I Blinked!

I can't believe that my little girl is 6 years old. That happened way too fast. She was such a sweet, adorable little baby 6 years ago. I had no idea who she would be as she grew older, and so far I'm so proud of her. She is the kind of girl who can make you laugh without knowing that she's doing it. She's so bright and sincere, and she mothers everyone by way of her kind and compassionate nature. Her birthday was a couple weeks ago, but I was waiting to have a couple pictures to post. She really wanted a Chuck E. Cheese's party, and I really didn't, but we agreed to a once in a lifetime thing. We got lucky and had a week's break from school, so we could do it in the middle of the day with her classmates when the place wasn't so packed. I told her she could choose any kind of cake, and I would make it for her. She chose Hello Kitty, and it lent itself nicely to the kind of cakes I like to make. This was the first cake (except her 1st birthday) that I've made for her, and she loved it. She had lots of fun at her party, and now I'm sure Alex is going to need a Chuck E. Cheese's party in April. I guess there are worse things.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures, and 6 things about my 6 year old.

1. Since turning 6, she has lost her first tooth, and its neighbor also has a reservation with the Tooth Fairy. Does this turn anyone else's stomach? She thinks it's funny to make me gag by wiggling it when I look at her. Joke's on her, though. . . The tooth fairy didn't have any cash and so borrowed a dollar from Kylie's piggy bank! Take that!

2. Kylie hates having her hair brushed and fixed. We have regualr sturggles with this in the morning. We would both prefer if she wore it nicely bobbed, but she decided to grow it out to donate to kids who need wigs because of sickness. She saw pictures from when her cousin KK did it, and she wanted to do it. Every now and then when we have to brush her hair, she asks me if it would be ok to change her mind. I tell her it's absolutely fine. I grew my hair out to donate once, and it will likely be the only time I ever do. I hated having hair that long, and I don't care if she does it or not. She always decides to stick with it. She says she knows it will make her feel good inside when she is able to have it cut. What a sweet girl!

3. Kylie loves to share. In preschool last year, her teacher started a treasure trunk. If a child accumulated so many good behaviour stickers, she could pick from the treasure. The very first time Kylie was allowed to pick, she brought home a toy car for Alex. I don't think I'll ever forget that she did that, and she would usually pick for him every other time after that.

4. Kylie is a sponge. Really. She just soaks up whatever she hears and sees, and she never forgets. She loves to sit at the computer with her dad and Google things. They've looked up all kinds of things about the earth, the solar system, geology, many many animals . . . you name it, she can likely tell you about it. Shortly after we told the kids about the baby, they sat and looked up pregnancy and even c-sections. She then reported her findings to several adult friends of mine we saw at the park the following week. Right down to the umbilical cord and what it's good for. She was a hit that day for sure.

5. Kylie, like so many kids, has her own way to turn a phrase. Some of our favorites have been "death gardens" and "sleep movies." Those, of course, refer to cemeteries and dreams. In fact, it never occurred to me that she would have dreams until one day when she was 3. She woke up and told us all about a sleep movie she had seen on her eyes before she woke up. Cute, huh?

6. Kylie was not her name for th first day of her life. When we were expecting her, we didn't know whether she would be a boy or a girl. We had names picked out for each outcome, so when she was born, we were ready. We promptly named her Ryan Jade (my idea), and that was that. Ryan had never loved this idea but had grown accustomed to it over time. I thought it a cute name for a little girl (she was to go by Jade), and I loved the idea of naming her for her dad. The day after she was born, Ryan came to me with that look on his face and told me he just couldn't do it. He reminded me of a dream I had told him about just a few weeks before she was born. I had totally forgotten about it. I had had this dream that we had a daughter whose name was Kylie. He just looked at me and said, "Can we please name her Kylie instead?" Remembering the dream and not wanting him to be uncomfortable, I agreed, and I can't imagine her name being anything else now. She loves for us to tell her that story. She also loves her middle name and recently acquired a piece of Jade that she likes to show everyone and tell them about.

So, now you know my 6 year old a little better. I think I'll go give her a sloppy mommy kiss now.