6!!

Our baby is 6 today.  That sounds very big. She is a delightful person and we're so proud to be part of her family!  She makes fast friends and runs even faster.  She has lost one tooth, has one more wiggly tooth and has quite the sweet tooth.  She's learning to read, she's writing beautifully and she LOVES to draw and paint and create.  

She spends most of her day smiling and skipping and she brings out a smile in other people, too.  Her favorite things to play are Littlest Pet Shop, school (she's the teacher, I'm the student),  office, and anything that involves a couch cushion fort.  She is determined with a capital D;  she has made it her mission to conquer the long stretch of monkey bars on the kindergarten playground and she can now go down and back without taking a break.  And she has the calloused, blistered palms to prove it!  

She's the first responder to the side of anyone who is injured;  she grabs an ice pack, a blanket, a band aid and anything else she thinks might bring comfort.  I know she has a future career in the healing arts.  She's also started asking for something "stat!" when she really wants it quickly.  I only tolerate this because I'm encouraging her medical career.  

She loves sparkly, shiny things but she insists on wearing the most comfortable clothes we can find.  She won't stand a ribbon in her hair for a single minute yet will ask me to put a fresh flower she's picked on the way to school behind her ear.  

She spends the whole day moving like her daddy and goes to sleep reading like her mama.  She idolizes her big sister but isn't afraid to speak up when said big sister acts a little too big sister-y.  

She's a gem, this one.  A determined, delightful, daring little sparkling light.

 She got to wake up to balloons, confetti (Natalie made a super clever confetti maker that she taped to the ceiling), French Toast and apricots (she actually put apricots on her birthday list!) and, of course, the special red plate and the special cup.  

Natalie noticed this little fun number trick that they'll enjoy for the next 8 months!