Dear Mackenzie,
Happy 5th birthday, KenzieBear!!! As we have been saying for the past couple of weeks, you are now one whole hand!!!
You impress me every day with how smart, intuitive and capable you are. During your parent-teacher conference this week, your teacher predicted that you will be reading on your own pretty soon and I can see it--you know all of your letter sounds and you have already started reading simple words like me, see and go. A few weeks ago, you were looking at my cookbooks and you said, "Mama, I see the word 'the'!" (on my The Woks of Life cookbook). You can spell the words the, see, love, apple, boo (from all the Halloween decorations in school maybe?), Mama, Dad, Lila and Sawyer. On your homework the other day, you wrote "I see Dad/I see Mama/I see Emma." You often sit at your desk with a pencil and paper and try to sound out words and spell them. You like to copy down words you see written elsewhere. You are very responsible about doing your homework every day and sometimes even ask for more homework. I actually bought you a kindergarten workbook at the end of September since you always finish your two daily pages of kindergarten homework so quickly every day--and you've already completed the entire workbook!
You also impress me with your can-do attitude, which you have always had. I've heard you say, "I have a problem, I'm going to find a solution!" You relish completing tasks on your own, like brushing your teeth (you can floss, brush, rinse your toothbrush, clean the toothpaste off your mouth and rinse your mouth all on your own; if you could reach the toothbrush holder over the sink, you'd take and put back your toothbrush, too!). You learned how to tie your hair up in a ponytail (which is something JieJie couldn't do until she was 7). When we visited a firehouse last month, you climbed to the top of the firetruck and I could tell that you were very scared when you were coming back down, but I watched you power through your fear and bravely climb down the ladder without a tear or even a whimper (I also watched you have the time of your life sitting in the driver's seat, trying on a firefighter uniform and spraying a real firehose!). Last month, we also went on a challenging hike with lots of hills and slippery dirt paths but you had amazing stamina and walked the entire trail with your siblings and me. We even passed another mom who marveled at how focused and well-behaved you were. She said she has a 4-year-old who can't walk the trail yet because he'd be running all over the place and complaining about being tired. She asked me how I taught you to do it and I didn't really have an answer for her other than that we've been hiking ever since you were little. In my head, though, I was thinking, "She just does it because she is AWESOME!" :-)
And you really are awesome. You are so loving and affectionate and I love how you sometimes just pop in the room, shout "I love you!" to me and then pop right back out. When I asked you what your favorite holiday is, you said Thanksgiving "because of the food and because I get to celebrate with my family." You love to be silly and goof around. Your giggles are the absolute BEST and when you smile your big, happy smile--oh man! You are so funny and you make me laugh all of the time with the way you phrase things. After you took your first math test, you said, "I got 100! I won!" You love to draw, especially pictures of you and me, hearts, rainbows and dinosaurs (on Halloween, you fittingly drew a vampire "drinking a cup of blood"--which is the creepiest picture any of you kids have ever drawn, haha!). You recently drew a picture of Bluey and Bingo, and it actually looked like Bluey and Bingo!
As your mom, I appreciate that you actually listen to what I teach you and apply it in your life. When a classmate kept touching you, you said you told her, "It's my body and you have to respect it. If I don't want you to touch me, you can't touch me." When there were barbecue nuggets at lunch, they didn't look appetizing to you but you said, "You told me to try new foods and if I don't like them, I don't have to eat them." I appreciate that you are compassionate and caring. The other night, you woke up crying and actually kicked me really hard in my stomach. You heard me say "Ow!" and you wailed in the middle of your crying, "Are you okaaaaaaay?"
I like that you know the words to so many songs and sing along to them all of the time at home or when we're in the car (your favorite tunes right now are "Rescue Me" by OneRepublic, "She's All I Wanna Be" by Tate McRae, "Finale" by AJR, "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars and the Hamilton soundtrack (and you know not to sing the curse words, haha!). I like that you still dress up in the most eclectic getups, like a scarf wrapped over your head with a sunhat, apron, sweatshirt and Belle slippers. I like that we still do our run hugs, that you still like to cuddle with me at bedtime and that you still cherish our Mama-Mackenzie time. You still sleep with me every night (sometimes, Daddy gets up and moves to your bed if you're kicking him too much!) and I do often wish that you'd stay in your bed all night (because you kick--and slap--me in your sleep, too!). All of your siblings were sleeping in their beds all night way before they turned 5. The funny thing is, I got my wish a couple weeks ago. For the first time ever, you went to bed in your room one Monday night and you were still sleeping there when I woke up the next morning. And I missed waking up next to you. When I woke up on Wednesday morning, you were asleep in my bed next to me and I was so happy to see you! And when I wake you up in the mornings, you always reach for my arm and hug it. So let's hold on to this a little longer!
Happy birthday, my sweet baby girl! I love you so much!
Love,
Mom
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