Our dear Birdie is seven years old. What a marvel that is! There are so many special things I want to remember about these days with you. You are tender and brave, a gift giver with homemade gifts of flowers and coins left on pillows many nights. You are reading so well after it felt so hard in the beginning. You are a little composer and can't seem to keep your fingers away from the keys, listening to sisters play and then playing what they've played, but re-arranged or in another key! You have a wild imagination and love to play with your dolls, make up stories, play in the mud kitchen for hours. You are pretty stubborn and we're learning to use that gift wisely. You want to play the trumpet so badly, and are learning the bugle for now. You are obsessed with long dresses right now and want to be like your sisters. At the same time you're such a good big sister to Levi, listening for his cries of distress and even though he seems almost as big as you, you scoop him up and carry him away. You've had some health struggles this year but you have courageously pressed through your tests and treatments. You have a gift for numbers and this is fun to watch. You love science experiments, cooking and eating meat. You don't like to sleep under blankets. You wear glasses and you look so cute in them. Your heart is big and you feel things in big ways. You are trying to understand the Trinity and why the world feels broken. You are smarter than many adults I know. This is your Little House on the Prairie year and you've loved exploring these stories. You do not like tomatoes. You break your glasses frequently. But you do love the pool and swim like a fish! You love your kitties and were very sad to lose Clara and Harriet this year. How we love our Phoebe Hope, whose very name brings joy every time we hear it. May God grow you in His grace and love all the days of your life. love, Mama.
