Genevieve turns 8

Most years I begin Vi's birthday blog with a sense of disbelief.  Something along the lines of "I cannot believe she is THIS many years old!"   This is the first year where it just...makes sense, like, of COURSE she is 8.   She has always been smart, but there was a degree of maturity that happened this year that just helped me be a bit more prepared for her continued aging and growth.

 She is becoming more self aware of her emotions and her impact on others.  She has been processing things externally and I hear her laying in bed processing events that have happened during the day.  Most recently reassuring herself of who she is compared to what someone else said about her.  I had talked to her about it, but she said she still needed to "talk it out a bit to herself".   
I recently got her a journal as a place she can also process emotions and thoughts in response to life and she has already started pouring herself into it.   It's such a coming of age thing having to process life events and their impact and it just makes her seem older to me, but I am already proud of how she is trying to handle things.

She is extremely factual and literal.   It makes her painfully honest, and often comically so.  My cousin is going through a difficult time having to re-home one of her dogs.  Genevieve's response while trying to be empathetic, "well at least you have one dog"(reminds me of her dad). 
This year she also came in and told me "you look decent today mom".

We have noticed her eagerness for learning.  Not just academically, (I still have to threaten her sometimes to do school) but overall in her understanding of life and knowledge.  She wants to know how things work, why people respond in different ways to different situations; and she wants to know how she can try to do things on her own.    She is learning more complex games, reading more advanced books, pursuing knowledge on things that interest her.
 She wanted her own tools, when we gave her a small hammer/screw set, she promptly removed the door knob from her door (accidentally, just noticed the screw there and got to work). 

This year was also an overall difficult year for our family, and I've seen part of her maturity develop as we have worked through that together.  We had a couple big life changes in our lives that her acute and quizzical mind has not missed their significance. She experienced loss for the 2nd time in her life when we lost my aunt this year.   Most kids have this sense of invincibility, that Genevieve doesn't seem to have.  She is cautious, sincere and aware of the concept that people come and go in our lives.   It has made her love more fiercely and appreciate the people we have in our lives.   She randomly asks us how different people are doing, she thinks of others and shows awareness of when they are in need of affection.  She has asked some hard questions that have been difficult for us to answer when we WANT to assure her of certainty...and we cannot.   I was a bit nervous of her becoming fearful, but she seems to have become more graceful instead. 
 I am so proud of how she is navigating life, and so thankful for the many, many people who have helped shape her and influence her towards grace and love instead of fear.