six

Dearest Birthday Girl,

You've been talking about this day since before you turned five!  Last year you wanted a birthday party with friends, and I told you that when you turned six you could have one.  So here we are!  It's finally the day!

In the fall you went to a birthday party for our neighbors at a bouncing place.  On the way home you asked me if you could have your birthday party there.  I told you that we would see, but you didn't stop talking about it for months.   So tonight you'll finally have your bouncing party with your friends and cousins, and I hope you LOVE it.  You invited your whole class, plus your cousins and some other friends....we're still waiting to see how many people come. (Some have RSVP'd, and I told some people that siblings could come....we could have quite a crowd on our hands!  But no matter who comes, I know you'll have a great time.)

This has been an exciting year for you....  first year of school, first year of Girl Scouts, first lost teeth (and four more are loose!)....  A year of lots of firsts!  You're learning to read and write, and get so excited when you read things all by yourself.  Several times a day you tell me, "Mommy, I know how to spell _______," and then you spell it for me, so proud!

At six years old you're still in love with playing dress up and princesses.  You love to pretend and I marvel at your imagination.  You love to dance in the family room in your princess dresses, watching yourself in the glass of the fireplace.  Your markers continually run dry because you love coloring and drawing so much.  Mostly you draw princesses, rainbows, and flowers.  Your room is littered with pages and pages of your drawings, and every so often I make you go through them and keep only your few favorites. 

Lately you've enjoyed playing outside again in the warm weather.  You play in the sandbox, pick leaves off of the bush (to make "gumbo," you tell me), pretend all kinds of things up in your clubhouse, and draw with chalk. 

Most of the time you love being a big sister to Rebecca.  You often just come up and give her a hug and a kiss for no reason.  You love going in her room in the morning when she wakes up, and Rebecca gets SO excited to see you when you walk in.  You like to boss her around, and you get annoyed with her, too, usually when she's bothering things you're trying to play with, but for the most part you love her and are a good big sister to her.

You're still the pickiest eater I know, and dinner times often result in tears (yours, mostly, but sometimes mine, too).  I'm really ready for you to outgrow this stage.  You also get really upset about certain things, like having your hair brushed when there are tangles in it, having Daddy or me try to touch your loose tooth (or anything else that hurts a little bit), or being woken up from a nap (you've finally given up your nap, which you were still taking almost every at day this time last year, but once in awhile, usually when you're sick, you still fall asleep during rest time, and when you get up you're usually crying and really whiny).

But you are also the sweetest girl I know (well, you and a certain sister of yours), and I am so proud and thankful that I get to be your mommy.  My favorite moments of the day are the first ones in the mornings when I sit on the couch with you on one knee and Rebecca on the other, all of us still waking up, and you both wanting to be close to Mommy.  Though sometimes I'd really love to have my own space, I know that these days of you sitting on my lap are numbered, so I savor them and love the times when you still want to be cuddled. 

You're scared to go to first grade next year.  Whenever it comes up, you get really sad, so I try not to mention it.  When I ask you why you're scared you tell me that it's because you're going to miss me too much.  It makes me cry just thinking about it, because you have no idea how much I'm going to miss you, being gone all day, instead of just in the mornings, but I know you're going to love it, once you get there and get used to it.  You're such a social little girl, and love riding the bus to school so you can talk to your friends.  I know that once you have lunch and recess time thrown into your day and more time to socialize, you'll be in heaven.

Six years sounds like a long time, but they've gone by in a flash.  I watched your birth video a few weeks ago for the first time in years, and watched myself cry tears of joy as I caught my first glimpse of you.  Today I cry more tears of joy, thinking about what a blessing you are to me, and how happy I am that you are my daughter.

I love you so, so much.  Enjoy this exciting day, sweet girl!