10 things about Paige at 5...

1. I have noticed recently that Paige is getting physically bigger. She has outgrown some clothes, shoes, and her bike.  When we go for walks, she is no longer lagging behind.  She has more endurance as she gets taller. At the park, she is still hesitant to tackle climbing anything that is too high up. But...her swimming is getting awesome.  The 14 days in Orlando really helped, and since then Mike has taken her swimming a lot on the weekends to practice.  She can jump off the diving board and everything.  Being in an unfamiliar pool, or at the cottage sets her back a bit though.  In these settings she prefers water wings, or to stay where it's shallow. 
2. That leads me to another point.  Something I love about Paige is that she's not a show off.  She doesn't brag about how she can swim, or how good she did at her dance recital, or how many toys she got at her party.  I'm not sure if it's because she lacks confidence, or if she's just not a show off in general, but I really like that she is modest.  She has started to tell people that she's 5. Usually it happens if someone comments on something that Rose is doing.  Paige will say, "her name is Rose and she's 2, I'm Paige and I'm 5".  She's really happy to be 5. 
3. Paige is still super into the iPad.  Rosie is majorly into the iPad too.  The both of them watch Max and Ruby every day while I prepare dinner.  I'm not sure why that particular show but they can't get enough of it. Paige is also really good at agreeing to watch a show that both girls want to watch.  
4. Paige's favourite toys to play with are still animals.  She can play with her dollhouse, but never with people, only animals.  She has been given a couple of barbie sets that come with animals, and the barbie's are never played with--only the animals.  As she loves the movie Rio, I bought one of those "Toobs" that you see at the toy store for her at the cottage.  This one was all birds, and she loved it. 
5. Paige really likes to do crafts.  I find though that she would rather do lots of quick ones then spend a long time on one particular one.  You'll never find that her colouring, for instance, is perfectly done.   She likes to just go fast, and move onto the next colour. 
6. Her reading is going fine.  I don't know what she is supposed to be doing now to be honest, but she is starting to sound things out.  I tell her to just sound things out and write them down, without worrying if it is correct.  She isn't that interested to write and read yet, but she does get super excited if she figures a word out.  I think she'll do well in school next year.  For the summer I'm trying to do small reading and writing things with her but nothing major. I don't want to over do it.  
7. She likes to "train" Scout by copying what she sees us doing.  Poor thing though, Scout doesn't always listen, or Paige holds the treats up high and Scout jumps up on her.  I think when you're 5 it's easy to get scared of a puppy who is the same size as you, and definitely hard to control one!
8. The one thing we are working on is tidying.  She will make a huge mess in her room and then be unable to clean it up.  I try to tell her that she should not make a mess she is unwilling to tidy, but things just seem to get out of hand.  She gets overwhelmed and doesn't know where to begin and gets distracted and starts playing.  I think part of my issue is that if she actually cleans it everything goes in such random locations and I find it so so hard to see things in the wrong spot! I have cleared out a ton of stuff from her room to add in the giant dump that happens, but it is hard when you get Rose in there, friends, etc. 
9. The thing she remembers to do the most is wash her hands.  Every time we return home from being out, she heads straight into the bathroom to wash her hands. 
10. I would say she is more of a follower than a leader.  I don't mean that in a negative sense at all.  Rather, she is just happy to go along with whatever is fun.  She isn't the one to start the game, or get mad if someone wants to play something different.  If there is running and laughing, pretending to be an animal, hiding, etc, she's in. Her personality is very fun loving.  She's rarely ever pouty or negative, or in a bad mood.  She never cries when she doesn't get her own way.  She's really reasonable and understanding for the most part.