Oct. 5/11

..... her unconditional love for Socks (her kitten)

We got Socks back in June, and Jaymi is still so in love him.

Every day when she gets home from school, she immediately looks for him in the house, cuddles him and says hello.

Oct. 6/11

..... her love for board games

It was hilarious watching Jaymi and her friend Zoe play Bedbugs together recently!

Oct. 7/11

..... that she's my kid!

Oct. 8/11

..... her changing style

I love watching her figure out her style, and what she likes to wear.

It frustrates me that she doesn't like dresses or skirts anymore (again!).

But oh well.  I do want her to be her own person, right?

She likes pants and shirts.

She loves shoes, especially flats.

She doesn't really like to wear pink that much.

She likes comfortable clothes..pants that stretch - no cords or jeans.

She likes her hair straight and smooth - no poofiness or waves or curls.

She still likes to mismatch her socks, most of the time.

Oct. 9/11

..... her curiosity

Jaymi helped me with the Thanksgiving turkey this year, and also made her own pumpkin pie.

I am always quick to help her learn new things, so when she asked me if she could see the giblets, and inspect them, I jumped at the chance to teach her something new.

We marvelled at how the heart looks just like ours would.

We cut open the heart and noticed the blood vessels and arteries.

We noticed how the liver looks the same on the inside and outside.

We cut apart the neck and saw that there were vertebrae just like ours.

Oct. 10/11

..... her long-standing friendship with Gareth

Jaymi has known Gareth since somewhere around age 3...before preschool!

They went to preschool together, and then when it was time to go to kindergarten, they went to separate schools.

Since that time, they have had a weekly playdate.

They have always been at each other's birthday parties as well.

Gareth turned 9 the other day, and Jaymi was happy to choose two Warriors books for him - she knew which ones he would enjoy.

They both have a love for "Warriors" by Erin Hunter.

They discuss the series endlessly, in detail.

They love to pretend they are warrior cats in a certain clan, and they act out whole scenarios.

Oct. 11/11

..... her interest in planning her own birthday party

Since about 2 years ago, Jaymi has wanted to be in on the plans for her birthday parties.

Here she is, planning her upcoming party (a cat party) while eating leftover pumpkin pie.

:)

Sep. 9/11

..... her physical strength

This girl is strong!

All this taekwondo training has made her so strong, physically, and very fit too, I think.

Anyway, she was awarded her blue belt last week, and is already thinking about the next belt (High Blue - blue with a black stripe)

Sep. 10/11

..... how she's not growing up too quickly

She still loves bouncy castles and face painting, and fairs and pretend play.

I love that she isn't trying to be older than she is, and that she is staying innocent.

There will be many, many years for her to be more grown up.

Sep. 11/11

..... her memories

Every year since Jaymi was very young, we have gone to a fair called Metchosin Day.

It has always had this thing where you line up FOREVER to take a 5-minute turn on a mini-excavator and you get to work the controls, dumping and scooping and turning.

She has always wanted to do it and remembers it as a tradition now.  I wasn't sure, now that she is almost 9 years old AND not into construction at all (like she was when she was little) whether or not she would want to do it this year.

She did!

Sep. 12/11

..... her academic ability

She is so smart and such an academic little girl.

She is in Gr.4 this year, and her first spelling test went well - 18 out of 18!

Sep. 13/11

..... her whimsy

New t-shirt she picked out from Zellers :)

Sep. 14/11

..... her endurance

Sep. 15/11

..... the way she wakes up in the morning

If I have to wake her up for school, it's actually quite nice.  She's so cuddly and warm and cute.

And now she wakes up with Socks purring in her ear as well...she opens one eye and pulls him close to her to give him a big hug.

:)

Sep. 16/11

..... her excitement about moving up in levels.

She was excited about getting her new ballet clothes to begin grade 1 ballet.

In another 2 months as well, she'll begin rehearsals for the Nutcracker Ballet!

Sep. 17/11

..... her responsibility.

She is excellent at taking care of Socks (and Cookie too).

It's routine for her now.

In the morning, she cuddles him, checks his dry food, changes the litter, puts his collar on, and feeds him his wet food.

After school, she greets him as soon as she gets home, plays with him, feeds him his dinner later, and sometimes even trains him.

At bedtime, she takes his collar off, puts him into her bedroom, checks his water and dry food, changes his litter, and settles him down for the night.

Once or twice a week, she gives him a sponge bath.

