The Gilbreth Family: Hailey is FIVE.

Well, Hailey is now five years old, (actually had her birthday in February) and boy, have we had an exciting last five years with her. A few things about Hailey:

She is still tall- way above the curve for kids her age. She's about a head taller than most of her classmates.
She loves school and is doing a great job in K4.
Her interests center around science: the weather, outer space, human bodies, and plants.
Her most recent questions have been "How are diamonds made?" and "What are medicines made of?" and "What is in blood?" and "What is a placenta?" These are questions that take a whole evening to explain, and she's tenacious. She will not drop it until she understands. Completely.
She is a great big sister. Whenever Nora is crying, she takes care of it. She will drop whatever she is doing if she hears Nora cry and will run grab her a blanket, and book, a pacifier, and three random toys. Without fail. And it almost always makes Nora feel better.
She has a strong sense of justice. She wants everything to be fair.
She started talking in sentences and ten months and her mouth has not quit moving since. She is the most verbose child I have ever encountered, and although some days with Hailey can be quite overwhelming, it has been a joy to have a daughter who shares EVERY SINGLE THING SHE IS THINKING the moment she thinks of it. I know what she dreams about, what she thinks of her friends, how she feels about her family, any stories she's thinking of. . .
She has had a sudden interest in cooking her own food. She's making her own cheese quesadillas and toast.
She is very religious. For some reason the gospel strikes a very strong and mature chord with her. She loves scripture time and prayer time, BUT is not happy when Sundays roll around, because we "don't do anything exciting on Sundays." (She still loves primary, though.)
Still struggles when her socks are wrinkled.

The night before her birthday, Hailey suggested she go to bed early so I could start decorating and put up the birthday banner and all the balloons and stuff. I had to admit I had no such plans, so can you guess what I did for two hours after she went to bed? When she got up in the morning I wished her a Happy Birthday, and she said, "Oh thank you, and look! You've started to decorate already!" Such high expectations.