Growing Up

Aaaannnndddd.... she's back!

The computer is now set up on the desk again, as it should be for comfortable writing. Christmas and all it's happening (some planned, some not at all....R.I.P. Grandmother Dot. Dot.) My niece and her new husband are off on their honeymoon in Disneyworld. And all is , pretty much, settling down.

Yeah, so.... we're all moved in to our new home and absolutely loving it. If there is one word to describe this house, it's "cozy." It's about half the size - or less! - than our old house, but it's completely enough room for the 3 of us and our 2 cats. And Sweetie... well, I just cannot express to you just how well she has done with this move! Not one problem with adjusting to the new space at all. I feel that her not having to change schools in all of this has played a huge role in her adapting so well. She has had that constant this whole time and for that we are very thankful.

Beyond adjusting so well, Sweetie has been incredibly helpful during the moving process. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to ask Sweetie to stop what she's doing and help me by taking things upstairs or downstairs both while packing up the old house and moving into the new house. And, seriously, every time she has in fact stopped and helped out. Without complaint. She has been a great, great kid during all of this. She is growing up and doing really well in all sorts of different areas.

For example, she is freaking out less and less about certain things that - not too long ago - would have sent her over the edge. She brought home a small, 2 story gingerbread house that she built with a friend's mom in school the other day. The house was in a paper bag and I went to take it out once we were home. I could see that it had already fallen apart a bit, as Sweetie feared it may have. Then, as I went extract the remaining structure from the bag, even more of it fell to pieces. Right in front of Sweetie's eyes. Aaaaannnnnddd.....

... she was sad, but that's it. She didn't cry. She didn't blame. She didn't get angry. She just whined (eh. not even) a few times that she wished it didn't break more. And that was it. Some of the house was still together and all the parts were still there. She even tried to put it all together again, but when she saw that that wasn't happening so much, she was okay with that too. Wow. Is this really my child?

Of course, she can manage her emotions so much better like this in some cases, yet still flip out over some other things. But mostly, we are seeing a great improvement in her behavior and social development. We are so proud of her!

Happy (belated) 7th Birthday, Sweetie. Looking forward to this next year and all the great things in store for you and our family. Love you!