I posted a week or so ago a picture of Anne at 3 1/2 years old but I didn't give any updates. As I have spent some time these past few weeks looking back at where she was last year at this time and the year before at this time, I am amazed at her growth. I know I say it every year, or even every few months, but she is truly a big girl now. She can run not only well now but far! The other day we went on an hour long walk and she walked nearly the entire time. There were parts where she wanted to run and I ran next to her-I was running nearly full out and she was keeping pace with me! In fact, I had to stop running (well, I didn't have to but I was getting tired!) and she wanted to keep going! It was amazing to see how far she has come in a few years-from hardly being able to run more than a few steps to walking for nearly an hour without complaining. She's also so good at kicking a soccer ball. I'm serious, this kid kicks/dribbles the ball so well. I have never seen a kid do it so controlled. We wanted to get her into soccer, but she insisted on ballet. She says that Jamie will play soccer and she will do ballet-but I think we will eventually sign her up because she clearly has some talent in the sport. She is great at climbing things too and can climb most things in the playground without help. Coordination and gross motor skills still aren't the things she naturally excels at but she is getting so much better.
Anne is also learning her ABCs and numbers. I am so proud of her. It is something I have worked with her off an on for the past year or more and she is now, mostly on her own, getting it. I am surprised to see that without much work, she knows nearly all her letters and without any work at all, she knows some numbers. This just goes to show me that of course as parents we have to teach our children things and work with them on things but mostly they will learn things in their own time, on their own schedule. In addition to knowing her letters and numbers, she can spell and write her name!
Anne has been in preschool for a few months now. She is enjoying it. She doesn't share a lot of what happens, but when I talk to the other mothers it seems that is par for the course. She is finally starting to make a few friends there, which is encouraging and exciting. In addition, Anne goes to something called "Kids Club" every week at our church while I am at Bible Study. It is truly amazing how much she is learning-she is able to tell the stories all back to me as well as talk to me about abstract faith concepts. I love it. We have started to pray with Anne more often and talk with her more about our faith, so it is really exciting to hear her in the back seat of the car, while we are running late, say "Mommy, I just prayed that we wouldn't be late." It's great.
So, in a few paragraphs, that is what my little three and a half year old is up to. I adore having such an older kid. It is so fun to be able to do things with her as well as have real back and forth conversations. I feel very blessed.
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