Savannah: 7 Years Old – Trav and Erin + 3

Savannah turned 7 years old on April 29th, and it seems like the last year has gone by so quickly. She has made big strides this year in her growth and confidence, and she makes us proud every day.

Savannah went for her checkup with Dr. Dudley on May 9th, and she was 47 7/8 inches tall (50th percentile) and weighed 48 pounds (50th percentile). It’s funny to me that her height and weight are basically the same number…I assume this will be the only year that happens. She has grown almost 3 inches and gained 5.5 pounds since last year! Savannah is wearing mostly size 7/8 clothes now, although I think she would still fit into 6/6X clothes if we hadn’t put them away in the attic. Most of her shoes are either a size 13 or size 1 depending on the brand. She is not nearly as picky as Brooklyn is about clothes and will wear jeans, ruffles, and even hair bows still :) She has learned several new skills in the last year, including how to tie her shoes and put on her shinguards for soccer by herself. Savannah has now lost 6 teeth (4 on bottom and 2 on top). We learned at her most recent dentist appointment that she is actually missing two of her permanent teeth, so we may have some big orthodontic bills in our future. We’ll see.

Savannah has really turned into a pretty good eater over the last year. She has her favorite foods, but she is more willing to eat other foods too than she used to be. She usually eats cereal for breakfast (her favorites are Special K Vanilla and Almond or Cheerio Oat Crunch right now). She will generally “buy” her lunch at school a few days a week depending on what they are serving and bring her lunch on the other days. She really likes the school’s hamburgers, pizza, and hot dogs ;) She loves PB&J or peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but doesn’t usually care for ham or turkey. She says her least favorite foods are currently asparagus and tomatoes. Some of her favorite dinner foods are spaghetti, ravioli, vegetable soup, broccoli, and BBQ meatballs. She loves pancakes and waffles and pretty much all desserts.

Savannah generally goes to bed between 8 PM and 8:30 PM each night and get up around 6:30 AM on school days. She is almost always still asleep when I go in to get her up for school. She is a great sleeper and will usually sleep later than her sisters on the weekend. She has the longest bedtime routine with me at the moment, which includes doing “big, middle, and little” sized kisses and hugs and sometimes singing Rock-A-Bye Baby or reading a book together. I love those special moments with her.

Savannah has really blossomed over the last year, and it has been so fun to watch. She is gaining confidence in herself and speaking up more in social settings than ever before. First grade has been a really great year for her. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Pride, and I think it has really helped that she already knew 3 girls in her class before the school year even started. Mrs. Pride assigned “jobs” to each of her students this year, and Savannah is the class messenger, which means she runs errands for Mrs. Pride all around the school. This has encouraged her to interact with other adults and get out of her comfort zone more and more. Savannah is a good listener and is very responsible and observant. She amazes me with all the things she notices and remembers throughout her day at school. On our walk home from school each day, she usually sticks close by me and holds my hand while she tells me how her day went. She has especially enjoyed art class and playing on the playground with her friends this year. She learned all of her sight words pretty early on in the school year (I think by October or November) and just recently learned all of her addition and subtraction facts up to 10. She has done so well all around, and we are really proud of her for her academic success, but even more so for how she makes good choices and is a role model for other kids.

Even though she has started to come out of her shell, she is still fairly quiet until she gets to know you. When she is asked a question, she sometimes won’t answer for several seconds, and I can tell she is thinking about what to say but isn’t sure how to say it. She continues to be very thoughtful, caring, and quick to share or help others. She really enjoys helping in the kitchen and still says she wants to be a baker when she grows up. She is playing soccer again this season–her 4th season in a row. She really loves it! She has gotten to be pretty competitive and can be hard on herself when she doesn’t do as well as she wants to. She is pretty speedy and is quick to chase down a player from the other team with the ball and keep them from scoring.

Some of her other interests include polar bears (still her favorite animal!), drawing, reading, writing stories, shooting hoops in Brooklyn’s room, and playing outside. Some of her favorite book series right now are Critter Club, Zoey and Sassafras, Purrmaids, and Magic Treehouse. Over the last year, she has learned how to ride her bike without training wheels and recently got a 2-wheeled scooter. We also discovered that she actually does like roller coasters and some thrill rides on our Disney trip in October. So many changes over the last year for our sweet girl!

Savannah has a big silly side that a lot of people don’t get to see, but it definitely comes out at home. She also has big feelings and big worries that come out from time to time. She is the queen of asking “what if” questions and thinking through the worst case scenario for every situation. She and I are both working on that ;) Savannah does really well at entertaining herself and playing alone (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her say “I’m bored”…seriously!), but she also generally plays pretty well with her sisters. Of course, they don’t always get along, but what sisters do? ;) She is a little mommy when it comes to helping Abigail, which I love. She and Brooklyn enjoy playing with their American Girl dolls together and building with Magna Tiles together upstairs. I’m so glad the three girls have each other!