Eight is Great

Dear Ane,

Happy 8th Birthday, my big girl!  I will not recount the story of your birth and your delayed entrance into the world because, as you told me, “Mom, I know, you’ve told me before.”

(If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were turning 13, not 8.)

You’ve had a full year, and a busy one, and we’ve seen some real changes in you.  You enjoy being a helper, and you always have, but now you are getting old enough to help on a larger scale, especially at church.  You really have become quite a popular helper there, and we often hear reports of how amazing you are.  You also have become more responsible with both of your brothers, especially Rerun, though that doesn’t always mean that they don’t annoy you terribly sometimes, and that you aren’t always as nice to them as you could be.  You are working hard on accepting that Tad will never be the brother that you see that your friends have.  This is not easy – for any of us.  But I know that eventually, you will set such an example of kindness and tolerance among your friends that you will be known by it, and you will set the example in the future for how Rerun will treat Tad.  We’ve already seen glimmers of it, and those moments when you stand up for the defenseless are among the times when I am the proudest of you.

School is old hat to you now, and you love being there, learning and working and playing hard.  I am so proud of how well and how much you read, and when I compare how much that has changed from a year ago, I can hardly believe the difference.

Things that were very important to you a year ago have become less important now.  You no longer dig your heels in about vegetables or trying new foods (which makes my life SO much easier).  You no longer insist that you have to go to college someday – ever since you decided to open a cupcake shop someday, you’ve decided that pastry school would be a much better idea.  (For now.)  Your feminine tastes have matured – you still love Princesses, pink, and long, flowing nightgowns, but you have moved beyond so many “little girl” things.  It’s hard to believe that I really have an eight-year-old on my hands, and not a impish little girl anymore.  You are sweet and stubborn, compassionate, yet critical, faithful and forthright.  In short, you are growing up.

So, as I mix up pink peppermint frosting for your chocolate cupcakes today, I will remember that you are growing up so very quickly, and that as much as I miss the little girl that you once were, I cherish the big girl that you are now and the young lady that you are becoming.

I love you, Ane, so very much.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.”  Numbers 6:24-26

Happy 8th Birthday!

Love,
Mom

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 at 12:44 am and is filed under Announcements, Children.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed and Both comments and pings are currently closed.