Zoe - my little Zoebear - you continue to amaze us all with your very caring loving ways and your remarkable intelligence and memory. You are up for any adventure and you have become quite the chatterbox. The memory floors me everytime. And you pull it out of nowhere - like we will be walking through the forest and you will say "last time we were here you were taking pictures of us in the snow". You were 3 when that happened. Wow. You are a very good storyteller, and you have an incredible imagination. Your Mom has been regaling us in stories about how you will find a dead bug and tell her in tears about it. But beyond mourning the dead bee, you create an entire backstory for the bee - things like "he was my best friend. We played every morning. I can't possibly clean up the back yard - that is where the bee and I last played together". It's impressive. A big thing for you last year was you started school. Have to say we all noticed a change in you when school started. I don't want to say attitude...but that about sums it up. A little more twitch in your step, a little more purse in your lips, a little more sigh in your vocabulary. It's normal stuff - just growing up and picking up on the habits of the girls you hang out with at school. Your parents and grandparents are keeping it in check. Luckily your ability to charm us all with your sweet face and caring ways goes a long way. As you grow up it only reminds me to enjoy all of the amazing moments with you because someday you will be 16 and only interested in your friends and whatever cute boy (or girl....whatever floats your boat) is in your life at that moment. And God help us if this trend in smart phones and ipads continues. It is bad enough now, and your Dad and I are good examples of being very attached to technology, but I would hate to imagine Christmas dinner with everyone's face buried in their smartphones. I don't think your parents would ever allow that, but just know that my home will always be an iphone happy place for you. If you buy android, go see Auntie Sharon. Ha :) You are always the first to give a hug and kiss - and nobody appreciates that more than your Grampie. He talks endlessly about how you sat with him and gave him snuggles. I will share a moment that made me laugh out loud recently with you (and as promised will try to log more in the future). We were at Auntie Sharon's for the weekend in August and you and I were sharing a guest bed. For the record, you aren't as bad to sleep beside as your sister (see story below), but a full night sleep is never possible for me. You woke up happy and refreshed and you snuggled into me (you are an awesome snuggler). I asked you if you were excited to get back to school in September - after all you were starting in Grade 1! You sat up and sighed very dramatically (and your ability to dramatize anything is truly impressive). "I don't know auntie Sandra. I'm a little worried. I know a girl who was in grade 1 last year. You don't get any breaks". I looked at you and you raised your eyebrows at me knowingly while shaking your head. I tried not to laugh. "Ummm - what do you need a break from exactly?" I asked. Its been a while since I was that young, but I don't recall any sweatshops at St Thomas. "Juice breaks" you said with as much 'are you kidding me that you don't know that' in your voice. I nodded. "Oh - that would suck. Don't worry - I bet you will get a juice break". You nodded and snuggled back down. Conversations with you always leave me smiling :)
Jasmine - my little Jazzie bear. You my adorable little niece are the entertainment and light of our family. You are adorable, full of energy and fun, always smiling, extremely smart and organized. You are still silly, as you should be at your age. You make funny faces and funny voices and then burst out laughing. You clearly think you are hilarious. We do too. You continue to be obsessed with all animals. I'm really hoping this becomes some part of our career when you are older. In my old age, I've realized that following a career that also includes something you hold very dear would be very rewarding. And for you, ensuring that the squirrels all have enough peanuts and that the birds are fed, that the cats have food and a good place to sleep. In whatever room you are, you naturally gravitate to the dogs. You will lie on them or lean into them. Sometimes you are doing it unconsciously. One you spot a cat, you are chasing it throughout the house. When you chase Nana and Grampie's cat Tiger around, you call him exactly the same way Nana does. "Come here Tiger. Come here my wittle boy". Yes - you have a wittle wisp. I love it. It reminds me that you are the baby of the family. When you lose it - that's it. You will be a little girl officially. So I hope you continue to call me Auntie Fandra. You are such a happy child - always smiling and having fun. But when you lose it - you lose it. You can go from zero to uberly annoyed very quickly. and then as quickly, you are over it. At the same sleepover at Auntie Sharon's, you and I shared the guest bed the following night. I hate to break this to you kid - but you SUCK as a bedmate. You really do. First of all - you take forever to fall asleep. and I mean forever. Your sister is gone in moments after our book reading is done and the lights are off. You toss and turn and roll and kick and sit up and move over and kick the sheets off and pull them on and move your hand and kick your leg and roll over....you get the picture. And this goes on for an hour. It's crazy. I try to tell you to stay still and usually resort to telling you a story. Since I'm making it up - I just pick a subject and go with it. On this night - I started telling you about two sisters named Zoe and Jasmine who went on on adventure in the woods. I can't recall the details, but I do know I just kept going on and on and on and I was using a really quiet and what I thought was a soothing tone of voice. I figured I would lull you into sleep. It was working on me. I was yawning and talking when you finally cut in and said "Auntie Sandra - is this story going to go on forever?". I had to bite my tongue not to laugh. "Yeah - it probably will. Listen dude - you need to sleep. Just close your eyes and picture something happy". Eventually you would lie still enough that your body and mind will sleep. At some point in the middle of the night, you woke up and sort of threw yourself on top of me. I assumed you were asleep and tried to gently peel you off of my head. When I pushed you off, you were NOT happy. You began wailing and throwing your arms and legs around. "You're not being nice to me" you kept saying over and over. I tried to calm you down and stop you from flailing around - but you would not give in. This was at 2am and I was barely awake enough to know what the hell you were doing. then - out of nowhere - you stopped and fell right back asleep. Of course I was awake for another hour - the adrenaline alone from that craziness. You truly are a one of a kind! and you are beyond sweet like your sister. You recently painted a ceramic cat at a birthday party you went to. You promptly decided I should have the cat and securely sent Sunny home with me - strapped into her seatbelt in the frontseat of my car. This year you are starting your first full time schooling with Kindergarden. I know you HAVE to grow up, but it is sad to see. Your Grandma says that you are loving school - I can't wait to hear all about it!
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