My baby girl turned seven today. This year's birthday was marked with a very understated slumber party with a couple friends. We got her an American Girl Doll (Felicity) - just want she wanted. She choose Subway for dinner. Very laid-back. Relatively quiet.
Seven just seems so old! I could pretend that six was still *sort of* still a baby - just out of kindergarten. Really she had just finished preschool. But seven! Seven is a big kid. She's nearly done with first grade now.
Seriously, my mind is a little blown over this one. Just yesterday I was sitting on the floor of her bedroom and we lived in Washington. I can feel the carpet on my knees and see the closet door (it needed to be painted). We were getting ready for a bath, and I undressed her. She was quite the crawler and took off toward the bathroom, little bare bottom wiggling back and forth. I'll tell you, you've never seen anything cuter than a tiny little naked bum crawling around. Right about then she stopped for a moment and peed on the carpet before the giggling and crawling continued. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure we even thought that was cute, although you know how your memory can be. (Do you think her prom date will like this story as much as I do?)
That was yesterday, as I remember it. Today she is reading at a 4th grade level, setting the table at dinnertime, and her favorite show is SpongeBob. (I really fought that one for a long time!) What the hell happened? I glanced away for a second! Just shut my eyes for a moment (I was just so tired!) and the little naked tushy was replaced by pierced ears!
So needless to say this day has been bittersweet for me. As I tucked her in bed tonight I noticed *slight* glimpses of my tiny girl. That smile and the sparkles in her eyes, and the way she grabbed at my arms to keep me from leaving. And I let her pull me back (more than once) so I could steal another hug, and another kiss - so I could tell her happy birthday one more time, and how lucky I am to have her for my daughter.
And now I'm sitting here baffled at what just happened - at what took place between yesterday and today. We've moved three times, had another baby (who will be five in two months, but let's not go there yet, shall we?), and my baby girl is now a big kid.
I'm going to go make myself another cup of tea, and while I wait for the water to boil, I'm going to go check on my kids - just to be sure they aren't taller than me yet. And then I'm going to prop my eyelids open with toothpicks, because I'm afraid that if I fall asleep tonight I will wake up to boy trouble and training bras. And to honest, I'm not even ready for the pierced ears yet.
Yes, yes - I know I haven't been around. My poor little blog here is badly neglected. (There is quite an echo in here as well. Ahh well - I write for me anyway, right?)
So what have I been doing while I haven't been writing? Mostly positive things I'm glad to report. I've been spending more time exercising. A good friend somehow has gotten me up off my couch and out into the sunshine. (That is so say, while the sun was shining. The snow has chased us to the gym.) My activity is sporadic, due to a multitude of colds and various illnesses that had taken up residence in my home, and for a while there I felt like at least one of us was sick for three months straight. Ella was getting a fever literally every other week. Hopefully we're done with that now.
Just to prove my insanity, this friend and I are going to do the half marathon at Disney World in January. I figure it is great motivation to keep me going, and after all my hard work I'll get a vacation to the happiest place on earth, and right in the middle of blizzard season here in Wyoming.
My poor hubby has been doing a lot of business travel in the past year. He spends more time in Asia now than I'm sure he cares to think about, so if there is such a thing as a full time parent becoming an even more full time parent, I'm it. My poor children are sick of me, and while I love them very much, I'm looking for a way I might be able to get a business trip to Asia next. The bonus is Alex can now count to ten in Chinese, a parlor trick Bubblehead and I are all to eager to show off to anyone who will listen.
Phew! All this writing! I don't want to strain myself or anything, so I'll close for now. Now that I seem to have remembered my way back, maybe I'll be around a bit more often.