And now you are five.
My phone keeps sending my photos to reminds me of days gone by. The chubby cheeks you were sporting last year, the blonde bowl cut from the year before, and the chubby little legs you were graced with as a toddler. It all seems so long ago now you are five.
You have grown tall and stretched upwards towards the sun. Your hair is long and knot-free (a miracle). You fight against holding my hands unless we are by the busiest of roads. You want to run ahead, moving as fast as your legs will let you. Your knees are always grazed and bruised from trips and stumbles as you race ahead.
You want to do everything your big sister can do; you already can’t wait to be nine. You chatter non-stop, telling me about your day and your dreams and your memories. Nothing gets forgotten. You love recounting stories from your past, repeating stories I’ve told you about when you were younger.
You are a force to be reckoned with. Your nursery teacher once asked me if you ruled the roost, and I suppose you do. Your big sister sometimes tries to resist you to teach you a lesson, but she can’t stand it when you’re upset, so she usually gives in. Your little sister is besotted with you; even as you drag her about the room, she smiles happily because she loves having fun with you.
You love fiercely and seek out physical contact. You are usually sat on or against us, clambering over your sisters to claim the best seat. You hug your best friend tightly and hold her hand whenever you can. You are forever cuddling or sitting on your favourite staff members at school.
You are happiest with others, though you do like to play make-believe games by yourself. You can play for hours with your sister, disappearing for whole afternoons, lost in an imagined world of seas and baddies and spies. You like playing board games and doing arts and crafts, and running around letting off steam. You love books and read every day, we share the responsibility of bedtime stories these days, and you often read to your little sister during the day.
Now, let us see what five brings.
