Dakota makes her bed!

When I was unpacking some boxes last week (yes, a year in this house and I'm still unpacking boxes. It was my summer project, but now it looks like it will be my fall and winter project as well) I came across all of our old floppy discs of pictures from when Cheyenne was a baby (and Dakota was 3). So many memories on those little discs!

I don't actually remember this day, but I know what was going on. Dakota was learning to make her bed. I would do the sheet and the comforter first and then she would finish up with her "Elmo blanket" (it was actually just a piece of fabric that I had bought with the intention of making her a dress-when I learned to sew. She found it and became attached to it, so it became a blanket instead.) It made her so proud to "help" me like that.
Just seeing these pictures, though, does bring back so many memories. It's amazing how many things I have forgotten about over the years. These pictures are only about 8 years old, but it seems like ages ago. So many things have happened since then. We have added two more children to our family, we've moved four times, I've worked in 5 different schools...wow!

I don't remember this day when she made her bed, but I do remember those Blue's Clues stickers on her wall. I remember her helping me put them there and how she liked to rearrange them. I remember that Cheyenne's crib was in the corner diagonal from Dakota's bed and she had Blue Jean Teddy stickers on her wall.
I remember that we really didn't need a bed for Dakota because she always slept in our bed anyway. She, Daniel and I slept crowded together in our full-sized bed-until Cheyenne came along and then I slept on the couch with her in the car seat next to me so that I would hear if her monitor alarmed.
It used to be so hard for Dakota to fall asleep at night because she was always thinking too much to fall asleep. I remember reading to her literally for hours every night until she finally fell asleep. When I finally got to the point where I couldn't read The Little Mermaid or Toy Story one more time (and because the pictures just kept her awake) I moved on to reading Charlotte's Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to her. She's always loved books.
I remember that that comforter on her bed had stars on one side and the checkered pattern on the other and she always had a preference for which side was on top when she was going to sleep. This is also the age when Dakota loved to watch Barney. We had one Barney video that she would watch over and over. In this house, my cedar chest was right next to the entertainment center. When the Barney video would finish, it would automatically rewind and eject itself. As soon as it would pop out, Dakota would climb up on the cedar chest and push it back it in. Even if she was busy playing with toys and not really watching, that video had to be on in the background.

And now, this sweet little three-year-old who loved Barney and Toy Story is 11! She loves Poke'mon, Harry Potter, video games, and her computer (thank goodness boys are not on that list yet, but that's soon to come, I'm sure). She's on the swim team, goes on church trips and Girl Scout trips all by herself. She no longer makes her bed because she wants to help me, only so I will leave her alone and let her play her video games. I no longer read to her for hours at bedtime and she has long ago outgrown Charlotte's Web. Now she reads to herself-Chronicles of Narnia, Nancy Drew, Harry Potter.

She's going to the middle school this year. For the first time, she will not be in my building at school. I won't pass her in the hall or have a teacher come and and say "Guess what Dakota said...". She's off on a new adventure-to the world of changing classes, sitting with friends at lunch instead of just with her class, riding the bus after school...all those things that she's so looking forward to. She's growing up. I guess that's the way it's suppoed to be.

I'm excited to look back in another 8 years and remember the way things "used to be". I hope we have lots of memories like this-just regular days that didn't mean alot at the time, but become treasures of our time together. And so, now, I'm off to make some of those memories with the kids. I think we are long overdue for a coloring and playdough session at the kitchen table. I'm sure those dirty dishes will still be there when the crayons are put away.

Oh, and thanks Lynnette for continuing with Wednesday's Walk. I really needed it today.