You're Five Years Old!

Dear Lila,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I used five exclamation points there because you are now five years old!!!!! FIVE!!!!! (Okay, I'll stop with that now.)

It's so weird--you seem like my little baby girl and my big grown-up girl all at the same time. On the one hand, you still need me to help you button your shirts, wash your hair and cut your food. But on the other hand, you can zip up your jacket on your own, wipe and clean your tushee and go to the pantry and get a cereal bar by yourself if you get hungry. You're in this gray area where you're somewhat helpless with some things and completely independent with others. And I'm in this gray area where I am both happy and sad that you are growing up!

It has been amazing to see how much you have changed just over the past year. When you were 4, you were still using baby talk like "You my friend." Now, you are talking in full and articulate sentences. When you were 4, your drawings were mostly scribbles but now they really resemble what you're trying to draw. You recently drew a reindeer in art class and I was genuinely impressed by how much it looked like a reindeer! When you were 4, you were only able to recognize and write a handful of letters in the alphabet. Now, you have mastered all 26 letters and can successfully read simple words. You have learned how to sound out letters and figure out what unfamiliar words are. And you are always practicing your letter sounds. If you and I are talking about, say, snacks, you'll pause and say, "Sssssnacks. That starts with s."

Daddy and I surprised you with a balloon "curtain" this morning!

Some things about you, of course, are still the same. You still love princesses and dolls, especially Barbie dolls, so you were very excited when you received several Barbies for Christmas and your birthday this year. You still enjoy reading and ask me to read to you every day (but now I can point out certain words and you read them to me!). You still like to dance and are taking tap lessons this semester. And you still love love love to stuff various toys in various bags and carry them to various rooms and then leave them there so that when I ask you where your Poppy doll is, for example, you genuinely have no idea because she could be in any number of bags in any number of rooms. Ever since you were a toddler, you have had this strange packrat-like habit of putting as many toys as you can fit in your Sofia backpack, Hello Kitty lunchbox, Highlights tote bag and any other container you have to play with. I was cleaning up the play attic recently and discovered that you had stuffed a pack of playing cards into your purple purse, which you had then stuffed into your Sofia backpack along with a bunch of play food and dishes and then you had stuffed all of that into your larger honeybee backpack along with several (very squished) stuffed animals. It was like a Russian nesting doll of bags and it was hilarious and amazing! Only you, Lila!

I am so proud to be your mama. While some kids balk at homework, you often want to finish an entire week's worth of homework in one day, so you'll sit at your desk for two hours and complete your whole homework packet. And if you don't understand your homework assignment, you don't get frustrated but listen patiently while I explain it to you. Many kids your age won't eat anything that isn't on a crust and covered with cheese but you enjoy a variety of foods, including kale salad and shrimp sushi. (The one thing you don't like is ironically a little-kid staple: peanut butter! You don't like the taste or even the smell.) At dismissal time at school, most kids see their caregivers, grab the teacher and shout, "I see my mom! I see my nanny!" before running out of the line to said caregiver. You patiently wait for your teacher to tap you on the shoulder and tell you that you can go. When DiDi is upset that I won't let him eat gummy bears, you put your arm around him and explain to him, "You can't eat candy now, okay? You have to eat your dinner first." You are a wonderful sister, a wonderful daughter and a wonderful person. I love you so much, Lilabear!

Love,
Mom