Celebrating Raney Grace

My youngest daughter is growing up. She is now four and a half and tells people that fact quite often. It is so funny to hear her talk about life 'when she was three'. As much I truly rejoice in my children growing...it has been hard to release my youngest. Her temperament is either pure joy or pure angst- and I revel in her personality, though it can be trying at times.

Raney doesn't embrace change, loud noises, or darkness very well. She is cautious, and has her own way of comforting herself- which is usually quite repetitive

Regarding change:

from her first day of school which is also a church so the rooms serve two purposes
Mom, why doesn't the music room have music?

I don't know Raney- sometimes it does and sometimes it has chairs.

Oh yeah, Things change. GranJan said things change. Do things change mom?

Yes Raney.

I will have to call GranJan and tell her things changed at my school.

Regarding loud noises:

Thunder often causes Raney to sleep in the playroom and constantly yell down, "I'm not afraid of thunder, Mom, but I can sleep in the playroom right?"

This phrase is also used for firecrackers, or loud motorcycle noises and is repeated until she falls asleep.

Also, she is afraid of the noise of various toilets flushing. So, we have to wait until she covers her ears before we flush...needless to say the automatic flushers are quite traumatic for her.

She went on a scary ride at Disney World- and we still talk about it to this day. She is working through everything all the time.

Parker and Katherine get pretty tired of the repetition in Raney's vocabulary. She also somewhat speaks her own language and sometimes Katherine acts as her interpreter to those not around all the time.

always means never i.e You never ask me to get my clothes!
never means always i.e You always let me go outside and play in the street!
mote means remote i.e. Where's the mote, mom?
maked means naked i.e. Look Mom, I'm maked!
sagna means lasagna, spaghetti and anything with red sauce
noodles applies to anything with noodles
and daddy's food means chicken and vegetables

Raney also is one of the most compassionate of my children. She feels deeply for her brother and sister...and always wants to share what she has with them. She loves praise music and sings or hums to most all songs (irritating her siblings) but Todd and I love that she remembers the words and always wants to know what they mean.

She was my surprise child...and continues to surprise me on a daily basis. Sometimes they are good surprises and other times the surprises exhaust me. It is time for me to let her grow up, to challenge her insecurities, to encourage her to reach past her fears, and to allow her to fall sometimes.

Tough Love. Such a hard dichotomy to embrace.