Arabella Jun turns 5

It wasn't long after Christmas when everything was put away, that the girls started asking about their birthdays.  In our family, Justin and I have birthdays in March (neither which I blogged about, but both were wonderful), then Bella's is in April and Addie's in May.  It's birthday season in the spring.  Birthdays for the girls happen to fall very closely to our departure preparations.  The plan this year was to celebrate Bella's birthday on her actual birthday, then host a joint Addie and Bella party in May, and then have a small family celebration on Addie's actual birthday.  Usually we host two big kid birthday parties a month apart and I simply couldn't get that to work this year.

So on April 29, 2014, Arabella Jun turned 5.  She was thrilled to see a little banner I made for the mantel and she chose a mint chocolate chip cake for dessert.  Burritos for dinner were also her choice.  The smartest thing I did was make a little 6 inch round cake which was plenty of cake for the five of us and enough for second helpings the next day.  But there weren't leftovers for days.  Wonderful!

Arabella is a pretty awesome 5 year old.  She's made remarkable progress at school this semester.  She's starting to read site words and pay more attention to her art work.  She's focused and even has close friends.  Last year, she floated about from friend to friend.  This year she's socially moved on to a best buddy.  She's obsessed with the new Disney Frozen movie (the theme of our big birthday party this year) and sings at the top of her lungs to the soundtrack.

Bella has a very dynamic personality.  She can be very clumsy and un self aware at times. She barrels through things and buldozes through her life.  But then on the other hand she's very sympathetic and compassionate and mindful about her play.  She has a wonderfully sweet pleasing nature about her.  She is quick to give gifts and special little prizes she finds outside (snails, flowers, rocks) to her family.  She loves to sit and play by herself, singing and dancing and acting out elaborate scenes with her toys.  But then she also engages her sisters in lengthy play for hours on end.  She seems to fit in the perfect middle-child mold.  She really is multifaceted and seems to mold herself to the current environment.

She's still our tough child and we still joke that she always will be.  She'll be the one we pray a little extra for.  Her clumsiness leads to disastrous injuries at times.  Thankfully nothing too serious.  Her tendency to get dirty and put things in her mouth leads to a significant amount of tummy troubles.  She is particular about her clothing, shoes, hair style, and even the way she gets washed in the bath. She huddles under her bed covers with 50,000 stuffed animals and toys.  She literally buries herself in her things at night.  We find all sorts of strange things in her bed like scarves, bug spray, the door stop, books, etc.  She is knob kneed and skinny and tends to eat small portions of things.  Getting her to finish her meal can be a challenge, unless it's in the middle of a growth spurt like right now, and she's eating eggs AND pancakes for breakfast.

Arabella is a joy.  She's cause of much frustration and heart ache but it just makes her more lovable somehow.  She's precocious and silly and sweet and funny all wrapped into one.

She's most often the first girl out of bed in the mornings.  She pulls her blanket and stuffed turtle, along with which ever toy or doll is her current favorite to the couch in the TV room.  She reads a book or just waits until Justin or I come downstairs to start the day.  She always greets me with the sweetest "Good morning Mommy" and big hard hug and it warms my heart every morning.

Happy Birthday Bean!