I can't let another day go by without finishing my thoughts to you, my littlest girl who just turned five! Just saying five, leaves me a little stunned. I'm so used to having itty-bitty, she-people around I can hardly believe how big and grown up you are becoming. This year has been one of transitions for us. Our Ella went to school all day. You miss her and so do I. For most of the day it's just you and me and your baby brother. This year you became a big sister and sometimes you think you are the mama. You LOVE our baby, sometimes too much. I have loved four. You are all about writing letters, painting, coloring, digging, watching seeds grow, soaking up every tiny wonder woven through our days. You hum all the time which I think you got from me. You'd rather dance and skip than walk. You make your bed and you really like sweeping, cleaning, cooking and helping. You love your friends and would spend every second with them if you could. You almost always insist on wearing dresses and still go a little crazy for shoes. Sometime after you turned four you started asking to have your ears pierced. I had not thought about it, but you asked for a few months until finally, I took you to Claire's in the mall and told you how it was done and that it would hurt a bit. At which point you climbed up into the chair and said, "I'm ready." You barely flinched and you looked like such a big girl. You're bold and uninhibited and oozing with energy and love. My birthday was right before yours and it happened to be a circumstantially bad day but you always bring bright spots. You carefully set up a whole tea party and waited on me complete with English accent. Sometimes I just want to memorize your precious little five year old face. One of my favorite things to do is fix your golden hair. On your birthday you wanted to go to the tea room and you got all dressed up and told me I had to stick out my pinky when I sipped my tea like Fancy Nancy. Dove sent you some new rose shoes that match mommy's and you loved that we had the same shoes on. They were the same ones my sister and I used to wear in high-school and college and they reminded me of walking around Philadelphia with her. A perfect gift for you and a lovely reminder for me. You are feisty and opinionated and don't mind sharing it with anyone who will listen.
Sometimes I shudder at the thought of raising girls and how I may fail you. I know though that God is making you who you are and holding you the whole journey long. You bring daddy and I so much joy and laughter. May this year hold all sorts of adventure, growth, joy and grace. Happy birthday, my little Naya Faith.
