Almost Five

I can tell my daughter is almost five. It's funny how, about a month or so before her birthday, I start noticing new behaviors and attitudes, and my brain starts to process the fact that my daughter is getting older.

I watched her calm herself down when she was upset yesterday, as we had friends over for dinner with a young son. It was hard for her to be patient with him because he was taking toys out of her hand, and instead of freaking out, even though she'd already had quite a long day, she curled up into a ball, hugged her knees to her chest, and took some breaths until she calmed down. I had never seen her do that before, and it seemed to work.

She can finally ride her scooter all the way to the park without begging me to carry it after awhile, like she did last summer, and she's steadier on her feet when she tries roller skating. Yesterday she caught a frisbee after I spent a little time showing her how.

And I'm amazed at how much she understands about the world around her, how much she learns in a day, how much her brain seems to have its accelerator pedal pushed down to the floor all the time. It makes me miss having a young, forming brain like that, always so thirsty and ready to be filled over and over again.

So, yeah, I can tell she's almost five. It's so close I can taste it.

And look how far ahead of me she is all the time!