Dear Kenadie, please slow down!

This little girl:

is growing up too fast!

As the eldest child, she will naturally always seem so much older than her siblings will when they reach her current age, but it sure doesn't help that she is such a smart little whip that sometimes it seems like I have a nearly 7 year old on my hands instead of a 5 year old.

Kenadie continues to LOVE school and love reading.  She can read just about anything she picks up (about 2nd grade reading level) and it has nothing to do with any prodding or encouragement at school or home.  She just loves to read.  Her favorite books are currently: the Little Bear books, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, the Fly Guy books, and The Giving Tree.

I have started reading the Little House series to her and Lila at night and we just finished Little House in the Big Woods.  She loved it and says she is ready to live in a cabin, tap all the trees for sap, collect honey from wild beehives, and make a doll out of a corn husk (but she does NOT want to inflate a pig bladder and use it as a ball--eww!).

Kenadie has gained a new love for running ever since a running challenge she participated in during her gym class (don't know where that comes from either; I am not a runner!).

The greatest color in her world continues to be "Elsa blue" (thank-you, "Frozen") and Kenadie ever remains our girly princess who loves to look pretty but hates to have her hair brushed and styled.  Case in point:

After reading, Kenadie's second love is drawing pictures accompanied by sweet and loving notes that she gives to me, her Daddy, or sends to her faraway cousins and grandparents.

She still has all of her sass and strong-will (and I mean ALL of it), but has such a good heart as well.  When something good happens to others (an award in school, a fancy birthday party, etc) , she'll quietly tell me, "I'm just to happy for her/him."

One of Kenadie's biggest challenges is her sensory issues.  Tags, seams on her clothing, every sock on the planet, almost every shoe on the planet, staticky hair, long sleeves, the feel of toothbrush on her teeth......they all drive her nuts and we experience nearly daily (and quite extreme) meltdowns over it.  Consider this my plea for advice or suggestions.  Mornings are a bit nightmarish as they include pretty much all of the above! :)

Still loves riding the bus.

Kenadie (and Lila) are currently obsessed with How to Train Your Dragon 2 and  playing with dress-ups has been momentarily abandoned recently as our princesses have become dragons who flying around the house roaring and shooting fire out of their mouths.

Kenadie gave her first talk in Primary at "turch" (church) last week all by herself.

She has picked up a few songs on the piano and sits down to play at every piano she sees--I've got to get a piano and get that girl in lessons!!

Kenadie would also love to play the "dic-tar" (guitar) someday.  (I love the great ways she pronounces certain words)

But she REALLY loves to sing!!

Kenadie is about to lose her second tooth and is super excited about it.

There is nothing that Kenadie is looking forward to more than getting to see her cousins in Utah this spring for our Willardson family reunion.  (We'll also get to see our Johnson cousins while we're down there.)  Every day she asks me how many more sleeps until Utah. :)

Kenadie loves helping make dinner and is great and setting and clearing the table.

She loves to mother her little brother and he is always happy to see her.  She also loves to mother Lila--Lila doesn't love it too much--but they are also the best of friends.  They do everything together, including fighting and sitting in time-out with their knees touching!

They are the sweetest.

I love my Kenadie!

It is so fun to be a first-time mom with her going through all the changes and milestones of this age: school, learning to read, losing teeth, learning to add and subtract, making friends, gaining confidence, etc.  I sure am blessed to be this lady's mama.