This girl is 7 today. I choke back tears just typing those words. SEVEN. My baby.
Samantha is so incredibly beautiful, inside and out.
Here are a few things I need to document about this beautiful 7 year old girl.
Samantha is a passionate little person. She feels things deeply. Very deeply. The down side of feeling so deeply is, well, a lot of DRAMA. Drama abounds with this dear girl. The upside of all that passion, and all those feelings, is a little person who experiences great joy, deep compassion for those who are hurting or lonely or left out, and gratitude and excitement for God's big beautiful world.
A classic example of Sam's deeeeeeep feelings was when she saw the movie Frozen in the theater in November. When the movie ended she was so incredibly moved by it all that she literally did not speak a word until the next morning. She was rendered speechless by the beauty, drama, music, story, love, sorrow, and general amazingness of it all. This girl FEELS. (It is worth noting that since that initial period of silence Sam has not stopped talking or singing about Frozen. 5 months. Nonstop Frozen.)
Sam continues to be incredibly creative. She truly is a little Tinker Fairy. She can make toys, art, instruments, habitats, fairy houses, and dolls out of anything she finds laying around. Sam is also creative in her play and enjoys developing elaborate and dramatic stories and songs and scenarios when she plays with Abby, or by herself (which is almost never because she still hates being alone).
I say this every year about Sam, but I most definitely have to mention again what a remarkable big sister she continues to be. She and Abby have their ugly moments, as siblings do, but wow does Samantha LOVE those two little sisters of hers. Since Abby and Hannah were growing inside me I would tell Sam that they were her best friends and she is fully embracing this great hope and prayer of mine. When I took Abby to Chicago/Nashville this winter Sam was so devastated to be separated from Abby that she had me find pictures of Abby so she could put them up all around her bed while Abby was away, even shining the nightlight on one of the photos so she could see Abby's face glowing in the dark (see above paragraph on high drama). Abby is her buddy, and Hannah is her baby. Sam is incredible with all babies (she is going to make so much $$$ babysitting some day), but Hannah is like her very own child. Sam can get Hannah to stop crying and make her laugh or get her to eat or cooperate for a diaper change with the greatest of ease. Sam's love for her sisters is deep and visible and it brings me so much joy.
Two words that have consistently come up from Sam this year are ADVENTURE and FREEDOM. This girl loves an adventure, in fact that is what she wanted for her birthday, an "Adventure Girl Party" (more on that later). Whether it is turning cardboard into sleds for our hill, building rope swings in the backyard, skateboarding, surfing with Daddy, or reading books about adventure, our girl loves a thrill. Sam also wants freedom. She mentions it a lot. We keep trying to figure out what freedom means to her and how to give it to her in little doses. I think she wants no rules and restrictions. I think she thinks adults have all the freedom and fun. (We also keep telling her that if she seeks freedom and goes on an adventure by herself before she is 18 the police will bring her home.)
Sam's teacher commented on her report card that Samantha is "wise beyond her years", which is exactly right. She always has been. Her faith is deep, her mind is strong, her love is intense, her emotions are mature.
Samantha is a complex and delightful combination of fearless and fragile, tough and sensitive, girly and tomboy, wise beyond her years and still a fun-loving silly seven year old child.
Last night when I tucked Sam in bed I told her the story of the night of her birth and I told her how I loved her more than I could have ever imagined the moment I saw her and held her. That is true, of course. But what is also true is that I love her more at age 7 than I ever could have imagined the night she was born.
Thank you God for this child.
Samantha is a complex and delightful combination of fearless and fragile, tough and sensitive, girly and tomboy, wise beyond her years and still a fun-loving silly seven year old child.
Last night when I tucked Sam in bed I told her the story of the night of her birth and I told her how I loved her more than I could have ever imagined the moment I saw her and held her. That is true, of course. But what is also true is that I love her more at age 7 than I ever could have imagined the night she was born.
Thank you God for this child.
All photo credits to Stacy Bostrom Photography, as usual.
Thanks Stacy!
