Birthday Girl

Today my baby girl, my first born, turned six. Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family, but I don't think I really realized their sentimental value until I had kids of my own. Every year at this time, I look at her, look at her baby pictures and try to figure out where the time has gone. We also usually get out the videos from the hospital when we first laid eyes on this beautiful girl. Every year, without fail, it brings tears to my eyes as we take a trip down memory lane.
Here are the highlights from today:
Last night, before picking Sophia up, Andrew and I went on a secret mission where we got: a sparkly helium balloon, donut holes, Scooby Snacks (grahams) and gum. Andrew presented the balloon to Sophia this morning and then asked her for a hug-so cute! Second surprise of the day-our whole family sat down to feast on donut holes and orange juice before hustling off to begin our days. Sophia asked to open one present early-it was tennis shoes she had wanted. Appropriately enough, she had Phy Ed today so it worked out well that she opened them early. She also was on the receiving end of many phone calls-all before 8:00-Uncle Jason, Auntie Amanda, Auntie Jen, grandparents and daycare (who serenaded her with Happy Birthday). What a great start to her day!

She was also in store for a fun day at school. She got to be the VIP for the day, hear her name on the announcements, get cookies at the YMCA and pass out treats to her class, receive a special card from her class and have lunch with two special visitors-grandma and grandpa.

We hung out at home until Erik got home and then we couldn't hold her off any longer-present time! Grandma and grandpa had dropped off a gift earlier-two animal drawing books for our budding artist. Andrew gave her the gum and Scooby Snacks.
He was excited when she agreed to share a piece of gum. He's tried gum before, but it always ends up in his stomach. So, tonight we talked about it again-when you are done, don't swallow it-tell mommy. A little while later, I asked him where his gum was-in his tummy of course! We gave Sophia some painting canvases, a dress, green pillow with her name on it, Wii game (more info in a minute) and an art book (her reaction to this one was, "Don't I already have one of these?-yes, Erik like to buy her art books).

On to the Wii game. Sophia has shown some interest in the games she has on her camera and since we already own a Wii, we thought she might enjoy a kid-friendly game for that. A few nights ago we introduced both kids to bowling on the Wii and they love it-Andrew even got a strike last night! Anyway, the game is called "World of Zoo" and you set up your own zoo, feed the animals, play with them, etc...Fun game? Looks like it has potential. Fun tonight? Depends on who you ask. Sophia liked it, but got easily frustrated with the touchiness of the controllers. Andrew got frustrated because he wanted a turn.

Dinnertime! We went to Woody's which is a dramatic change from our usual January 5 experience at Noodles and Company. Andrew has been excited about Sophia's birthday but also very anxious for his own to follow (today he asked if his was tomorrow) and is busy planning it all out. So, when they brought out Sophia's ice cream with a candle it in, this didn't sit well with Andrew. As soon as we were done singing to her and she had blown the candle out, we relit it and put it in Andrew's ice cream. Immediately, he requested that we sing happy birthday to him (which we did). Andrew's choice of ice cream-cotton candy. It definitely tasted like cotton candy-I'll leave it at that. Sophia probably could have fallen asleep in the car, but stayed up long enough to watch some video of her and listen to what else but Birthday Monsters. Happy birthday, precious little girl!