Taylor B

Taylor's first view of the Eiffel Tower will be a lifelong memory for me. Until recently she believed it to be the largest man made structure on the planet. Her Dutch is best in our house (Dylan is a quiet second). Outgoing as ever, she deals with the inevitable pressure of her situation with graceful fortitude. Because of her math skills she was moved up a class, thus creating a more urgent need to learn Dutch, as well as adding twenty something new faces to her life. A few times she's needed some coaxing to go to school. Her teachers have a good understanding of her situation and say that she's doing well (especially with math). The school has dealt with the multilingual situation before, so she's in good hands. Taylor misses family and friends from home but, while she's homesick, she makes the best of her situation. She keeps busy with "sports camp" two days a week and Brownies every other week. Pointed questions and skeptical looks have proven to Amy and me that she has serious doubts about the mystical things in childhood. If she's figured it out already she's in for a lot of years of keeping secrets...not her strong suit! That said...the tooth fairy visited her recently to make payment on the gap previously occupied by her two front teeth! So far her sense of humor comes more from our Dutch ancestry than our Irish roots, but it's coming along. Horses are her favorite animal and, like most 6 year old girls, she wishes she had her own pony. While Dylan can play alone for hours, Taylor is a social creature and always wants to play with someone. She's a fan of a Belgian "girl band" called K3. Since Belgium is so small, this "girl band" is big...and everywhere (movies, CD's, TV, billboards). I always hoped my children wouldn't hop the bandwagon of the pointless "Marketing Department-made" bands but I suppose it was bound to happen. She still likes my music too, and is just as likely to sing along with the Ramones as she is her girl band...OK for now. Taylor follows the rules to the extreme, like she always has, which makes for easy parenting. I suppose someday we'll get the opposite extreme. No use worrying about it now. Taylor is a great kid...she's growing up too fast.