On Friday morning at 4:45 am, our little girl Seren Alexia turned six. Six! I feel like I always do on birthdays. That it all moves too fast. I brought myself to tears with the realization that one whole third of our time with her under our roof is behind us. A third! I'm being overly sentimental, I fully realize that. But wow, sigh.


Dear Seren,

Today you turn six years old. Mom and Dad are flooded with memories of you as a baby in the NICU, of feeding tubes, of being just scared of parenting. And then we are flooded with memories of you as a smiling baby, a busy toddler, an ethusiastic preschooler and now a brint, curious kindergartener. You remain one of the most creative people I've met. Full of ideas and questions. Your happy spirit is truly contagious. You weren't a very happy baby. You were serious. Quiet. Very reserved. Now, my dear, you live life LOUD.

I love your confidence! You have tried soccer again and love it this time. Three goals so far this season! And Dad is your coach which is just way too fun. And this year you have been in year round gymnastics. Watching you bend and climb and learn many skills amazes me! And watching you navigate your relationship with your brother is a fine balancing act. Sometimes your patience gets worn thin and you get into this face. Yelling and screaming at some 'horrible' thing he has done. Other times, you are calm and patient. You encourage him. He adores you for who you are. He wanted you to paint his toes last week so he could match you.

Your father has instilled a love of words in you. A desire to write stories. Write poems. I love seeing you thrive in his encouragement.

And I love our adventures too. Our simple, silly weekends where we always have an adventure. Most of the time it is the mundane moments that I love the best. Today we walked around the block- the LONG block. You held my hand the entire time. And you skipped. It is impossible to not skip when you are holding the hands of someone who is. So our afternoon walk consisted of us both skipping up and down the block- laughing and winded.

We didn't have a big celebration this year. Instead, we made a list of special things to celebrate your sixth birthday. We celebrated for 10 days! On the list was sesame place, guacamole, shredded wheat cereal, seeing two movies and eating dinner in front of the (rented) movie, having fondue (more our suggestion than yours), watching a live concert of Billy Jonas, spending time with Grammy and Poppy, going out to dinner to Friendly's, having cookies with frosting instead of cupcakes for your friends at school, going out to lunch with the four of us and visiting Ringing Rocks Park.

We loved this approach to your birthday! And more importantly, you did too. Tonight, as I sung the Rainbow Connection - the song I have now sung for six years, you asked if your birthday celebration was complete. I said, yup, pretty much. You sighed for a moment. Then paused. And said, "Thanks so much mom."

You are more than welcome. Thank YOU Seren for being 100% you. For loving us. For loving your friends and your brother. And for teaching us on a daily basis, how to truly enjoy the simple things.

Pics from your day

New googles from brother Wyeth. SHE LOVED THEM!