The Perfect Day for a Birthday

There it went. That year of Rowan being 4. The year she became so independent--dressing herself in her idea of a great outfit (today was a pink Birthday Girl shirt, an orange skirt and striped pants with red sparkly shoes), speaking fully in Spanish at school (while it will be lost by next year, I still think it's pretty amazing), using the term "BFF" (though I'm not entirely sure she knows what it means), choosing to grow her hair out as long as Rapunzel's (thankfully it's not there yet and I've convinced her that frequent trims will help her hair grow really long). It was also the year she dropped her dream of becoming "President of the United States" and replaced it with becoming "a singer on a CD". How time goes by this quickly I'll never understand. How a day can drag on for a year, but a year only seems like a day.

But here she is, a 5-year-old. As is always the case, her birthday will stretch for days. First it was a trip to Chuck E Cheese with Grandma (and me and Tate and Aunt Miohelle). Lots of rides, games, food. Last night, she got to have a sleepover in Tate's room which is what she really wanted to do for her birthday. They had a blast and are already begging for another sleepover. Today it was just playing at home in the 84-degree weather. Testing out her new presents--the sprinkler, the Giga Ball. Grilling out with neighbors and eating cupcakes. Playing in the kiddie pool. We did not get into the car even once today for any reason. We knew going to Red Robin for dinner would be much more fun on a rainy day and we needed to soak in the sunshine while we could. Next weekend will be her "friend party".

Her presents included the ZhuZhu Pet she was asking for but did not include the skateboard (?!?) she said she wanted. There are many thing Rowan does well. Coordination is not one of them. Thankfully with all the other presents she got, she somehow missed the fact that the skateboard wasn't among them.

Rowan, you made me a mom 5 years ago. You amaze me with your creativity, inquisitiveness and imagination. I love watching you grow up, watching you change. listening to your jokes (as cheesy as they may be). You are full of life, bursting with energy and always ready for a new adventure. I absoltely adore you and can't wait to celebrate many, many more years with you.