Spring Snapshot – Rebecca

Becca the Bean, girliest girl I know.

As far as Rebecca is concerned, anything is better if it’s pink. Or Purple. Or Red. Or Peach. That’s the list of favorite colors she’ll recite to you if you care to ask, or even if you don’t. She loves princesses and fairies and butterflies and dresses and headbands and anything else that screams GIRL! Like these ridiculous Rainbow Fairies books…

She, like Daniel, is crazy about her little sister and will to to great lengths to make her laugh. It usually involves a lot of arm flailing, head shaking, and shrieking in gibberish. What can I say? The baby digs physical comedy.

Rebecca is always doing something crafty, usually drawing a picture or a card. She is big on rainbows and flowers, and always likes to get individual eye colors correct when she’s drawing family portraits. She has also gotten into the joys of tape, so her artwork is decorating nearly every wall in our house. The one above the couch is particularly well-adorned.

She’s been in a rough four-and-a-half-year-old phase recently, a lot more whining and complaining than is her usual, quicker to dissolve into tears. TONS OF FUN, let me tell you. The whining in particular is a real trigger for me. Thankfully, she seems to be coming out of it. However, she’s reverting to her holier-than-thou “look, I’m doing good listening” bit, especially if Daniel is getting in trouble for something. One of these days, he’s gonna get so pissed at her…

Rebecca is incredibly sociable with other kids her age, especially other girls. She doesn’t have to know someone for long before she’s grabbing them by the hand and coming up with some kind of imaginary game to play. She is very sweet with other kids, and especially with kids younger than she is. She is also clever and crafty and seems to know how to be just a little bit manipulative when she needs to be. She’s so socially clued-in, I worry that this skill could morph into a Mean Girl as she gets older, if we aren’t careful to instill a real sense of empathy.

But for now, she’s delightful and sincere. She is affectionate and helpful. She spends much of her time at school doing the same works OVER and OVER again, because she knows she can do them well (ahem, I’m sure that’s NOT AT ALL like her mother), but will try new things without too much cajoling. She reads well, not quite catching up to Daniel’s fluency but still really well for her age. She loves her dance class, and is excited to get back into gymnastics soon. Swimming is a little more complicated, but we’re working on it.

My big girl. While I have no doubt she’ll give us a run for our money as she gets older, I’m going to enjoy this little-girl-ness for as long as it sticks around.