I am 6 months into my 365 project about my daughter, Jaymi.

So here are more of my daily things that I appreciate about her.

July 3/11

..... her fearlessness

I was watching a video with her (from one of our favourite sites - www.dump.com - with family-friendly videos) of the world's steepest (and one of the fastest) roller coasters (in Japan), and she was thrilled watching it.  As soon as it was over, she exclaimed, "I want to go there!"

July 4/11

..... her accomplishments

I love that she has completed 5 belts in taekwondo so far, and is still committed to going all the way to black belt.

I love that she has earned a role in the Nutcracker ballet.

I love that she learned to read at age 3, and is still an avid book lover.

I love that she is always learning new things and looking for new things to accomplish.

July 5/11

..... her complete 8-year-old-ness.  I made that word up, obviously.  ;)

What I mean, is that when she is with her friends, it's so cute to see her getting excited about playing 8-year-old games and talking about things that 8-year-old girls talk about.

July 6/11

..... how her sense of responsibility is so strong when it comes to cats.

Our new kitten is her responsibility - her kitten - so she is in charge of changing the litter every day, feeding the kitten wet food twice a day and keeping the water fresh and dry food bowl filled.  She also makes sure the kitten has play time and recently, "Cookie" time (time to meet our cat Cookie to get used to each other).

She also has learned (by doing it with Mark) how to clip a cat's claws.

And she scours her room weekly to make sure that there are no choking hazards or anything else that can hurt the kitten, since it lives in her room most of the time.

She takes her responsibility seriously.  She left us these specific instructions when leaving for a two-night stay with Gramma.

July 7/11

..... her nurturing instinct

..... The day she came back from Gramma's house, she slept for part of the night like this, with Socks curled up against her arm.   They were so adorable together!

July 8/11

..... her independence combined with caution

I have always loved the fact that Jaymi has always been a cautious kid, but not overly cautious.  She isn't afraid of much at all, but is cautious and has always obeyed the rules about sticking with us, not wandering away, not running through parking lots or across a road, etc.

I asked her to walk to the car while we were at the library, across the parking lot to get books from the car, and I was testing her.  I watched her as she looked both ways a few times, made extra sure that no cars were coming, walked properly and alertly to the car, and did the same on the way back.  I was very proud of her.

July 9/11

..... her courage (again)

Jaymi ran into a pole in a playground last Saturday afternoon and ended up needing 3 stitches in her eyebrow area.  It was a pretty deep cut and we had to go the ER to get it stitched up, for many reasons.

She was pretty scared when it came time to put the freezing in and the stitches, but she stayed still (squeezing my hand like crazy) and she was awesome.

I think she learned that it wasn't quite as scary as she anticipated it to be.

July 10/11

..... her playfulness

She is a great age to have a kitten.  The kitten needs to be played with and Jaymi is quite willing to do this, every day.  She told me that running around with Socks is actually good exercise for her!

July 11/11

..... her sympathy

Jaymi gave Socks a 'sponge bath' (with a wet washcloth) but didn't wring the cloth out AT ALL, so Socks ended up entirely too wet, and shivered for quite a while.  Jaymi was so caring and helped him dry off, comforting him while he did.

July 12/11

..... her appreciation for being thrifty

Earlier this month, I came across a deal at www.clearlycontacts.ca where they were offering any pair of glasses for free - just $10 shipping (plus, about $2 handling charges).  I was skeptical, but thought it seemed worthwhile ordering an extra pair for Jaymi.  I have her prescription in my purse, and just plugged in the numbers on the order form, chose a cute pair of glasses, added a scratch coat (an extra $10) and submitted my order.  I didn't say anything about it to Jaymi, in case the glasses didn't turn out right or didn't show up.  Less than a week later, they showed up.  And they're perfect!  She can see perfectly through them, they fit wonderfully, they're so cute, and she loves them!

AND, they came with a nice little case, a cleaning cloth, a drawstring bag, and a teeny tiny screwdriver.

What a great deal!

July 13/11

..... her sentimentality

My mom has had a Sit 'n Spin at her house since Jaymi was a baby, and every time we visit out east, Jaymi loves to play with it. Even though it's a toddler toy, she still loves it and managed to figure out how to have fun with it. So when we saw this one at the Salvation Army for $2, I said 'okay' to buying it. She loves playing with it!

July 14/11

..... her thought process

We have been learning about Cleopatra at home, and it has brought up quite a few new topics and questions!

For example:

- Cleopatra married her brother (which made Jaymi comment that 'they' wouldn't let her marry Daddy, in that case, would they?)

- Cleopatra's younger sister got married, got bored with her husband, and had him strangled

- people were regularly beheaded (she thinks this is incredibly mean, and at the same time, incredibly funny)

- people can leave things to people and instructions, in a will

- they mummified the dead to preserve their bodies

These last two points, prompted Jaymi to announce that she wants her body to be preserved, along with our cats (if they're dead by then) which will be preserved and laid one on each side of her body.  She also would like to leave her electrical tape & clamps to Mark, her hairbands to me, and donate half of her money to the pound and the other half to the SPCA.  

And she wants to be buried next to Grandpa (Mark's dad) - she says this is because she's never had the chance to know him.

July 15/11

..... her ideas

Jaymi has been dancing with Socks recently.  She puts on music, holds him, bounces him around a bit and he just goes completely limp!  His head droops down, his paws droop down, his legs go entirely limp, and he just hangs there.  It's hilarious!