Wrapping up birthday week

Six things about Amelia at age 6

1. She still loves her "B" (now a ratty grayish blanket), but if it's in the wash, she no longer sits beside the washer waiting for it to come out.  Sucking her thumb is still a part of snuggling with B, but pretty much only at bedtime.
2. She is incredibly social, which I never would have believed three years ago.  In that 3rd birthday party picture? The reason only 2 kids were invited was because she would have been overwhelmed and mortified had there been more.  She wanted more kids at her birthday party this year, but this time Momma couldn't handle it.
3. She still gets very worked up about trying something new (gymnastics, rockclimbing, skiing, etc.) but not because of the physical aspect--she's actually fairly fearless when it comes to physical activity, but she's always apprehensive about the emotional aspect of being on her own away from me and/or Madeline.  If I was the teacher of all these activities, she'd be fine.   I had to pull her out of gymnastics because she was getting such bad tummy aches.  She loved what they did in class, but just couldn't handle that Maddie wasn't by her side.
4. She is the sweetest thing ever.   She always complements me on my cooking, she notices when Kolby or I are wearing something new--even new socks.  She loves cuddles and kisses.  She tells me she loves me at least 10 times a day.  She's just a very sweet and tender kid.  
5. She is a girl who likes to be on the go.  She loves all-day kindergarten.  She loves running errands with me.  She gets up early and gets dressed and is ready to get on with the day.
6. Her favorite food, besides candy, is sushi.   
   

Yesterday Kolby picked her up after school with some huge mylar birthday balloons.  So much more exciting than Mom picking her up.   Then we went to Red Robin for dinner (her choice--it was a very difficult decision between SushiMe, and Red Robin, but Red Robin ultimately won because they would sing happy birthday to her and give her an ice cream sundae.) 

Below are pics of dinner last night, and her birthday party last weekend.

Amelia chose her birthday party activities:  pajamas, pinata, games, Wii Sing It (karaoke), and a movie.  We showed the Pixar Shorts for 30 minutes at the end of the party to wind the kids down, at it made party pick-up easy since each of the shorts are only 2-3 minutes long.

Just a glimpse at the fabulous Sing It performances we saw:

Happy Birthday, Amelia!

Birth Day

First Year

First Birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday

Fourth Birthday

Fifth Birthday

Sixth Birthday!!!

Six years ago...

Six years ago today, Mom and I had pushed Madeline in a stroller all over Portland trying to start labor.  For days.   (I had a little teaser several days prior that got Mom on the plane to Portland, but then labor promptly stopped.)  So we walked.  And walked.  And nothing happened.

I was beginning to think Amelia was going to stay in there forever...

But eight hours from right now my contractions began.

Tie-dyed cake

We had Amelia's birthday party this weekend, which I will post about tomorrow.  But today, the cake.  Because it was a glorious cake.  Almost more fun to make than to eat.  I can't take credit for it--I stumbled across it on a blog a couple of weeks ago, right down to using Skittles as decorations. But it was so much fun to see the kids' faces when we cut into it with all its rainbow glory.

Start out with a plain white cake mix (we used two) and a goofy six-year-old face. 

Color batter with concentrated gel food coloring.

Pour into 9" pans in concentric circles 
Leftovers for tie-dyed cupcakes
How pretty is that?  Makes doing the dishes not so bad.
I had leftover dipped candles from Madeline's birthday party last year (thanks Joanne!), but I only had five.  And Amelia is six.  So at the last minute (after the photos) we stuck in a plain white sixth candle for her to blow out.

  
Most of the kids thought they wanted cupcakes until I cut the first piece of cake.  Then they were hit by the rainbow explosion and the cake became far more popular.  

Kolby says they'll all be pooping rainbows today.  But girls do that anyway.  Rainbows and butterflies.

Turn around...

Madeline won't let us talk to her about growing up.  This is not new.  Since she was four years-old she's been very firm on this rule.  She does not want to ever grow up and move away from us.  Ever.  So stop talking about her getting big.  And no need for that college fund because she's going to be eight years old forever.

When we were eating fries in the lodge the other day, she was mesmerized by the teenage snowboarders sitting at the next table over.  I wish I could have heard what was going on in her brain, because it was processing.   I am absolutely TERRIFIED of my kids becoming teenagers, so I've been fine with Madeline's refusal to consider that she will someday be one.  But something in the way she was watching those kids made me think she was reconsidering.

What comes around...

When I was doing my clinicals in an Alzheimers assisted living center for my CNA a while ago, there was a woman (with Alzheimers) who screamed incessantly about her shoes hurting her feet.  So I would go in and pretend to stretch out her shoes, and then I'd reassure her that they would be much more comfortable now.  Or I'd switch them out for slippers or another pair of tennis shoes.  And for about 47 seconds she'd be fine, and then she'd start screaming again that they were squeezing her feet and someone needed to take them off immediately and why did everyone buy her shoes that were too small?  This went on all day long.  Every day.

I'm convinced that Amelia is that woman in child form.  Except it is not just her shoes, it is everything.  Everything.  Her ski helmet, her bike helmet, all jeans, the coat Madeline just outgrew, any pants or shirts that have texture or buttons of any kind, any elastics in her hair.  It is all soooo painful, how can she possibly be expected to survive with these things touching her body???  How? 

 

This morning she changed pants twice because the first pants felt "weird."  Then I did her hair, and she had a "headache" because it was too tight (it wasn't), but to stem the sobbing, I took it out and let her wear it down.  Then her ski coat (the only coat she likes) was still damp, so I asked her to wear a coat that Madeline just outgrew.  Guess what?  It touches her arms in an uncomfortable way.   And it's raining out, but she wouldn't wear her rain boots because they just aren't as comfortable as her Chucks.    To comfort me when she's rejected my gentle nudging to wear something that is barely worn, she says "Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow."

I know my mom thinks this is hilarious, because I am the same way and I tormented her with it for my entire childhood.   Really, the only two things different between Amelia and I are that I will occasionally sacrifice comfort for beauty, and I don't have my mom here forcing me to wear things that cause me excruciating pain every day.

Spring Skiing

Another afternoon skiing with the kiddos (my two, plus Amelia's friend Ellie).