go out for a good walk at least three times a week and requests to go to work with Papa B at least twice a week, if not more. (Not surprisingly that our walks usually end up at the shop, corrals, or in the fields with Papa B)

She’s a good worker while with Papa B. She stays close, isn’t a too much of a risk taker, is easily entertained by watching bugs, finding wrenches, playing in the dirt, jumping in puddles, riding in a tractor for hours or just watching and learning.

Her legs are getting so long and she reminds us frequently throughout the day that she is getting bigger and bigger. “But not so big, Mama”.

She has a sweet spirit and is always inquisitive about what is going on around her; the sounds, the smell, the emotions and the workings of things. “Mama, talk about….” Is the usual phrase I hear from the backseat. She asks questions about anything from blood vessels, how trees go dormant in the winter to how a septic tank system works.

God. She has been very interested in creation, how God works, how he wants people to “be”, the choices people make and how He made things. She is also starting to develop a sweet, discerning spirit. “Is he nice, Mama?”

We love this little girl and pray for her future and the big things to come for her.

Four.

“I’m little but not so little, Mama.”

Yes, Ruby, you are little but not so little.