Growing Up Too Fast!

I read a poem today on Facebook that just reminded me of how fleeting these growing years will be. It said that we should cherish each moment. I just kept thinking about how much I will miss seeing Grace sucking her thumb and twisting the neck of her shirt around her finger. In so many ways, she is growing up faster than I like. Some days I feel like I can actually see her maturing. She went by herself to each of the neighbors to solicit for the school fundraiser, counted the money and added up the total from the sheet by herself. Wow! She is definitely growing up! I miss my little baby girl today.

Books, Books, and More Books

I love hearing from Grace's teachers--well, most of the time, I do. Usually they tell me, "She works really hard!" (I also hear, "She talks too much and doesn't follow directions immediately." But that is another story.)  In fact Grace was retested by the speech therapist this week and her vocabulary is right where it should be for her age. I think this is amazing. In 5 years, she has caught up to her peers who have been speaking English for twice as long. Since she only has 30 minutes of speech therapy once a week during the school year, part of this has to be due to her new love of reading. I am so thankful that she won't go anywhere without a couple of books. In fact, we are trying to lighten her backpack load by eliminating a binder in her backpack, but she keeps trying to fill it up with books every day. Each morning we go through the routine of picking her favorite for the backpack and leaving the rest on the mud room bench. The next day the books all  end up back in her pack and we go through this again. She cracks me up! She also has decided that she likes going to garage sales to look for used books to put in her summer stack. I can't wait for coffee on the deck and a good book with my sweetie. Counting the days till girl time!