Yay! Another birthday to celebrate. Ashlynn's got "Happy Birthday" down now along with the blowing of the candles and the clapping! We love celebrating and this week it was for our sweet Addie.
With every year that passes, on my first born daughter's birthday I inevitably think about that first memorable moment when I became a mother. That first trip to the maternity ward and all the emotions that went along with it. She was my first and she's been nothing but magical since.
This year has been full of change for Addie. Starting kindergarten and learning to read has opened up a new world for her. It's been amazing to see her personality blossom and watch the excitement in her eyes when she writes her own stories. She's still very artistic and I am amazed at some of the fantastical scenes she draws with great detail and care.
She is truly the leader of her sisters. As the oldest this comes naturally but I am thrilled that Addie loves both her younger sisters and cares for them. She is fairly responsible and more than once I've seen her take care of Bella and Ashlynn in sticky situations. She's a wonderful big sister.
Adelaide has embraced jeans and tennis shoes. Thank God! There was a moment when I thought she'd be pure princess and I am so happy to see that she's so much more than that. She's athletic, clever, smart, and creative. She just also happens to be beautiful. I love watching her climb onto the school bus with her gym clothes just as much (maybe even more) than when she climbs on with her skirts and dress shoes.
Some of her favorite things are movies! She takes after her father in this regard. She loves to sit and get absorbed in a story. On the other side of things, she also loves to read and be read to. She adores writing her own stories and then reading them to me. She still loves wrestling with her Dad. She loves playing catch, riding her scooter and now her new bike. She loves spaghetti, cheese burgers, fish and rice (her choice for her birthday dinner), and watermelon. She's the only of our daughters that has a limit on her sweet tooth. After a few bites of something too sweet she pushes it aside. She's not extremely keen on breakfast but she gets CRAZY when she's hungry (just like her mama). She loves to bake with me and is better than most adults at cracking eggs and whisking together ingredients. She loves playing make believe with Bella. In fact, the two of them love playing together so much I rarely have to plan play dates for either of them any longer.
Addie is pretty cautious when it comes to new things. She doesn't like being the center of attention (unless she's at home with her family). At home she'll act out elaborate variety show type productions with her sisters but in a different crowd she won't even stand in line to take a turn at hitting the piñata at a birthday party. The other night she expressed her nerves about going to the first grade and having a new classroom and classmates.
Sometimes, I find myself expecting Addie to act older and be more mature than she really needs to be. I think this is simply because she's the oldest and on most occasions rises to the challenge. But she is only 6 now and I have to remind myself that she's allowed tears and meltdowns just like her younger sisters. She's allowed to whine and fuss at times. She certainly is allowed to be six years old.
Every new thing Addie learns and does amazes me. Just the way she uses such grown up words to describe her feelings and situations at school with friends. It reminds me that she is growing so fast. I like to keep a memory of her and I close to my heart when I feel like she's growing too fast. I was home from work still on maternity leave after Addie's birth. I was rocking her on my chest in her rocking chair. The creaking lulled us both to sleep and for a few blissful minutes I slept while she slept perfectly contented to have her little cheek pressed to my chest. It was just the two of us and the afternoon light shone through her nursery window and I could have rocked like that for eternity.
She's going to grown, no matter how often we urge her to slow down and stay little. She triumphantly announces that "It will happen...I will be _ "(4, 5, 6, 7), ever year now. I can only hope that every year my lovely daughter and I can hold on to this precious bond we've developed and hopefully keep it strong and let grow right along with her.
The other night Justin and I were reading in bed and like most nights one or both of us comments on how amazing our children are and how much we love them. This night I said "Isn't it amazing that for the rest of our lives we get to be apart of our daughters lives?" I think about that often. It truly is an amazing gift!
