And what kind of a little girls is she? Let's start with something illustrated in the picture below. She has a tendency to be shy, especially when she doesn't want to do something. This picture definitely highlights that aspect of her personality. We have also been lucky enough to experience this shyness/attitude when interacting with dentists and doctors. But what is even more fun is when we have a little girl who does not respond to our friends saying hello to her or trying to interact with her in any way. It's never good to start off an evaluation on such a note, but this is an important area in which she will need to improve as she approaches her fifth birthday.
One of the biggest changes in Callie's life this past year was the entrance of her sister. As we have stated so often in previous posts, Callie has exceeded expectations in her big sister responsibilities. The intensity of her love and concern has not diminished. If anything it has increased. For example, it made her extremely happy when Reese no longer took a morning nap, because it meant she would have more time to play with her. Indeed, she has taken to referring to Reese as "Boo" and does everything she can to help her little sister out.
The love for her sister is only one part of her greater interest in and love for her whole family. Sarah is her "Best Mommy" and John is her "Best Daddy". These are titles we accept with great pride, knowing it can't last forever. Who knows what will happen once she gets tenure? Amazingly enough she has an incredible ability to remember all of her relatives on both coasts and talks about them constantly. It probably helps that we have spent a lot of time traveling to see those folks this past year. At random moments she will refer to something Grammy has done or Nana Banana has taught her. It's fun to talk to her about stuff like that.
All of the travel and the general craziness of our lives has also made Callie a trooper who has the ability to turn any unfortunate situation into an adventure. Let's do a quick review. From the time she turned three to now she has - eaten a waffle after midnight at a Waffle House in northern KY while waiting for a tow truck and a taxi, she has slept on a bag of dirty laundry in the Las Vegas airport during the course of a 21 hour journey home from a trip to California, and she has made a flight out of LaGuardia after arriving at the rental car drop off site 45 minutes before take off. And these are just the major things we can remember. Indeed, she now gets a little upset if we are going to have an ordinary day in which she just comes home, has dinner, takes a bath, and goes to bed. Apparently she needs a bit more excitement in her daily routine.
Another significant development this past year was Callie's venture into the world of dance. She has taken dance lessons once a week since August and it has become one of her favorite days of the week. She is currently preparing for a recital in June that will be held at the Lexington Opera House. She loves to dance and at times interrupts her dinner so that she can step away from the table and spin a few times. However, if she doesn't do something about the shyness we mentioned above, her first recital could be interesting. We hope the confidence that she has when she requests us to introduce her as "Callie Alexis Bowes from Kentucky (or Alabama, depending on her mood)" will carry over into the big performance.
When Callie is not dancing, she is often singing. On Wednesday nights, as part of a weekly program at our church, Callie takes a music class. As a result of this class we have been introduced to an incredible number of songs. Callie loves to sing them all, and we are so grateful to Matt and Christi Gabbard who have passed along this love of music to her in the weekly sessions. It's pretty safe to say that few four-year-olds are able to serenade you with a pretty good version of Dona Nobis Pacem.
When she's not traveling the globe, dancing in her class, or singing at church, Callie is at daycare, where she continues to develop a variety of skills. Callie has two particularly strong loves at daycare. The first is, always has been, and always will be her friend Maddie. They continue to be inseparable, which is fun. The second love is for her teacher, Miss Michelle. Although Callie has learned a lot, her favorite activities to also do at home are cutting with scissors, spelling her or her sister's name, or doing small number math. It is clear that Miss Michelle makes a point of keeping her charges active and engaged.
Overall, Callie is a wonderful little girl with a great sense of humor and tendency to be goofy at the drop of a hat. In other words, she fits in very well with this family. She loves her friends from daycare and from church. And while we knew it was likely to happen but didn't want to admit it, our four-year-old girl loves princesses. She also loves her babies, and spends a lot of time making sure Bitty Baby, who has finally received the illustrious name of Harper Reese Vixen Bowes, is taken care of well. We sincerely hope that the inspiration of the doll's name is a combination of Callie's sister and one of Santa's reindeer. We don't want to think of the alternatives.
Although there are still a few areas that could be improved, overall Callie has once again exceeded our expectations by leaps and bounds. And we mean that quite literally, because she spends a lot of time jumping around the house. Often when she is "resting" for 40 minutes on the weekends when her parents just need a break. We have very strong feelings about this little girl, and fully expect that she will be a part of this family for a long, long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment