Counting Cabs

I have realized in the last few months that I consistently think of my daughter as “older”.  Meaning I think about her being an older kid because her oldest brother is so mature and her other brother is almost 8 years old.  Sometimes I do not give her enough credit for still being 5.  KWIM?

 

She does not read yet since she has yet to start school.   She knows a few words and can read and write her name but sometimes it completely slips my mind that there is still a non-reader in the house.  I have to think about the fact that I still have to read certain things to her (books of course) like signs or notes.  Another thing we always have to think about are certain things she still cannot watch even though the boys can, especially Ben.  There are definitely shows and movies that are not for her, but it’s hard when you have older siblings and they are okay for them to watch.  (I know this from experience).

But she fools me a lot.  She talks really well and has picked up on many things around here.  Plus, girls are just different when it comes to stuff like that.  She’s kinda sassy too and I just have this mindset that she is not a “little kid” anymore.  I think I have done her this disservice for a while and I’m not really sure why…

However, sometimes she reminds me easily that she is still la little girl, just in things that she does – sweet, cute, little kid things.

For instance, after her brother and Dad went to NYC last fall, she started being all about taxi cabs.  Ben showed her a picture, I think, and so she has started counting them on the odd occasion she sees one around our town. The other morning on the way to drive her to school she was very quiet and we were just listening to the radio when I heard her pipe up form behind me, “Mom! I’ve seen FOURTEEN taxi cabs in Louisiana!!” (not in Lafayette, but in the STATE of Louisiana – LOL!) She’s literally keeping a tally of how many taxis she has seen on our streets in the last few months.

This is one of those cute little kid things and so it made me think of when Ben was little (probably 3 or 4) he LOVED to point out and count water towers on any of our road trips.  Tim and I used to think it was THE most adorable thing ever.  Ben remembers too and sometimes he will say “remember when I used to love to point out water towers?”  But, it seems as we have more kids those things don’t seem as cute or as much of a big deal.  However,  I think the cab counting is pretty darn cute.  And she gets SO excited when she sees one.  It’s hilarious and precious all at the same time.

So yes, I’m documenting the fact that my “baby” loves to count cabs as we drive around town and I hope that at 5 years old she still keeps some of that “little kid” in her for a while.  I just have to remember to foster it more and think about what those kinds of things mean to her, as a child.

 

It’s just kind of hard when I watch her doing bicycle tricks in the driveway on her two-wheel bike… (where did the big girl come from!?!??!)