This child...

... sings ALL the time, and has never been seen to walk when she could dance. This child adores dressing up, anything frilly, and pink. This child thinks that glitter is the entire point of craft. This child *accessorises*.

This child hoards soft toys and resents any attempts to wash them, let alone thin down the stash. This child spends hours engrossed in story-telling with small figures, and makes elaborate worlds for them out of all kinds of odds and ends.

This child tells delicious jokes with odd punch lines. "What do you call a kangaroo with no bounce? An elephant! Hahahaha!"

This child uses reference books, and can tell which one she wants from the colour of the spine. This child spent all morning with a telescope spotting birds in the tree beyond our garden and telling me what kinds she can see. This child breathes curiosity. This child never asks a question before she knows the answer. This child can't stand to be prodded about what she's learning - or doing - or thinking. This child is a perfectionist in all things.

This child would eat ice lollies for three meals a day.

This child constantly makes cards and letters for the people she loves. This child still sometimes draws "potato people" with no bodies, but also often draws with some idea of perspective and with scenery! This child makes my jaw drop with the ways in which she casually blows development schedules out of the water.

This child dotes on every other child she has ever met, makes friends easily, and never forgets someone she has attached to. This child is a little mother to her sisters, and handles babies confidently - maybe too confidently! This child is loving and gracious and articulate.

This child made her own lunch today and fed it all to her sister.