Who is this girl? Look at her. Maggie is four and a half. It's unbelievable that half a decade has passed since we knew of her. Most of the time Bill and I look at each other and marvel at how amazing this kid is. She is a rock star of a hiker and walker. Kids much older than her have a hard time keeping up with her on treks. She loves to run down trails and will just spout imaginings for miles. Sometimes I walk to pick her up from school - a 2.25 mile walk with 200 feet of elevation change; mostly I'm hurrying along behind her. Maggie is reading all over the place. We'll be driving along and she's just talking nonstop, saying all the words she can read on signs out the window. Sometimes she'll read us a book at bedtime now, and the cemetery is a favorite place of hers to sound out funny words (and search for Jesus' tombstone). She's very mature about some things, like when she realized she'd lost her favorite stuffed unicorn and simply told our neighbor she was having a sad day. And she's in a booster seat now instead of those monstrous strap-you-in-and-hope-you-can-still-breathe carseats.
There are times when Bill and I look at each other and wonder who's genes are to blame for certain things. She's back to refusing to go to school since they made it a rule you have to wear shorts underneath skirts and dresses. (Of course she still goes and has a wonderful day and doesn't want to come home.) There are nights when she strides out of her room at 9:30 and asks for more books to read in bed and then at 5:15 the next morning she's saying she's bored of being in her room. Her obstinancy is starting to win out over our motivation to teach her how to swim and how to ride a two-wheeler. And she's doing that charming kid thing about eating boogers (even after I told her they are her body's trash, just like poop). Oh, and she's teaching her sister wonderful things like screaming in the house and splashing bathwater all over the floor and eating without hands or utensils.
But she's also taking her sister's hand on the sidewalk, and trading her toys to get one she really wants, and writing her "love you" cards. She's asking to go on beekeeping dates with Bill, and setting up playdates so Bill and I can have dinner together, and asking grandparents to babysit Tessa so she and I can get pedicures. She is requesting alone-time when she feels frustrated and fighting bedtimes less often and accepting that she can't buy a toy every time we go in the grocery store. We love love love this girl!
