To the Birthday Girl

Leah Bean,

You are 6. I am in such denial. I wouldn't let you say you were 6 until 9:30 at night, when you were actually born. 6 seems so big. You wanted to pick your own poses for your birthday. You are becoming more and more independent in these matters.

You are starting All Day Kindergarten in a little more than a week, and are so excited. You love when we pass by your new school. You say, "There's my school. I'm going to be there AAALLL DDDAAYY next year!" Sometimes you feel a little nervous about starting a new school, but you are definitely more excited than not.

You are still such an old soul. You just "get" things. Very rarely do you have a tantrum or cry for a silly reason (except for when you are really over tired and Daddy teases you. You do not like to be teased). When someone else is upset, you always want to explain to them why everything will be okay, or why things are happening the way they are. You love to read, and you often stay up until 11 at night, in your bed, reading chapter books. Your favorite books currently are the Mary Kate and Ashley mystery books. You also like the American Girl books and books about fairies and princesses. You are a very advanced reader. This summer I had to officially test your reading level for a class I took, and you were reading at an end of third grade level.

 You love animals and were so excited that you got a dog on your birthday. You have been making "secret wishes" for a few weeks now. Yesterday you told me that one of your wishes was for a dog, and the other was for a birthday fairy to appear and give you lots of candy and cake in your bed. You love Ollie and hug him and kiss him often. You often remind him that he'll never have to go back to the silly shelter.

 You still have a borderline obsession with TV and need a pretty regimented schedule to keep it in check. If you are super busy (like we have been over the past few weeks), then you start to forget. Otherwise, you need some strict rules. Your favorite shows are: Doc McStuffins (you are playing Pet Vet with Ollie right now), Odd Squad, and Full House. However, you will watch just about anything. You look forward to movie nights. Recently we've watched Beethoven, Problem Child, and The Brady Bunch movies. You've loved them all. You like to sit between Daddy and I when you watch movies, and get pretty annoyed if Juliet dares to take your spot.

 You are a great big sister. You are starting to show signs of a 'tween attitude at times, now, which we've had to have some talks about. Despite the fact that you sometimes make Juliet cry by telling her things like, "I'll always be older than you. I'll always get to do things first." Juliet loves you and often tells you, "You my -est wriend" And don't worry too much about making Juliet cry. She just screams at the top of her lungs back at you until you are both equally upset.

You love to be busy. You've never joined an activity that you've regretted. You are currently in swim class (and advanced to the next level--we are SO proud of you!) and gymnastics. You want to continue on with Cheer, but I don't think we can make it work. You will return to dance in the fall (ballet and tap) and probably join the Daisies at your new school. You love to practice flips, handstands, and cartwheels wherever you feel that there is enough space for you to do so.

You love to cuddle. For the past few weeks you've been coming into bed with me around 7 each morning, and falling back asleep until 9ish. I love cuddling with you and can't even fathom the day you might not want to do this.

You love to color, paint, and do anything art related. You love your American Girls. You still love dresses and feel that shirts should only be reserved for extraordinary conditions. You are a great helper and always want to "help" everyone by doing as much as you can (aka, what you perceive to be the fun part). You can't wait until you are a grown up. But, you promised me you will still live in our neighborhood. You are sure you want to be a Mommy (but you will only consider adoption--the thought of pushing a baby out scares you), but also are considering being a teacher, a baker, someone who works in a warehouse that ships out toys, or someone who knows how "everything works".

I don't think we will top this birthday for you. You got a vacation, a family party (complete with a bounce house), and you've been promised a friend party when school starts up as well. I think it's a special day because it's the first time you've needed 2 hands to show your age. We perused "easy" cakes on Pinterest and agreed on this cake for your birthday. We tweaked it a little by making the frosting blue. The inside was rainbow, and you loved it. Rainbows are one of your favorite things to draw.

We love you so much, Leah Bean! Happy 6th Birthday!

Mama, Dada, and J Boo