Happy 6th Birthday Zoë
Dearest Zoë,
You have been counting down for months to your birthday.
You are very proficient with the calendar and super aware of dates, so you've
had a really good feeling for how close it is. Now that your birthday has
past (Yes, I'm writing this letter a couple weeks late) you area already asking
me how many sleeps until you turn 7. Actually, you frequently ask how
many sleeps until Andie's birthday, my birthday, and Daddy's birthday.
You know each of the dates.
You are still probably the most responsible person in our family.
You always know what day of the week it is and you remind me when your
library/sports/art days are. You remind me to remember my wallet or swim
suit or drinks for the car. You would NEVER ever forget to do your
homework. You almost always put your clothes in the dirty clothes and pick up
your messes. You have about 6 secret areas around the house that you
keep your collections in. You collect funny little things - a drawing
from Andie, lots of change purses, random plastic knick-knacks, tape, pens,
cards, and stickers. (You LOVE change purses and buy them every
opportunity you can!) You know where each item is...even though I could never
keep track of all those little things. Even though you collect things,
you are also happy to give away stuff easily.
If you know you don’t play with it anymore, you have no problem letting
go of it. I'm so impressed by your
organization. Every night before you go to bed, you pack your bag for
school without any prompts from me. You
have been asking for a new backpack for a while now…one with lots and lots of
zippers. The zippers and pockets are the
most important part.
Maybe because you are so responsible, you also have some anxiety.
Daddy says not to label you like that....but you do have some worries.
In the beginning of this school year (your first year in
kindergarten/reception) you were falling asleep and jerked awake asking me,
"Mommy where is my reader for school?" It was in your bag,
where you put it and checked for it. It broke my heart to see you so
worried about school work. You still worry about your homework
regularly. If I say it’s too late for
homework, let’s just do it in the morning…you worry and first thing in the
morning remember to get it done!
You take pride in your work.
You have learned over 150 sight words and you LOVE this! You are reading more and more every day. You actually ask us if you can read more at
night. You have just figured out how to
de-code words and you thrive in this new “power”. It’s so awesome watching you figure it all
out and excel at it! You are a bit of a
perfectionist with your school work. If
you miss a word you want to start the whole page over, sometimes the whole book
over! You do homework books all on your
own and if you mess up a number or letter, you erase it…even though I say it’s
ok to leave it.
You can be shy when you first enter into a social situation. You first sit back and sort of take it all
in. Once you are comfortable, you are a
total ham! It takes a while, but there
is no stopping you once you feel it. You
tell jokes, dance around, use a lot of potty talk to get a laugh, and make the
silliest faces. You seriously light up a
room. You are truly funny! I often try not to laugh because you are SO
often inappropriate, but it’s hard to suppress my smile! Luckily, you keep things appropriate at
school because you would never want to get into trouble with your teacher, Ms.
Sangeeta (or any teacher at school).
You are a true leader with your friends.
I see you at recess with girls following you around everywhere. People
are drawn to you! But….what’s unique
about you is that even though you are comfortable leading, you have no problem
following as well. If someone else takes
the leadership role, you are just as content to follow. In fact, you definitely follow and almost
mimic older girls like Milla. You are
really good at fitting into social situations.
You read people well and don’t put yourself in vulnerable situations.
I am writing this letter a little late so we have already
celebrated your 6th birthday.
We first went to the movies and to Snowy House with your three closest
friends here in Fiji, Tahli, Sofia C., and Jenah (and Andie and Lainey
too). At Snowy House the waiters came
out and sang Happy Birthday to you. You
were mortified. I thought you may even
cry. You were frozen and looked so
embarrassed. You like attention but not
like that. For your actual birthday, I
wanted to make cupcakes for your class, but even though you love cupcakes and
all things sweet, you wouldn’t let me.
You were too afraid that the class would also sing to you. I tried and tried to convince you, saying we
wouldn’t even have to sing, but you didn’t acquiesce. You were too nervous that everyone may
sing. You had no problem when we sang to
you at home however…or when just the girls sang to you and Lainey (who shares
your birthday).
Fairness is of utmost importance to you. Most of your unhappiness in life (which
there’s not a lot of) comes from situations that you deem unfair. You want everything to be balanced. I hope that in life you can use this sense
of justice to help those that cannot help themselves.
While you argue with Andie, you adore her like no other. You want to be just like her. You watch her closely and want to be friends
with all of her friends. Sometimes you
annoy her just because you want her attention.
You two have the BEST time
together! Often I hear your laughter
rolling through the house as you two engage in detailed pretend play.
You have gotten AMAZING at gymnastics! You cartwheel EVERYWHERE – grocery store
isles, the airport, the embassy, all over school – everywhere. You also do handstands whenever you get the
chance. I am not exaggerating when I say
I think that at least 15% of your life you are on your hands. Your arms are getting so strong! You love going to gymnastics. You tell me it is a talent of yours and I
believe that’s true. You are also an
excellent swimmer. You have fun at swim
practice and your form is impeccable.
You have always been good at physical things. You have a lot of physical energy and if you
stay inside all day you go a bit crazy.
Having said that you need your exercise, you definitely also need
your sleep too. You fall asleep easily
and announce to us when you are tired.
You don’t have the fear of missing out on things if you are tired, you
just take yourself to bed. Well, you
don’t exactly take yourself….you ask me or Daddy to escort you to bed. Every night I sing you kumbaya (your
request) and often times you are asleep before I even finish the song. You love to snuggle. Every night you come into our bed, usually
around 4 am. You slide right in between
us and cuddle right in. You stay still when you sleep so you are an
easy sleeping partner. Maybe you are
getting a little old to come into your parents bed every night, but I secretly
appreciate the fact that you still want to snuggle with your mama. Most of the time, you still crawl into my
lap with your blankie, sucking your thumb….still like my little baby….but you
are definitely getting older…you are starting to wipe away my kisses in front
of other people. I cannot help it though;
I kiss you all of the time. I LOVE you
so much and I always want to express it!
You reserve physical affection for very few, and I feel privileged to
get a lot of it!
Zoe, I love you so much! You are so special to me. I cannot imagine life without your zesty,
crazy self! You are my cuddle bug, sleepy, hilarious,
leader, perfectionist, independent little girl and my heart will always be
bursting for you. Happy 6th
Birthday my sweet pea.
I love you-
Mommy
See all the other birthday letters here: http://passintimeinfiji.blogspot.com/2015/05/my-birthday-letter-for-zoe.html
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