4 and a half going on 12?

Azure is a pure delight to have around. I am really, really going to miss her when she starts kindergarten in 5 months (what?!).

She's really been growing up lately. For the past month or so now she takes showers all by herself. Lathers up her pouf and her hair and rinses off. Grabs her towel, asks me what the overnight low is, and dresses herself accordingly. Though sometimes she does need suggestions of what jammies to put on. She's so proud of herself! It is fulfilling to see her grow and mature.

About 2 months ago we had a Family Home Evening lesson on prayer and read stories from The Friend. Charles had an old prayer rock from when he was a little boy that we gave to her. She is diligent about putting it inside her pillow to remind her to say her personal bedtime prayer and then when she is done she puts it by her door to remind her to say her morning prayer. I usually go in her room every night after she is asleep and just before I go to sleep to check on her (mostly to make sure she is inside her blankets if it's cold at night). I usually hit the rock with the door when I open it and have to adjust it when I go back out. It really touches my heart to see her doing this. Her prayers have become much more sincere recently and she doesn't say no when we ask her unless we have friends over for dinner. You would think she'd love a chance to show off in front of a crowd, but not to say a prayer.

Last week we went to a play at our local library of The Cat in the Hat in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. Azure was picked by The Cat to help clean up the house before the mother returned. She was really excited about that! Afterwards she wanted to go "backstage" to tell The Cat that she watches his show every morning on PBS Kids. It obviously made a big impression on her and she tried to duplicate her own play using her puppet show and dressing up in costume (like a mouse) and even asked me to paint her face. Then as she was laying in bed before falling asleep she read The Cat in the Hat alone out loud. I stood by her door and heard her reading it. Made me smile.

We've also talked about the importance of Scripture reading everyday so most mornings I find her reading the scriptures on the computer at scripturesforkids.com

She likes eating fluffernutters and calls them Peanut Butter and fluffel sandwiches. If you've never tried them and you like marshmallow creme and PB, then you must! One of the best sandwiches ever!

Her drawings continue to improve. This is one of her latest:

If you notice- that top drawer is 3D. Not sure how she figured that one out. Impressive! And the flowers are pretty detailed in my opinion.

She is pretty easy going and usually only gets upset (has an outburst) if Vince is bothering her more than usual or if I'm not giving her enough one-on-one attention. Last week I questioned her about something (I can't even remember what it was now) and she got very angry and said red-faced, "You idiot!" Instantly I knew it was because the previous week she had watched Peter Pan about 2.5x (we watched it once together) and Captain Hook continuously calls Mr. Smee an idiot. Knowing where she had gotten the word from made me less angry about her calling me that and I, as calmly as I could, told her that we don't say that word to each other and that we were taking the movie back to the library today and she was not allowed to watch it for a very long time. Dang Disney movies!

Yesterday I asked her to help Vince wash his hands in the bathroom. I heard her struggling in there and then Vince walks out with suds all over his hands. Azure follows exclaiming, "Mom, I can't rinse his hands off. His arms can't reach the water. They are too short. He's like a T-Rex!" I about died laughing!!!!

I pulled out a cookie sheet with our wooden letters to keep her occupied while my visiting teachers came over. (First time in years- yay!) I told her to make up a story. This is what she came up with. She did ask me how to spell forest I think. She put a line over the e to indicate that it's a silent e. We learned that from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Words really can't express how much I love my sweet cub.