Adelaide, our SIX-year-old!

Dear Adelaide,

It’s been one month since you turned six, so I thought I should stop procrastinating, and finally write about you, now that you’re six!

During this past year you have grown exponentially. Not in height (like you would have preferred) but in every other conceivable way.

This year, your Daddy and I learned that you’re a pretty great student. Yes, you can read (and you LOVE it!) but you’re also quick to pick up math and science too! It’s so exciting to see you love school, and learning new things. I hope that appetite never disappears!

You had no shortage of friends at school, but at most recesses you preferred to play by yourself on the monkey bars. At first, your Dad and I were concerned, but after talking to you (and your teachers) about it, we’ve learned that you’re simply an independent girl, who wants to play on the monkey bars! Right on!

According to your friends, you are ALWAYS nice and NEVER mean. Unless you’re assigned the villain when the girls are all playing Equestria Girls, in which case, you play a great bad-guy 😀

You have such a strong moral compass—it warms my heart to hear you talking with your friends and your sister about right vs wrong. And God-help the kid who hurts your sister physically or emotionally, because you always, ALWAYS come to her rescue.

If I were six, I’d want you as my best friend 😀

You still love craft projects, but now you prefer constructing things over coloring pictures. You’ve built a few fairy houses, learned how to do basic sewing, and fold paper into all kinds of interesting things your little imagination dreams up.

You love wearing dresses, but since you also love the monkey bars, you have quite the selection of leggings and shorts for wearing underneath.

You’re quite the little swimmer now and you LOOOOVE the water. I believe you would be happiest if we spent the entirety of every day of your summer break at the pool.

When you’re not swimming, crafting, or reading quietly on your own, you’re playing pretend games with your sister. Right now, you’re both very into playing “spies” thanks to the new Inspector Gadget series on Netflix. It’s fun to watch you both doing your best to save-the-world!

You’re still an excellent eater, though we’re starting to see you exploring your independence by deciding on things you do, and do not like. For example, one night you ate cherry tomatoes like they were the best things you’d ever tasted. Then a week later, you decided you didn’t like them, and refused to eat them. Your Dad’s not amused by this, but I assured him this is just a phase, and the list of things you like is still much, much longer than the list of things you don’t.

Rice, is on the list of foods you’ve decided not to like. I’m still trying to come to grips with that one…we’ll revisit this often, I’m sure…

You’re very independent in so many other ways too. You can fix yourself cereal in the morning (though you still prefer oatmeal most mornings). You get yourself dressed, shoes and all, all by yourself these days. You brush your hair and your teeth. You can even braid hair! Just not your own yet… You’re wonderful at making your bed, and you’ve got the “shove-everything-out-of-sight-and-call-it-clean” thing down! Now I’m trying to teach you how to actually clean up after yourself 😉

We’ve let you ride your scooter down the street to the neighborhood mailbox ALL BY YOURSELF a few times now, and it’s become your new favorite chore. As your Mom, your newfound independence is one of the most terrifying and exhilarating things to watch.