5th birthday (observed)

 

We had such a good day today. We started out going to a friend's party this morning. Chad and I were a little nervous because A had multiple meltdowns about not wanting to share or take turns. She hadn't slept well last night and we can only assume it was because she was so excited about having such a fun weekend planned.



A decided she wanted a "red riding hood" party in March 2016 and she never wavered in that theme. That's okay because it was a really fun party to plan!

 

We absolutely loved her beautiful cake. 

Such a happy day!

Easter Parade and Party

The school Easter party feels a little like Groundhog Day. Each year, A is so excited about the hunt, she slowly looks around, tries to find mom and dad, watches her friends gather eggs, carefully inspects each egg that she finds, and then individually opens it to investigate. And each year, she looks around in horror as she realizes that while she was experiencing this process, all the eggs are gone and she only collected four. You can even hear Chad asking me about this very thing, right as it plays out in front of us. I thought she might be okay this year, given that she just seemed to be enjoying herself. Nope. Cue the annual water works.

This was hard for us to handle because on the one hand, we want to teach gratitude for what you have. On the other hand, we want to teach her to be responsible for her behavior. And while neither Chad nor I are particularly competitive, we both do have to hold our tongues to prevent us from having to make her go faster. I'm glad she likes to stop and appreciate things. I just wish the outcome was that she realized that part/most of the fun is the hunt, not the number of eggs you come home with. We tried talking about this but she was unconvinced. She said that friends were supposed to share (and "Mighty Oaks share!") so we had to discuss that we can't just make other people give us their things.

Dude, this parenting gig is hard. She keeps us on our toes. I want to balance being understanding but having boundaries.

So of course we had an Easter egg hunt at home, using some leftover eggs and the extra eggs that Ms. Bobbie snuck to A when she saw how upset she was. This was clearly brilliant. She beamed at the full basket of found eggs (which again, were not quickly retrieved by any stretch of the imagination), which made her completely forget about her earlier upset.

We also dyed some eggs tonight, which was a lot of fun. She tried her first hard boiled egg which was about as funny as I hoped it would be--she was completely disgusted by it.

5 year letter

My sweet, sweet girl,

You are now five. You have talked about this age for so long and it's finally here. "When I am five, I will listen," "when I am five, I can ride a scooter," "we can go to Disney World when I am five," "I'll go to big school when I am five." You have a list of things you say you won't ask to do once you're five (ask for help after going potty or washing your hands, drinking milk out of a silicone cup in the morning) that I anticipate aren't actually stopping anytime soon.

Five is hard.

Every parent I have talked to has agreed that the transition from four to five is a tough one for parents. You still seem so little but now there are so many more expectations that other people have. Previously if you were at the store doing something childlike, such as running or whining, when people ask how old you are, they seemed sympathetic "ah, four. she's still little." Five just seems like a significant jump. Now you are school aged. Man. That feels like a punch in the gut, sweet pea.

You are growing and your personality is so apparent every day. You can still be slow to warm up to people and new situations but once you are comfortable, you just love to entertain. You tell stories and update us on all the things you are learning or experiencing. You love the theatrical build up of telling us something new. "Hey mom, you know what happened today? [dramatic pause] Someone pooped on the porch at school!! [peals of laughter]" Oh yes, potty humor is particularly hysterical. "Mommy, [friend] stopped the toilet today and Ms. A had to put gloves on and stick her hand in there!!"

You love fiercely. We love that you continue to give giant hugs with tight squeezes. You love to be picked up. You love to be held. You love to cuddle. Please don't change that. You love your friends and you seem to really be internalizing all of the messages you hear at home and at school about being kind and being a good friend. I am so thankful for this. That said, you do occasionally get in tuffles with your friends, surprising me when you tell me that a friend pushed you into the picnic table and when I ask why, you sheepishly admit that you pushed her because she was in your space and wouldn't stop playing with you, despite your request to play with someone else.

Some days, you enjoy playing by yourself for hours. Even at school or at birthday parties, I will catch you off to yourself playing. However, sometimes you don't want to be left alone even long enough for me to let the dog out or wash my hands. You love reading and you are pretty obsessed with writing letters. We certainly don't push writing at all and we know that all kids have their strengths. Writing is yours--we think your handwriting might have already surpassed your daddy's. It's been awhile since you mastered writing the alphabet (though, of course, you still write a fair number of your letters backward) and you quickly moved into writing "bubble" letters and then trying your hand at writing "fancy". This year, you insisted on addressing almost all of your birthday invitations. You even got up early on Saturday, took your class list into the living room, and got to work. I was blown away.

You continue to love asking questions and doing experiments. Sometimes you ask unsurprising questions we know the answer to (why is it raining?), questions about movies that are hard to describe (why does Gaston stab the beast? why is the beast mean?), and sometimes you ask things completely out of the blue (where does the Grinch live? why do astronauts keep their helmets on in space). Your memory is also so very fun to watch and experience. It is surprising and wonderful! We use it as a helpful tool sometimes but also suspect that it will sometimes lead to our frustration.

You're currently doing ballet and gymnastics (dance/tumbling combo). You seem a bit tired of ballet but are very excited for your recital next month.

Last but not least, by the time I write your next letter, you will have started kindergarten. I just don't even understand how this is happening. The days are long and the years are short. So so short. Slow down, baby. Help us to remember. We know we will never enjoy every moment but I sure hope we have lots of happy moments and recognize when they are happening.

Even when

A: "Tomorrow is my last day I'm four"
C: "I know! I wish you could stay 4 forever"
A: [looks sad]
S: "Sweetie, we will love you forever. We will love you when you are five and every year after."
A: "Even when I'm a teenager?"

Oh man. Yea. Even then. Let's all pray that A is a teenager as easy to love as her first years of life.

Four's final week

Parents of older kids, will this always happen? Will I always start crying a week before my sweet baby girl's birthday?

We have a four year old for one more week. I can't even believe it.

I have moments of feeling incredibly guilty that I've fallen so far behind on the blog and therefore, documenting the memories over the last year. So I guess we are due for an update.

Sadly, in January we lost sweet Madeline. She wandered away from our house and was hit by a car. We are all still sad about this. Sweet A still cries regularly about how much she misses Madeline (and Jasper).

We've had lots of silly times together.

A had her first eye doctor's appointment, where we were told that her eyes are perfect. She was so incredibly angry about her eyes being dilated. While we waited, the staff brought her colors and a coloring page and she asked me why they would bring them when she couldn't even see to color.

 Chad and A somehow managed to convince me to get another dog in February. I am still adjusting. They clearly are not--they're all smitten and over the moon.

We celebrated Valentine's Day. 

We grew crystals with science.

Honored Dr. Seuss's birthday.

Continued looking adorable in dance tutus.

Drank hot chocolate at the doctor's office.

 Worked on our dance moves.

 Celebrated St. Patrick's day.

 And went to fun birthday parties.

So there. Now we are all caught up on the fun that has been 2017. I'm sure there will be more posts soon with her upcoming birthday. I won't pretend I'll be on top of it beyond that!