Happy 6th Birthday Olivia Ann!

It's hard to believe that it's almost been a month since we celebrated Olivia's 6th birthday!  Where have the last few weeks gone...actually where have the last six years gone?  How is our little peanut a six-year old already?  We certainly had a fun time celebrating 6 fantastic years with Olivia!  She got to have a few friends over for some tie-dyeing and fun a few days before her birthday, and then we celebrated a little more as a family on her actual birthday by heading to the fair!

Here are a few pictures of her birthday celebrations...

And, here's a little letter from me to you, Miss Olivia:

Dear Livy,

On your birthday, I wrote on Facebook:  "Sweet, shy, silly, sassy, super - can you really be all these at once?  Of course!"  And, that's a true statement.  You truly are one super girl, and we love you so much!  It has been so fun for me to watch you grow and mature this past year.  While you still possess your shy smile and hesitant nature, your self-confidence has grown tremendously, and I'm so glad I see your determination and belief in yourself shining through.  You are a fantastic sister and friend, and I know it makes me sound like an overly proud mama, but people really enjoy being around you.

As a sister, you are endlessly patient (sometime too patient), nearly always willing to help (with both Grace and Grady), and very cooperative.  You are also a negotiator and compromiser - good skills to have! You sometimes get a little too confident with Grady liking to carry him around, bounce him, etc. like I do, but Grady doesn't seem to mind although we get worried about his safety sometimes!  Grady adores you and the fact that you let him pull your hair, bite your chin, and climb on you.  With Grace, you are often too nice and do what she wants even when I don't think you should give in.  You let her wear your clothes and go downstairs with her when she's "afraid" (I'm putting that in quotes because I think she's making her fear up).

 

While, you're are always looking out for both Grace and Grady, you also like to separate yourself as well.  You love the fact that you don't have to take naps any more though you often fall asleep anyways as I have you do at least 30 minutes of "quiet time" and that you've lost some teeth (you just lost your 3rd one today, and I have a picture of this but can't get it to download onto my computer for some reason), and you and I often share glances when Grace is being ridiculous about something or just trying to be bigger than she really is.  I don't know exactly how big you are (we have your 6-year-old check next week), but you're wearing size 11.5 shoes, size 5/6 pants (and some 6, though they're too big) and size 5/6 and some 6/7 shirts.

I think your growth in your self-confidence and independence coincides with all the things that you've done this past year - let's see if I can make a list of all you've learned: to tie your shoes and double knot them (apparently this is quite a big deal), to ride the bus to school, to read (though we're definitely still working on this) and write/spell, to do basic math, to hula hoop, to do the monkey bars like a speed demon backwards, sideways, skipping, etc., to ride your bike without training wheels (thank you Aunt Beth!), and to ride a 2-wheeled scooter.  I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot, but those are some big accomplishments.  In addition to doing these things, you love hanging out with the neighbor girls, going to the swimming pool, riding your bike around the block by yourself, watching TV (not my favorite pastime), playing tennis - especially with your new racquet, running around outside (the other day you asked me to take you for an actual 5 mile run - we may have to do this sometime though probably not for 5 miles!), and cuddling.  Speaking of - you are the best cuddler, and it makes both your dad and me so happy to snuggle you...though we do both certainly wish you'd stop sucking your thumb and carrying that darn blanket around!

You are very excited for school to start again.  You love Ms. Utoff who will be your first grade teacher, and can't wait to see Ms. Kuennen now that she's gotten married...apparently that makes you look different?  You say you'd like to be a mom and maybe a teacher when you grow up which makes me smile, of course.  Your best friend at school is Stella, but as we talk on a weekly basis about going to Canada to visit the Hodens, I know that Mya holds a very special part of your heart.  Maybe because of school or maybe just because, you've gotten very inquisitive.  I find myself trying to explain things to you that are hard for me to explain...like why is it dark where Tara lives when it's daytime where we live, why we don't have to be afraid of sharks - why sharks don't live in lakes - why sharks sometimes eat people (I have no idea where this shark thing started by the way), why God made a "bad (middle)" finger (this must have come from school?), and whether certain characters are "real" is Disney World.  You also like to know whether a book is fiction or nonfiction and who the illustrator is - I love that you use this word.

While we love you so much, neither your dad nor I will say you're perfect...could you please stop taking baby talk?  I have no idea why you started doing this, but seriously Liv...thankfully this seems to be stopping now that we've started calling you out about it.  You and I still have our battles in the morning about clothes too - you're as picky as ever about the way things feel, and I have a feeling we'll begin having some arguments again when it's time to get back into the school uniforms and socks/shoes.  We've also had quite a few discussions about wearing clean clothes...if you had your way, you'd wear your favorite outfits every.single.day.  You also like to see if we really mean it about not wearing your flip flops to bike...does it make me a bad person that I was secretly glad when you scrapped your toes after not listening a few weeks ago?  I think you got it because you didn't fuss much when usually a scrap is kind of a big deal in your world.

Despite these few "complaints," we certainly think you're a keeper!  My favorite part of your birthday this year was witnessing first-hand what a dare-devil you can be.  If someone would have told me two or three years ago, that our little Liv would be a ride-queen at the fair, I would have laughed!  But, dare-devil you certainly were and are!  While Grace watched, you went on the carousal (boring), the Tilt-o-whirl (fun), the Ferris wheel (exciting), bumper cars (awesome), and....the....Galaxy?  Shoot...I forgot the name of the ride, but whatever it was, it was for kids 48 inches tall (you're 43, 44 at most), and was a serious tummy turner!  And - you thought it was THE BEST EVER!  We waited in line for almost a 1/2 hour, and thankfully they let us on (and, yes, you were very safe!) because you cried when I told you we might not be able to! Your smile was a mile wide when we got going (though you did have a mini-panic when the shoulder harness didn't come down the very second you sat in your seat), and half-way through the ride, when I wasn't sure if I was going to handle it, you shouted "I love it!"  So awesome.  We went on it twice. You would have gone on it again, but I told you that we couldn't or I was going to puke.  :)  You did NOT want to leave the fair, and cried as we walked to the car...and, even though you were crying, I took it as a sign that you had had a great birthday (and were over-tired as it was almost 10 at night!).

Oh, Livy Ann, I know I could write so much more about you, but it'd all come back to one simple fact - you are a great girl, and we are so proud of you!

Love,
Mommy (or Mom as you almost always say)