Six Years Old: Lucie

Our little five pound Lucie has turned into a big six year old girl. You're tall and lanky, and proudly trotted off to kindergarten in a size 8 dress. With the beginnings of school and adventures away from us, what a magical time for you. I hope to capture this moment in a few little notes about Lucie, age six:

You are so loving with your baby brother. You have a gentle, calming presence and can instantly turn his cries to smiles and then giggles. I completely trust you with him when I'm in the other room, and know that you will watch over him like the doting, protective older sister that you are.

Like me, you love choosing Jake's outfits every day, and are in charge of picking his pajamas each night. You get much joy from this, and even named one of his sleepers the "cute as cute can be" sleeper. Reading his bedtime stories is another favorite job; you love it when he likes to sample each page with a big gummy slobber.

Your teeth are coming out left and right! It all started with a slightly wiggly tooth late last September. We didn't quite believe you when you said it was loose. Had you fallen and hit it instead? Nope. At only a few weeks past five years old, it was already time to call the Tooth Fairy. Out that tooth came on the day we left for your first Disneyland trip, and three others have followed since. You now have four adult teeth coming in, and make us laugh with your partial-toothed grin.

As I wrote when you turned five years old, you love to swim. After four weeks of daily lessons with swim instructor "Mr.T", everything really clicked for you. You can safely swim across water over your head and are working hard on your free style and breaststroke. You love to jump into the water and recently mastered both forward and backwards somersaults underwater. Handstands are another new skill, reminding me of the various "synchronized swimming" moves your Aunt Rach and I used to come up with as kids.

You also love to boogie board in the ocean with your Dad. You'll try wave after wave after wave, only coming in when you're shaking with cold or covered in sand and seaweed. With a golden brown tan and goggle marks around your eyes, you are our little fish.

You are wonderfully inquisitive and insightful. You come up with such thoughtful questions, and occasionally stump your parents with your inquiries. When looking over a map together you wondered, "Has anyone ever had a family member in each of the 50 states? If so, how would they get around to visit each one? Which road would they take?" Or, when filing papers together, you ask, "Daddy, what are taxes? And why do we pay them?"

You're very interested in who was the first person to do something, recently pondering, "Who was the first person to ever wear a watch?" and "Who was the very first ruler in the history of the world?" With all these "firsts" questions, we've talked a little about the development of humans. When Ryan asked a similar question, you replied oh-so-matter-of-factly, "You know, Ryan, it's evolution. People came from apes". College anthropology, here you come.

Some favorite things right now include: bread with butter, cotton dresses (you haven't worn pants since 2009), unicorns, Magic Tree House books, bedtime stories about the adventures of three magical ponies named Brownie, Blackie and Polka-dotty, ballet camp, soccer practice, Cinderella, making up stories with dolls or stuffed animals, being read to, and family movie night.

We are so proud of how quickly you take to new things. You played t-ball in the spring (one of only two girls on your team!) and won the "Most Improved Player" award. This summer you did two camps, one with Ryan and one by yourself, and enjoyed both of them. You have the same interest and excitement about kindergarten. For the first time, you are in your own class, with your own teacher, classmates and unique experiences. You seem to be loving it.

We know this will be a great year for you, full of growth, new adventures and friendships. How fortunate we are to be able to share it all with you. Happy Birthday Lucie!