Penlelope Birthday Photography

With school starting and everything going on in September Penelope's birthday always seems to sneak up on me.  We found some time a couple days before her birthday to go out and take pictures.

I love doing her pictures because in a way she is like my little doll.  I help dress her up and do her hair and then take her outside and pose her for pictures.  She is so pretty and accommodating that it goes quickly.  And she is such a girly girl that she likes doing it just as much as I do.  At first she usually protests because she doesn't always agree with my outfit or hair choices, but when I explain my reasoning she always comes around.  

I think it is because she is so little that to me she always seems more mature than she should be.  She is close to the same size as Scarlett but mentally they couldn't be more different.  Penelope is very methodical and I get the feeling that so much goes on her her head before she even says anything.  She is always thinking about serious things and asking me difficult to answer questions.  She remembers well and not very much gets past her.  She is opposite of those children who seem to live in their own world.  She cares very much what everyone else says and does to her.

Penelope is very sensitive and can get her feelings hurt easily.  Me yelling at her would probably send her to tears.  But that doesn't mean she has a problem yelling at me.  When she doesn't get her way she pulls out the mean faces and grunting noises.  I sometimes think she oppositional defiant disorder because it seems like she won't do things just because I tell her too.  She is much happier doing things without me telling her.  And she can be very stubborn.  She will refuse to do something one day because I told her to and hold out no matter what the punishment is. I know she is listening and learning because the next day she will do that same thing without me saying anything about it.

Penelope can still be a people pleaser and do what others want, but over this past year I've seen her develop her own opinions a bit more.  She now has things she likes and doesn't like and can make decisions most of the time without looking to Tucker for his answer.  She even likes food that he openly hates.  I think it is great when she like something different from her brother.

Penelope is very smart and I think she already knows most of what they teach academically in kindergarten.  We really wanted her to go for the social aspect of it.  It took her over a week to stand up in the front of the class to share something, and she told me the teacher did all the talking for her.  She is very slow to warm up to new situations or people, but once she does she isn't as quiet as people often think.

I made a little film strip of some of the different faces she makes on a regular basis.

I love this girl and it is amazing how much she is growing up!