My Growing-Up Girl

I experienced one of those "Wow, my little girl is growing up so fast!" moments when I picked Annabell up at preschool this morning.

Fridays are library day for her class, and each week she is allowed to pick out two books. Since the beginning of the school year she has picked one book for herself and used her second choice to get Liam a Thomas the Train book. Every week without fail, totally of her own volition, she has shared her book rights with her little brother. This is entirely typical of her sweet, generous nature, but it still warms my heart every Friday.

Since I volunteer in the preschool library twice each month, I've gotten pretty familiar with the selection of Thomas books. In fact, the last few times I've been on duty (which is usually on Mondays, when Liam's class comes to the library), I've looked through the Thomas box to see if there are any books checked in that Liam hasn't already memorized from beginning to end. After an entire schoolyear of Annabell's Friday visits combined with the last few months of Liam's Monday library jaunts, you can imagine that pickings are getting slim.

Anyway, the last time I was in the library I realized that there was only one Thomas book left that Liam hadn't ever read: The Cranky Day. Since it was a Monday and I knew Liam's class would be coming in for story time, I put that book in the front of the Thomas box so he would see it. I thought that perhaps he would realize he hadn't read it yet, but he ended up choosing an old favorite instead.

Well, when I got to Annabell's classroom this morning, guess which book she had selected for her brother? I said, "Wow, Annabell, you got The Cranky Day for Liam?" To which she replied with an excited smile, "Yes, it's the only Thomas book Liam hasn't had yet!"

Wow, my little girl is growing up so fast. Just look at her...