For her birthday, we had a special mom 'n daughter morning of ridiculously overpriced, but fantastic iced coffee drinks followed by a trip to the salon for manicures. We ended with a round of shopping. It was a wonderful morning. In some ways it is fun to have a child beginning to enjoy some of the things I do, in other ways it is scary. I'm realizing again how important it is for me to keep my own vices in check, but that's another post...
My Banana is becoming quite a young lady and she makes me very proud. She is chatty, chatty, chatty, and always inventing some new way to accomplish some task. Ask her to help unload the dishwasher and you will most likely get a look, but pretend she owns a cleaning company and hire her to empty the dishwasher and she goes above and beyond. As I count down the days to the arrival of our newest child, I'm even more convinced that we are so blessed to have Banana as our oldest as I know she will be such a big help. She already is. More than helpful, she is learning to grow in virtue. Sometimes I wish those lessons came more quickly, but she is teaching me that I also need to grow in patience. It is amazing to watch her bloom.
In the midst of the trial of Peter's surgery and recovery, Banana got her braces. I think they make her look even older and I was amazed when I saw how much she no longer looked like a little girl. She carefully chose colors (purple and green) for the braces. Her careful color selections, her new short hair cut, the beginnings of primping, and she just is entering a new phase. Still she will always be this sweet girl to me.
