This is our baby. She turned seven the end of last year, in fact this picture was taken on her birthday. At the zoo, which is where Fionn typically prefers to spend her birthdays. I realize that at seven she doesn't really qualify as a baby anymore. But she is still our baby. Anyway, some things Fionn has accomplished since turning seven:
She reads. Really reads. Like on her own, picks up a book and reads it because she wants to, not because someone told her to read it. Yes, in this picture she is reading a comic book. Baby Blues I believe. You can probably tell that it is a very tattered and well worn copy too, so you might be able to surmise from that that I am totally okay with my kids reading comic books. And you would be right. One morning I came home after driving some older sibling somewhere and found Fionnula perched on the back of a living room chair contentedly reading all by herself because she wanted to.
She earned a 'Green Band' at the YMCA. Which basically means that the Y recognizes her as someone who can swim and thus is allowed anywhere in the pools without a parent hovering close by. Funny thing about that green band, Fionnula has been in a pool on a very regular basis since she was about 18 months old. And she has been a pretty confident swimmer now for probably 2 years. But she was not at all interested in taking any test to prove her swimming ability to anyone else. She was perfectly content to swim around in the area of the pool designated for the 'Red Bands.' Until suddenly, she wasn't okay with it anymore and one afternoon while we were at the pool announced her intention of taking the test. Kris ran her through it once, she asked the lifeguard to test her, and she did it.
And this last week, Fionn learned to ride a bike. Our kids don't ride bikes when they are tiny. So she had never been on just two wheels until Friday when she and Kris headed to the park where she learned the basics. And then Saturday she actually went on a bike ride with her parents and some brothers. We went again today. That isn't to say that there aren't some scary moments, like Saturday when Kris nearly leaped from his own bike to ensure that she actually did come to a stop rather than exiting the church parking lot at full speed right onto a busy street (but he didn't have to actually make that leap, because she did manage a screeching stop after all), or today when she suddenly careened off the bike path and down a relatively steep embankment full of cacti and yucca (she did eventually crash, disentangled herself from the bike, informed us she was okay and that she would need some help getting her bike back up on the path).
Also, she added to her collection of Disney Princesses that inhabit her bed. Okay, so maybe this accomplishment may not seem to be of the same caliber as some of the previous ones, but it is equally important to her. Plus, I like the picture, aren't they cute? And anyway, she saved all her money to buy herself something awesome at Disney World and she picked out that Belle doll on day 2 there I think, stuck with that decision for the next several days of our trip and very proudly purchased her and brought her safely home.
Anyway, I look at Fionn and wonder: what have I accomplished since my last birthday?
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