She's 7!

Pre-birthday activities with Aunt Liha and Maggie:

Crazy another year has passed!  Ainsley can be such a sweet girl when she wants to be and I have been reminded of that this week because Reggie has been at camp.  She and K have been like 2 peas in a pod, playing family and they have been cracking me up with their stories about their children (which many stories come from the Wimpy Kid movies).  She has like 10 babysitters for all her kids.  Many of the things I have said to her in the past came out of her mouth as “mother”.  She has a great imagination and can entertain herself for hours in her make believe world.  It is great!
She wishes she had a real baby like Marley:

Ainsley is also getting much more confident…on Monday she told me she was actually excited to compete in gymnastics.  She has so much talent, but is very tentative and it is fun to see her be a little more brave :o).  We’ve been doing handstand contests all summer and I found my balance point, so I think I got her for another year, hopefully.  Here she is doing a press handstand…a skill that takes a lot of strength.  

Ainsley is still as stubborn and determined as ever.  It is very hard to get her to do something if she doesn’t want to.  Reading has come much easier to her than Reggie, but it is still a challenge to get her to do it because she doesn’t want to.  Someday this could be a great asset, but we are working hard to refine this to make sure she understands what is appropriate for a 7 year old! 
For her birthday, grandma took her to get her ears pierced and she loves to look at herself even more now.  Ainsley is still a girly girl, but has realized the need to be practical, so we are seeing fewer dresses and skirts these days.  She is also slowly losing her toothless smile and will look completely different in a couple months.

It will be fun to see how she grows as a 7 year old :o).