M turns 5

No, I haven't actually forgotten about this blog - though it might seem that way.....  In my absence, M turned five.  FIVE!  I don't know how that happened because last time I looked, she was a baby in my arms.

Some random details about my youngest:

Favorite color:  Black  (of course, if pressed, she will say she loves all the colors)
Favorite book:  The Princess in Black, by Shannon Hale
Favorite animal:  black jaguar (if pressed, again, she will say she loves all the animals)

Are you sensing a theme here?  She wears black as often as my laundry schedule will allow and I have to admit, it's very useful for lots of pretending.  Besides the jaguar, she can be a crook, Lindsay Sterling (see her favorite video here), Darth Vader, Toothless, or now, the Princess in Black.

Favorite foods:  hummus and pretzels and goldfish (these foods sustain life for her) and anything chocolaty

At preschool, she said she wants to be a vet so she can take care of animals, and at home, sometimes she'll say a zookeeper, but when I asked her this weekend, she wouldn't commit and said, "I really just want to be an animal.  I wish I was a black jaguar cub."  A few weeks ago, she told me we needed to fix our dam (the one the kids built in the backyard) so that the fairies will come to our yard and turn her into a real animal.  :)

She likes to be with people so much, she can't fall asleep on her own.

After every bath, she has to wrap up in her towel and pretend to hatch from an egg.  And we have to pretend we think she's really a rock.  :)

She loves the Wild Kratts.

She likes to pick out songs on the piano.  She's figured out the Star Wars theme and the Mission Impossible theme and a few others.  She really wants to learn the violin, too.

When she prays, she asks that bad people will be good and that the poor and the hungry will have what they need.  I get a little weepy every time.

For her birthday, her brothers all made her gifts.  Two made different police badges for her pretending, and the other made a batch of play dough.  She was thrilled.

She was also very excited to get a larger Lego set for her birthday, just like her brothers.  Not Lego Friends because she can tell those are just for girls.

 She can hardly wait for kindergarten, but I personally am enjoying her littleness while I can.  How long can you wear a black mask to the store and get away with it?  Not long enough.