A Little Girl

A Little Girl

Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Her name was Elizabeth. All her friends called her Lizzy. She had a friend that was five years old. His name was Daniel. Tomorrow is Lizzy’s birthday and she will be seven years old. Her friends Daniel is going to be at her party. Lizzy doesn’t know where her party will be of what to do. She hopes everything will be all right.

LATER THAT NIGHT
That night Lizzy had to think a lot about her party. Here she had given it no thought, and tomorrow was her birthday.

THAT MORNING
It was Lizzy’s birthday. Daniel came to her house. So did some of her other friends. They all brought presents. They were all wonderful, but she liked Daniel’s best.

TEN WEEKS LATER
Today is Christmas Eve. You know what tomorrow is? Yep! You guessed it, Christmas. And soon it will be dark. Lizzy will have to go to bed so Santa will come to her house and give her presents.

CHRISTMAS DAY
Santa brought Lizzy everything she wanted. He is so nice sometimes. He left some kind of baby stuff, too. But Lizzy could not figure out why.

FOUR WEEKS LATER
Lizzy’s mother had a baby girl. Her name is Rachel. Now Lizzy knows why Santa brought all that baby stuff - - for Lizzy’s new sister. She cries too much, but Lizzy still likes her. Lizzy is lucky she doesn’t have to change Rachel’s diaper. Well, at least not yet!

THREE MONTHS LATER
Lizzy has been very helpful to her mother. She has learned how to get the bottle ready for Rachel to drink. First, she has to hold the bottle under warm water for several seconds. Then she has to squirt a little on her arm to make sure it is not too hot. The first time Lizzy did it, the milk squirted all over her face! What a mistake! Now, Lizzy is an expert and always prepares the bottle for her mother at feeding time.
One day, while her mother was feeding Rachel, Lizzy asked her mother how Santa knew a baby was coming to their house. Her mother explained Santa knew everything. Whether you were naughty of nice, and even if you were going to have a new baby arrive in time for Christmas. Lizzy thought this was incredible! Not only did Santa know about kid’s already snug warm in their own beds, but he knew about babies being delivered by the stork! Santa is amazing, and so smart, that Lizzy thought he should be a professor at college.
Lizzy told Daniel how smart Santa was. It scared Daniel. Was Santa spying on them? Would he tell his mother if he was bad or sneaked a cookie? Lizzy did not think so, but what if Santa did? He did not seem like a Santa that would tell on them, if they were bad. At least not the Santa she saw at the store. He was a jolly Santa. Very nice and friendly. He told Lizzy she would get everything she wanted for Christmas. And she did! Santa always seems to be right.

SIX MONTHS LATER
Lizzy and Daniel were playing a game on the floor while Rachel lay next to them on the floor. All of a sudden, Rachel flipped over and giggled! Lizzy and Daniel’s eyes grew as big as saucers! What did Rachel do? It most have been magic because Rachel never did that before. Lizzy ran to tell her mother what happened. Her mother started to laugh and explained to Lizzy that Rachel is growing up. In fact, Lizzy did the same thing when she was a baby - -and Daniel, too! Lizzy did not remember being so little. But she was sure her mother was right. Her mother is always right – just like Santa.

WEEKS LATER
One day Lizzy and Daniel were doing homework at the kitchen table. Rachel was sitting in her high chair. All of a sudden, a piece of apple flew into Lizzy’s hair! Daniel started laughing at how silly Lizzy looked. At first, Lizzy thought Daniel did it. But then she looked across the table, and saw Rachel smiling, with another big piece of apple in her hand. She threw it! Lizzy started to yell at Rachel, when BAM, another piece of apple hit her in the chin! Daniel laughed even harder. Even Rachel seemed to giggle at the sight of Lizzy covered in apples. Lizzy did not know what to do. Why was a little baby throwing yucky apple slices at her? Should she throw them back at Rachel? No, she decided. She sat there and giggled herself. How silly she must look. One day, she would tell Rachel what she did - - when Rachel was older.

MONTHS LATER
As Lizzy sat watching her favorite cartoon, she saw Rachel stand up for a second and then, just as quickly, fall down. She watched again as Rachel stood up, all wobbly, and BOOM, falling back on her bottom. Lizzy went over to her and grabbed her hand. She held on to Rachel, and helped pull her up. Rachel giggled. She looked scared, but happy. Lizzy called for her mother. When her mother saw Rachel standing, she started to cry. She was so happy. Her baby had started to walk! And Lizzy was there to help her. Lizzy hoped Santa had seen what a good job she had done. She was going to be the best sister she could be.

DAYS LATER
Soon after Rachel started walking, she started talking, too. And crying and yelling! Sometimes Lizzy and Daniel could not even hear their cartoons on TV because Rachel was so loud. Couldn’t her mother do something about her being so loud? It made Lizzy and Daniel very mad. It was hard to concentrate with all that noise in the house. Lizzy wondered if the stork had made a mistake when he brought Rachel to their house. Maybe she belonged to some other family. She was so loud, and her house used to be so quiet. Lizzy was sure that Santa was watching Rachel be bad. She hoped Rachel would at least get some toys for Christmas.