Fiona Needs Two Hands to Show Her Age

I thought five was big. Until six came along. And you have to add a second hand to show how old you are! By the time the big day came along, most of us were ready for the Season of Birthdays to be over. But we gathered our birthday cheer for one last hurrah and had a great day celebrating our Bug.

As we watched her first official soccer game on the evening of her birthday proper, I couldn't help but think back to her birth six years before and all the unknowns. We didn't know if she would walk, how many surgeries that first year would hold .... it was such a wonderful and scary time. We still have a pile of unknowns (with all the kids), but it's also amazing to see how much she is doing with her peers. She has to work 10 times harder than her siblings on any gross motor skill. I don't think even she understands how hard she works to be where she is! We've simply forgotten to tell her that are things that she "shouldn't" be able to do. And she simply doesn't listen to anyone else who may tell her that.

She wanted make-your-own pizzas for her birthday dinner (since she likes pizza now!). We didn't have cake because it was soccer night, so we stuck a candle in her pizza and sang to her while she blew it out. She and Quinn got quite the kick out of the pizza birthday candle!

Some other thoughts about six:

• A birthday during the school year is a big deal. I got this story when I picked her up. And it's pretty much a direct quote. "Mom, Mr. Leonard [principal] said my name on the announcements. And when he was done, literally my whole class started singing to me. Like everyone. Literally. And they all wished me happy birthday all day. They like literally thought I was the best person. It was ah-mazing!"
• She used her birthday money to buy a Barbie house from a garage sale today. She is both ecstatic about her house - and very proud that she bought it with her own money.
• Fiona is getting so mature. She is earning more and more privileges and trust from us. While we still have to remind her to do some things, I notice more and more that she just does them. She's getting better at hustling in the morning and often will even pack her snacks for school while I am finishing up other morning chores. 
• She likes both independent play (do not look at the new Barbie house, younger siblings, thank you very much!) and playing with her sibs. She continues to have the most amazing imagination and it is so fun to see her art or listen to the stories she tells. We are working on controlling the imagination - even expanding our movie repertoire to Monsters, Inc. ("It has monsters in the name. It will be scary." It wasn't. She loved it.)

We can't wait to see what this year holds for her. She worked really hard in her 5s (braces, surgery, first year of school) to prepare herself for success in kindergarten. Here's hoping that Six sees the pay-off of all that hard work!