The Birthday

Jaylie turned 5 last Thursday. She was so excited. She came running out of her room at 6:15 yelling,"It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" She came into the dining room and saw her new bike. Here's her reaction:

While Jaylie slept, my mom and I put up new curtains in her room and put a new comforter on her bed. This is something I wanted to do because I have a memory of waking up one morning when I was about her age to discover new bedspreads and drapes in my room. Mom had changed it all out while I slept! I thought it'd be neat to do that to Jay. Here's her new stuff:


On her birthday she got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese's with my mom and dad. They have made a tradition out of taking the birthday kid out to GattiTown and so for Jaylie, they tried out Chuck-E-Cheese's. It's kinda better for littler kids and she had a blast. She also got to spend a fun day at Nana's playing then she got to go to the pool that afternoon. She pretty much had a great day and went to sleep really happy.

Eric's parents drove down from Nashville to be here for her first ever birthday party. It was so great they could come. Jaylie had a few little friends over. First, they dressed up in some of Jaylie's dress-up clothes:


Then they made some pretty jewelry:


Then we ate pizza and puffy Cheetos and grapes and had the cake:



She opened gifts and played for a bit before it was time to say goodbye to her friends. She had a really good time.

I was amazed at how much quieter a party for girls is than a party for boys. They just played in her room or focused on the other things they were doing as a group pretty much. There was no running around yelling and shooting people with Nerf guns. It was very interesting!

Now my baby is 5. She is the most independent of all our kids. She has an adventurous spirit that is unafraid of most things. She seems to have a really healthy self esteem. She is thoughtful and generous. All of these traits make me smile and make me fairly peaceful about her future; she has a lot going for her. But, there is a small part of me that knows the baby days are long gone and I wish she just wouldn't grow up anymore. This is enough. Unfortunately, kids can't help but grow. She is a treasure and a blessing.