Lots of catching up

July 30/11

..... her thoughts

Jaymi always amazes me with what she thinks about.  I love hearing about what goes through that beautiful, intelligent head of hers.

July 31/11

..... her playfulness

We went to a park that we don't usually go to, and she had so much fun just playing and being a kid!

Aug 1/11

..... her love of water

Ever since Jaymi was a baby and we had her floating in the bathtub with a baby "swim vest" on, she has loved being in the water.

When she was a toddler in the pool we constantly had to remind her not to just dunk under the water without letting us know first.

She basically taught herself to swim, and always preferred to be under the water most of the time.

She has been swimming without a life jacket for many years now, and still loves to be in the pool.

Aug 2/11

..... her fantasies

Jaymi and I went to a costume sale at a local theatre's costume rental place, and this is what she picked out.

She wanted this wedding dress to add to her dress-up box, so that she can pretend to get married.

She immediately tried it on when she got home, practiced spinning the bottom so that it twirls out around her, and asked Mark if they could 'get married' that evening.

She even got a ring from the costume sale as well.

Her only complaint about this dress is that is doesn't have a big, long train.

:)

Aug 3/11

..... her change in style

Jaymi's style is definitely changing, and so are her interests.  She is still very 'kid' but is starting to be a bit interested in some 'older kid' things.

She still loves stuffies, but not quite as much.  There are many times when I realize that she didn't bring a stuffed animal with her, and it used to be all the time.

She is not so much into sparkly clothes anymore, and not really into dresses and skirts (unless it's for a very special occasion).

But she likes this type of shirt (especially in the heat) - this is actually my shirt.

She cares very much about her hair.  You'll constantly see her brushing it and asking if it looks alright.  Even as she's heading into a taekwondo class!

She still loves pretend and reading and especially shoes (dressy ones - not runners)

Her main interest right now is definitely CATS!

Aug 4/11

..... her uniqueness and how she's not afraid to do things that are different (sometimes)

She requested that we go to the Bug Zoo recently, and after holding all of the bugs and listening to the whole tour, we entered the gift shop where she told me the true reason that she had wanted to go there.

She wanted me to buy some 'bug snacks' for her to eat.

So we did.

We bought cheesy worms, salt & vinegar crickets, bacon & cheddar crickets, and chocolate-covered ants.

And she loved it all!

Aug 5/11

..... Once again..... her beauty

Aug 6/11

..... her relationship with me

I love our mother-daughter relationship.

I love how much fun we have together, and I can help her discover so many new experiences.

Aug 7/11

..... her ability to get me to do things

We were downtown last week, and came across this Russian Tall Ship (a training ship) which was temporarily docked here in Victoria.

After finding out that there were tours on the ship, I wanted to go on one, but was also told that the lineup was about 45 minutes long, to get on the ship.

I figured that was way too long to stand there and wait in a lineup, so I began to leave the area.

Jaymi said that she wanted to lineup and wait, so after asking if she was sure, we did.

And she was fine!  The wait actually turned out to be about an hour and it was very hot and sunny.

But we got on the ship, and it was worth it.

So many awesome new things to discover.  What a fantastic experience!

Aug 8/11

..... our redo of her room

We are gradually redoing Jaymi's room to make it into a cat room.

Whenever she comes across a cat statue or decoration in a thrift store or at a garage sale, if she likes it, she picks it up for her room.

We found the coolest shop downtown recently called Cleopatra's Bedroom.

Since Jaymi has read all about Cleopatra, she wanted to go in and look at everything.

It was full of beautiful, authentic items shipped from Egypt.

Among the jewellery, clothes, vases, etc., there were these gorgeous painted portraits on real papyrus!

This one is of Bastet - the Egyptian goddess of music & dance.

Of course, cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt, so Jaymi has always loved that.

Aug 9/11

..... her developing friendships

Jaymi is realizing that she really clicks with Zoe.  They have been having many playdates this summer, and each playdate ends with the two of them asking when the next playdate will be.

Aug 10/11

..... hew she challenges herself

These are the books Jaymi chose on a recent trip to a used bookstore.

She wants to see how she likes the Narnia series,

she, of course, grabbed up the one Warriors book they had, that she hasn't read yet,

she loved the Cleopatra book so much, and wanted another in the collection, so she got one about a girl king from Sweden,

and she likes the Canadian Girl series, and grabbed the collection of Penelope.

Aug 11/11

..... her ideas

I turn around to see Jaymi coming out of the house, walking around with a canvas tote bag with a kitten head sticking out.  The kitten actually didn't look like he minded at all!