Maggie is 5!

Maggie turned five this week.

Maggie is so much personality packed into a five year old's body. She is just as picky and opinionated and volatile as ever. But, she is also so sweet and sensitive and tender. Here are five of my favorite things that Maggie has said over the last while and what they reveal about her.

1- "Y-E-S" or "N-O"

Maggie is excited about learning to read and spell. So, if you ask her a question or she says something and she knows how to spell the word, then she will do that rather than speak it.

Regularly conversations sound like this:
"Maggie who does that toy belong to?"
"M-I-A."
"Does she know you are playing with it?"
"N-O."
"Will you give it back?"
"Y-E-S."

2- In response to me asking her to turn off her music and come to lunch: "Mom, I am not in an eating mood, I am in a dancing mood."

Maggie continues to love dance and music. Maggie spends about an hour every day practicing her dancing. She is working hard to learn how to do a cart wheel. And, very longingly, pines for a pair of pointe shoes (which I have told her she cannot get until she is 12). She also loves to listen to music. She hangs out in her room, changing her clothes and fixing her hair, with her music on her i-pod player (And, yes, she has her own i-pod and she got a i-home player for it for Christmas.) turned up way too loud all the time. Seriously, I wonder sometimes if she isn't 15! Her favorite song is Bubbly by Colbie Cailat, to which she knows every word. She also has been begging for a year and a half to play the violin. I don't know many three or four year olds whose top gift wish is a violin, so on the chance she actually has an adeptness for it, we bought her one for her birthday, and she is SOOOOOO excited to learn to play.

On the flip side, Maggie continues to be the hardest child I have ever known to feed. She has expanded her repertoire a bit in the last year to include oranges (sometimes), apples (sometimes) and smoothies with spinach. So, at least, if I am diligent, she eats a little fresh food in her diet. She loves having a birthday cake and plans far in advance how she wants to have it decorated, but she hates frosting. So, usually she does not actually eat her cake. On her own, she requested a chocolate mousse cake for her birthday this year, which she did like, and which is the first birthday cake of hers she has actually eaten!

3- "Mom, will you get Mia a piece of water?"

Just so dang cute, and so age 5! Maggie really loves her sisters. She definitely feels like she is the "middle child" a lot, but she is both Mia and Elsie Jane's best friend. She tries hard to keep up with Mia and often helps her out, offering to clean her room for her (Maggie is definitely the neater and better cleaner of the two!) and get her things she needs. She is also realizing in just the last couple of weeks that Elsie Jane is also becoming a fun friend for her. They were dressed up and dancing like princesses together the other day, and I thought, "Here we go again!" as Elsie begins to idolize Maggie just like she has idolized Mia.

4- "I am going to put you in jail."

Maggie is a fiery spirit. She cannot be false or pretend to feel something. So, if she loves you, it is with all her heart. And, if she hates you, it is with equal passion. When she is upset by something her dad or I say or do (like telling her she can't have more candy, or to turn down her music, or to go to bed) and she gets angry her favorite expression is to tell us she is going to put us in jail. Luckily, once Maggie gets all of her anger out, she is once again very loving. I have come to expect in a given day that she will regularly tell me she loves me and that I am the best mom ever, and that she hates me and I am the worst mom ever. It just goes with the personality.

5- "Please bless the sacrament."

During the last six months, Maggie has started offering the sweetest, most sincere prayers. It really is so precious to listen to her talk about how she loves her family and wants to follow Jesus and do what is right. Every prayer she also asks Heavenly Father to "bless the sacrament." I have told her that the sacrament is blessed every Sunday officially, and she doesn't really need to bless it too, but she does anyway. And, if you really think about it, anytime you have that many hands touching any food, extra blessings are probably helpful!

To celebrate Maggie's birthday her friends from dance class stayed longer to tie dye shirts, have treats, and play games. Then we had a family dinner: mac and cheese, fruit and jello. Maggie's favorites. She loved all her gifts, including a Barbie from Mia, a Rapunzel playset from her friend Emily, a Josephina doll from Grandma and Grandpa (with matching jammies), and her VIOLIN!

Just now, as Maggie ran from my room, she called out: "Bye, Bye. See you next time." That about sums it up.