I just can’t believe you are entering your last year in the single digits! Time is just flying, and I can hardly keep up with it these days. You are growing up right before my very eyes, and I am so grateful every day that I have a front row seat.
This past year, you completed your second-grade year at school, and you’re currently making your way through third grade with ease. You still love school so very much, but you’ve also really started appreciating sleeping in on the weekends, so weekday mornings aren’t your favorite. As a matter of fact, just a couple of weeks ago, you put yourself to bed early at 8 PM so you could get enough sleep so that waking up early the next morning wouldn’t feel as bad. Apparently, you’re wise beyond your years. Haha.
You are still making excellent grades, and you do your homework every afternoon without a single complaint. Around the time that I wrote this birthday letter to you last year, we had just been notified that they wanted to test you for the Challenge (gifted) program at school, and you did end up being accepted. You have been going to Challenge once a week for about a year now, and you are loving it. Well, you were until you started having to miss recess for it. Haha. It’s only one day per week, though, so we’re sticking with it. ;o)
You have a great group of friends, and you were able to spend more time with them than ever this past year. You attended many birthday parties and get-togethers with them, and you even had your first sleepover! You still love to make cards and jewelry for all of them, and I just love that you’re such a thoughtful friend.
Speaking of friends at school, your crush that you’ve had for years finally fizzled out this past year, and you have moved on to a new crush. We were all pretty shocked because you had been crushing on him for so long, but I have a feeling he was just the first of many to come… you are definitely boy-crazy like I was when I was your age. ;o)
You still love to draw and write and craft, and you still hate reading… you’d much rather write your own stories instead of reading someone else’s. You started keeping a journal in recent years, but you haven’t written in it consistently. Instead, you prefer to write a journal entry one day, a story the next day, a poem the next, song lyrics the next, and jokes the next. You’re a woman of many talents!
When you’re not talking, you’re still singing your heart out. It’s one of your many passions. You started taking voice lessons this past summer, and your voice teacher, Mrs. Janice, has helped you take your love for singing to a whole new level. You have told us numerous times this past year that you want to be on Broadway, so you want to learn how to dance, sing, and act. So far, you’re 2/3 of the way there with your dance lessons and voice lessons. You haven’t quite found the courage to sing in front of a bunch of people just yet, though, so you opted out of your first voice recital. Obviously, that will have to change if you plan to be on Broadway, but we are just going to let you go at your own pace, and if you find that singing in front of people isn’t for you, then that’s okay.
Speaking of becoming the triple threat that you want to be, you are still enjoying dance tremendously, and in addition to ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical, you decided to add musical theatre to your repertoire this year for a whopping FIVE dance classes. You danced beautifully in your fourth recital last year, and we are already looking forward to seeing you dance in your fifth recital in just a few short months. You just love being on stage, and it shows! You may not yet feel comfortable singing in front of people, but you have no qualms about dancing in front people, and you just SHINE on that stage!
Your love for PB&J is still going strong all these years later, and you would still choose it over anything else to eat. You also love Cheetos, pancakes, cheese dip, and ice cream… you’d reach for ice cream over any other dessert, and you get that from your Momma.
You are still the messiest girl I know, leaving a trail of papers and pens and blankets and stuffies and clothes behind everywhere you go. You despise tidying up and it shows because your room is an absolute disaster. There is stuff everywhere because you literally drop things right where you are with absolutely zero intention of ever picking them up until we make you. As someone who thrives on tidiness, this has been killing me softly for years, but I hold my tongue more often than not, because I know this is just the way God made you, and I shouldn’t expect you to keep your room tidy just because it bothers me when it’s not.
You still hate being alone, and therefore, you are always right by someone’s side. That someone is typically Jacob, and when he’s not home, you’re right by my side or Daddy’s. You spend zero time alone each day. Zero. Even in the shower. Haha. Jacob almost always sits outside the door and chats with you while you’re in there.
You and Jacob are still the very best of friends, and both of you always seem lost when the other isn’t there. I know the older you get, the more time apart you’ll have to spend, but I hope and pray that your bond remains the same. What the two of you have is something very special and rare, and I hope you continue to love each other the way that you have all of these years.
You are still the life of the party, the one who keeps us on our toes, and the one who makes the rest of us want to be just a little more spontaneous. There is truly never a dull moment with you… you are joy and love and happiness and pure SUNSHINE.
I love you, and I’m so grateful to have you in my life. You’ll always be my best girl.
Love,
Mommy
What a fun and sweet girl she is! It's funny how dance is so different for kids to be brave about - Gabbie would never open her mouth in front of a crowd and doesn't act either, but dance is no problem! I started keeping a journal at around Olivia's age myself - signs of a future writer I think! You are a great mom, letting Olivia do what she is meant to. Happy birthday!
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