Jillian is 8!!

I realize I am way, way, way behind.  Now that Channing is no longer a newborn and has her own opinion, this mothering of 4 has become harder.  That's the understatement of the year.  BUT tonight let me try and catch up on some things. 

 

My big girl turned 8 on Janurary 6th.  She is really morphing into a young lady before our eyes.  She has finally hit her stride with 2nd grade.  She struggled in the beginning with the upgrade in spelling homework and math homework but now is in a groove.  Her teacher sends monthly science challenges and she loves doing those. 

 

She is definitely the first born.  She is the little general and usually bosses everyone around.  She loves taking care of Channing.  She and Hadleigh will sometimes play together but Hadleigh can only take being bossed around so long.  Rocco can last a lot longer.  But in the car, Jillian and Rocco will fight on the way to school and on the way home EVERY.DAY.  Lovely!!

 

For her eighth birthday, she wanted her ears pierced and even though there were some unexpected tears, now she loves it!  She picked out a teal color and they go perfectly with her blue eyes.  She is (percentage-wise) the smallest in the house.  Little Minnie is only is the 20th percentile for weight and only average for height so Rocco weighs more than her and is almost as tall.  Hadleigh is only 10 pounds behind her.  But what she lacks in size, she completely makes up with her big personality.   

 

 

She can be silly sometimes.  She likes to hide behind doors and scare you.  She is definitely Daddy's Girl.  The rest of the crew is mine but Jillian has her Daddy in the palm of her hand.  He will do anything for that girl. 

She is still taking Ballet I.  She complains sometimes that her teacher Ms. Hayley is too strict.  But then she will have a substitute and suddenly, Ms. Hayley is not so bad.  This winter, I signed up Rocco for basketball and once Jillian saw it, she was very jealous and wanted to play too.  There is nothing this girl won't try.  She is pretty fearless.  She also expressed interest in taking tumbling so she can get ready to be a cheerleader.  We'll see! 

 

She has a serious appetite for reading.  She has started checking out some classics like The Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame.  For Christmas, I ordered some old Babysitter Club Books that I used to read and she has liked those. 

 

I am so proud of this sweet girl.  She is loving, inquisitive, kind, helpful.  Her writing will blow you away.  She loves writing in school and will compose a pretty decent well thought out composition.  I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up.  It is thrilling and scary at the same time.  I love you Jillian Avery!!  I love watching you grow into such a beautiful and intelligent little lady.