For the past few years, I’ve done a Thursday Thirteen (or now a Thursday 13) post about each of my girls as their birthdays came around. So in keeping with tradition, and since Hannah’s birthday was last Sunday – here is all about Hannah as she turns 7 years old. If you’d like to read her previous lists – you can see all about Hannah at age 6 or at age 5 as well.  It’s so much fun for me to go back and read what I wrote back then!

One: It looks like red is a permanent favorite color – since another birthday has gone by without Hannah changing to something different. She’s all about bright colors – which fits perfectly with her personality of loving to be in the limelight.

Two: Hannah has transitioned wonderfully into first grade and loves school. She’s reading (way) ahead of her grade level and so far does very well in math, social studies and science too. We’ll see what new challenges the next few years will bring, but I’m confident that she’ll be able to handle anything she needs to.

Three: Dogs are still her favorite animal, but horses have moved down to number three. Her second favorite animal is now the polar bear. She’s very specific about the order – dogs, polar bears and then horses. She still wants to get a puppy, but we’re putting off what is probably inevitable for at least another year or two, until she’s older and more able to take care of a dog herself.

Four: Although she is starting to mature emotionally a little bit, our little Drama Queen still has her moments. Especially when she’s tired. Most of her fits now involve one of her sisters either doing something or not doing something to Hannah’s liking.

Five: Hannah is still our pickiest eater (out of the kids anyway), although she is much more willing to try new foods than either Abby or Becca are. Over the past year she’s stopped liking pizza (except for the personal pan ones at Pizza Hut), and hot dogs (except for beef ones – sometimes). I think she’d live on peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and macaroni & cheese if we let her. Rest assured, we don’t. She will eat chicken (under protest) but fruits and vegetables are as always, a struggle.

Six: Her growth has remained very consistent – at her checkup yesterday she’d gained about 4 pounds and grown 2 inches since last year, keeping her in the 50th percentile for height and about the 35th for weight.

Seven: Hannah loves to play soccer – her favorite position is goalie. She’s a pretty darn good little goalie too and stops almost every ball that comes her way. She also scored two goals during this past fall season – her very first ones.

Eight: She loves to wear skirts and dresses and does so every chance she gets. My only rule is that she has to wear pants on Mondays and Fridays because she has gym. She still doesn’t like to wear clothes that are ‘plain’, so I don’t even bother to get out the solid-colored shirts anymore when I switch her clothes for the season. Yep, she’s all about the bling… 

Nine: Hannah has lost a grand total of 8 teeth now – exactly the same amount as Abby. She tends to hit a lot of milestones around the same time as her older sister, even though they’re 20 months apart. This can create a great deal of strife between the two of them on a fairly regular basis.

Ten: Even though she still insists that she doesn’t like her little sister, Hannah is extremely good with Becca – when she wants to be. She is very protective of Becca too, most of the time.

Eleven: Hannah is a ‘people pleaser’. This is a good thing when it comes to school – she wants teachers to like her, so she’s always the first in line or to have her hand raised. However it does tend to get her in trouble along with her peers sometimes, because even though she doesn’t usually instigate naughty behavior, she’ll go along if someone else does. And she’s sneaky – she knows how to lie and get away with it, although we do tend to catch it most of the time (I hope). I’m a bit – worried about the teenage years to come though…

Twelve: She won’t usually let me do much with her hair anymore (one reason why it’s fairly short at the moment). She likes to wear headbands and every so often she’ll let me put in a braid or small ponytail on one side. She’s decided to try out having bangs the next time she gets her hair cut.

Thirteen: She may be seven years old and growing up, but she’ll always still be my little ‘peanut’ to me. 

Check out other Thursday 13 lists!