7 Years

There's no well child visit at 7 years (with Kaiser anyway), so I don't know Peyton's stats. I could measure her height at home, but we don't own a scale. I know she is over 48 inches because she was finally able to go on the slides at North Clackamas Aquatic Park last summer. That also means she'll be able to go on the Incredicoaster when we go to Disneyland later this year!

Peyton at 7 years:

*Is very athletic. She's very strong and physical things come very easy to her. She does very well in her tumbling class (ballet too, but especially tumbling). I always say that if Peyton were a boy, she would have been great at all the sports. Since she's a girl (and especially since she's the only girl), she gets to use that athleticism in dance.

*Is always upside down practicing her tumbling and doing cartwheels.

*Works hard at everything she does and strives to always do her best. The other day I was watching her and Corbyn at track practice. I heard the coach say they could just go at their own pace. I could tell Corbyn was taking it easy, but Peyton was really pushing herself to go fast.

*Is an excellent reader. She enjoys reading and is reading chapter books that are way above a 1st grade reading level.

*Is also very good at math and is a good student in general.

*Is a good friend. She can play with pretty much anyone and makes friends wherever she goes. She's often the only girl and can hang with the boys. She is also very patient when she plays with kids (and cousins) younger than her.

*Loves to craft. You might say, she gets it from me, but I don't think I really enjoyed art at her age. (I played the flute in middle school, so I wouldn't have to take art and choir.) Maybe she gets it from watching me craft.

*Enjoys watching movies as a family, but doesn't ask for too much screen time otherwise. When she does, she usually watches My Little Pony.

*Loves to play games as a family, but has a hard time losing. This is one of the things we are working on with her this year and she is already doing much better than she was at the beginning of the year.

*Is typically fearless (until she's not). It always throws me off when she says she is scared of something (or when she acts shy) because she usually is very bold and isn't scared of much.

*Has developed some kind of anxiety at bedtime. She often will tell me she has a tummy ache when I'm putting her to bed and after a few times I figured out that she's probably feeling anxious. I tell her to take some deep breaths and give her a teddy to sleep with and she's fine, but it makes me sad that it's something she's already struggling with because anxiety has caused me so much trouble in my adult years.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Peyton from the last year.

With her friend, Wren.

Holding Cousin Leo. She's going to be a great helper when Easton comes!

First lost tooth.

Always reading.

She didn't want to smile for her school picture because of her missing teeth. I wish she would have, but I was just glad to not have to work so hard to get her school picture this year. 😂

Beauty on Halloween.

Showing off her stuff at Christmas in her tumbling class.

Holding Cousin Madison.

With her Grandma Joan's grave (the grandma she is named after).

The bunny whisperer!

She got unicorn slippers with a sleeping eye mask for Christmas. I had to smile when I found her sleeping like this.

When Rog was going to the Priesthood Session of Conference, I told her that next year (October 2020) she gets to come with me to the General Women's Session. This was not the response I was expecting. 😂

I don't remember how she got this messy face, but it's still cute at almost 7.

 We love our Peyton girl and are so grateful that if we only got one girl, it could be her!