All About Vanessa

Vanessa had her first gymnastics trophy meet on May 18th.  I was so proud of her and she just loved it.  They did a routine on the floor, vault, beam, and bars.  The bars were really scary to her at first, but her teacher, Nick, is really patient and helped her to feel more comfortable and she's doing really great.  I think Vanessa has amazing potential in gymnastics.  We are going to start taking her to the open gym days on Saturday to see if it is something she wants to pursue more seriously.  If it were something that would make her happy, I think she could be awesome.  I am sure I am biased, but she seems to have a lot more control and strength than a lot of kids her age.  It will be fun to see what she decides to do in gymnastics and how far she wants to take it.  But she sure loves it and I can tell she feels proud of herself when she does well too!

I thought it was cute getting her trophy, she had watched all the other kids stand there and pose, but when it was her turn, she just wanted to bust out of the lime light as quick as she could. She does get a tiny bit shy when lots of attention in on her, though she isn't shy generally.

Vanessa is so much fun. She has a great imagination and always wants us to play her pretend games with her. She wants someone to play with her pretty much every waking hour. She can play alone, but she doesn't like to and she will seek out friends to keep her company. She has made some great friends in the neighborhood and has become the neighborhood little sister. She loves to play with all the kids and actually plays really well with all of them. The older girls love her and she's the little sister they all want, like the kind that you can play with for an hour but won't come home to touch your stuff :)

Vanessa is absolutely ecstatic for preschool. We went to a preschool meeting and she could hardly wait to start school. It was tough explaining to her that it was for the fall. She is doing pretty well learning her letters. She recognizes more of them than I give her credit for. She is starting to actually draw pictures of things and we have some great artwork by her. My favorite part is always the explanation of what the picture is.

Vanessa loves her younger brothers. She really wants to nurture them like they are newborns which can get an interesting reaction. She is starting to play better and better with Benson. I'm always reminded how well she does play with her brothers when I see other kids not tolerating their babies at all. She puts up with a lot of "baby behavior."

Vanessa is starting to be a big girl. She is dressing herself most days. I am learning that she doesn't like being rushed. I have to give her the time she needs to let getting dressed take an hour. Yes, it can sometimes take an hour. She is easily distracted by that great imagination of hers. I am also learning that she doesn't like being a helper with "things" but she will be a helper with Brig. If I ask her to get me something, there's not a chance in the world she'll do it. If I ask her to watch Brig, so I can get something, she's excited about it. She's just all about being with people, in every single way.

Vanessa rides her bike with training wheels like a rockstar. She has a hand-me-down bike with no training wheels that she really wants to learn how to ride. We are working on it slowly and practicing a bit every day. She just might have it by the end of the summer.

Vanessa loves to search for bugs, play dress ups, draw with sidewalk chalk, jump on the tramp, watch movies, jump on the bed, and hide in pillows and blankets. Her favorite colors are pink and purple. She loves things to be beautiful and wants her room painted REALLY bad so it is beautiful. Her favorite name for her toys is "Prettiness." And if we had a dog, she would name her Prettiness. She wears a dress nearly every day and sleeps only in nightgowns. Her favorite foods are cereal, root beer floats, blueberries, broccoli, and milk. Her best friends are Sophie, Reese, and Bailey.

We just adore this girl and everything about her.