I don’t really know what to make of having a six-year-old. Every birthday does this to me. I can’t wrap my brain around first grade, especially as I cradle her new baby sister, who looks just like her and wears all those itty bitty sweet little outfits that we had picked out for Ellie on our way home from the hospital after her birth.
When did my chubby little munchkin, whose nose and cheeks just begged for thousands of kisses, grow into this tall (TALL.), beautiful young girl?? Her personality has grown right along with her, and where once there was a goofy little toddler, now an inquisitive, serious, and dare-I-say dramatic school girl who loves to write and draw and ask her parents uncomfortable questions.
Why yes, Ellie, I would be glad to explain to you why boys don’t have vaginas. In like, 5 years.
Ellie thrives on one-on-one attention and playing with friends who will pretend along with her. She pulls Tessa, generally willingly and occasionally not, through endless rounds of “school” and “doctor’s office.” She (like her mother) has a difficult time not calling the shots, not being first in line, not following her schedule.
As a matter of fact, at the beginning of the summer, I put together a plan for our days, with the intention of just getting the girls in the routine of cleaning something (Please. Anything.) on a daily basis. On the fridge, The Schedule, according to Ellie, must be followed to a T. No deviations. Don’t you dare skip the school work.
We do our best.
My sweet, sweet girl, with her big and bold feelings, is in a hurry to grow up and holding desperately to being a little one all at the same time. I catch little glimmers of her teenage years from time to time – in her pretend phone conversations or playtime with her dolls. It’s far too soon to tell what she’ll grow up to do, but we are in for a fun ride getting her there!
Around the age of two, when Ellie started asking us to chew gum, I told her she had to wait until she was six. It was just some random age, for no real reason; it just seemed far enough in the future that it would never be here. We stuck to it, and save for the few pieces slipped to her by Oma, she has not had much opportunity for gum chewing and it’s really the one thing that she is most looking forward to for her birthday. Today at Target, I bought her a bunch of flavors so she can find the one she loves best, and she’s already learned that there is no chomping or she has to spit it out. She’s ready. I’m so not.
Happy gum chewing day, Girlfriend!!! We love you so very much!!!!
Yo soy La Lay 
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