Josie at 5 and one quarter
Just two weeks after Ewan was born, Josie turned 5 and 1/4 yrs old. She really likes to count those quarter years and is always very specific for anyone who asks. I wonder if she’ll start asking how many months she is once I start answering how old Ewan is in months? Josie is a vivacious 5 year old with lots of energy and curiosity. She’s a big user of the word ‘why’ right now, at times even when it doesn’t make sense. It’s more of a generic reply at this point.
We’ve had the joy of having our eldest home with us now for the past two months since preschool ended and while it was a rough transition at the beginning she’s really settled into a home-based routine again. Her favorite toys these days are the magnatiles, her books, and her dolls with their dress up clothes. She is reading independently simply books now and it is such a joy to listen to her read and watch her read to her siblings. She’s not so fond of doing official reading lessons most days, but she just picks up so many books on her own to work on it and I’m sure that’s improving her skills. She also enjoys lots of pretend play both with Celia and with the toys independently. Sometimes it’s a challenge as Celia has her own ideas as to how the game should go and they have to work it out. Josie also dives into art projects when I can manage to get them out.
Physically Josie has become quite the speed demon on her bike and wants to ride it most every day. I will often take both of them out for a ride at the cemetery at the end of our street with nice wide, clear paths and no cars. She’s fairly confident and careful but we haven’t tried real roads or even the busy bike path yet. So far it’s been good and so we’ve stuck with it. She’s also continued with gymnastics this summer although we’ve missed a number of weeks with the baby and vacations. We haven’t signed her up for fall yet, but once we’ve settled into a Kindergarten routine we’ll see what she wants to do.
With her new baby brother in the picture, emotions can run high and low. She’s very sweet to him and as I mentioned will often read him stories which he really enjoys. He watches her and the book and wiggles and makes noises right along side her. At other times she’s frustrated by having to wait for his needs to be met, or me asking her to not be quite so loud right next to the sleeping baby. Overall I think she’s grown to like him more lately as he gets more interactive and I regain my energy to do fun things with her.
Josie still loves to spend time with her friends, with school being over that requires some more effort on my part to try to set up some playdates. She’s let her school friends mostly fall away pretty easily. We still spend regular time with Bronwyn and Sophie and up until August lots of time with Adelaide too. We actually had swimming lessons for two weeks with Sophie and Adelaide. Adelaide’s family moved back to their home now that their year long positions were over. She’s been meeting a few new kids that will be in her Kindergarten class this fall at playdates and I’m sure she’ll make lots of new friends quickly. She will be in class with Bronwyn, but no one else she has played with regularly before. She’s a bit concerned that school won’t be much fun without any friends in her class. Otherwise she’s pretty quiet about the topic of school coming up in a few weeks.
Mostly people ask her the question of ‘so are you excited for school!’ or ‘don’t you just love your new baby brother?’ I can see how that might be tiring for her, especially with such loaded questions. It has definitely been a summer of change for her and she’s handled it pretty well. We’re trying to keep things flexible where we can to let her adjust at her own speed. We’re really going to miss her with her being in school so much of the day this fall, but I think the regular schedule will be a good thing for us all again.
She put on some jeans to wear the other day and I’m so amazed at how she’s such a kid now, not a baby or toddler. She sometimes looks and acts so much older, it’s so interesting to get a glimpse into her future. And then she’s back at being 5 again when some unfortunate disappointment comes her way.
- Size/weight: 6 and 7’s
- Favorite foods: cheese, pasta, dessert
- Favorite toy: dolls
- Favorite book: all of them!
- Favorite activity: playing with her friends, biking
- Sleeping: bedtime ~8; gets up about 6:30
- New skill: solid bike riding
- Teeth: holding steady with all 20
- Literacy: reading the “I can read” books and trying to read anything she can get her hands on, plus street signs