Lyla turned six years old today. There was once a time when I pictured what my life would look like as a mom to a six year old. It seemed impossible, but now here we are! Today is the day! Lyla greeted me this morning the same as she always does, with a big hug. Then her first question was, "I am six years old. Why aren't my teeth falling out yet?" Ha! She is much anticipating the loss of her first tooth and apparently the clock is ticking! She noticed her gifts on the kitchen counter and hinted at how wonderful it would be to open one right away. She thought she would need to wait for Dad to arrive home from work, so she was delighted when I told her there was no need to wait. Kirk was at work already, but thanks to this amazing technology known as a video call we were able to continue with the present opening celebrations together. We are still in full swing with Christmas break, so our sleep schedule keeps getting pushed later & later. The lazy bum life will come to an screeching halt next week, but that's not the point for today. Lyla received some cute winter clothes (Texas is currently an ice box), a CD, and a kid sized sewing machine. She was a happy girl! We have simplified (for us) our kid gifting quite a bit because I have spent so much time purging stuff we simply do not need. It's always been a constant cycle until I started practicing this new theory --- if you can't consume it, wear it, or learn a skill from it then it's JUNK. Sad but true fact of life and I repeat this to myself as I start twitching in the Target dollar spot...or all of Target for that matter. I really do feel weighed down when we have too much stuff. And I can tell my kids feel the same way about toys! It's overwhelming, "ahhhh what do I play with ahhhh." But right now, even with Christmas barely behind us, we've purged and decluttered and it feels like freeeeeedom!!!! And again, that's not the point for today. Geez. I should really blog more because clearly I've missed the keyboard.
Alright. Lyla and I attempted sewing a pillow case together, until I decided needle and thread should not be used prior to coffee consumption. It's much too painful for the brain. So we made chocolate chip pancakes, per request of the Birthday Girl. And bacon. And strawberries. Yum! We sang Happy Birthday too!
After breakfast Lyla was adamant about recording her annual birthday interview. This is something I started when she was two and usually I'm pretty good about remembering, but this girl is ON TOP OF IT. And technically I shouldn't say I'm "pretty good about remembering" because having Lyla remind me about the interview on her birthday made me realize I still never got around to recording Max's four year interview. Oops! Sooo we did them both today! Better late than never! Thank you Lyla for your persistence and determination because the birthday interviews are my favorite. It's always so silly because their answers are never "right" --- not that they can answer anything wrong about their own likes or dislikes, but I feel like sometimes they just look around the room we are in for something to say during the interview. I get it though. Interviews are tough. The pressure can be scary. Obviously I'm just preparing them for the real world here, ha! Yeah, I'm going with that. Regardless of their answers, I love the interviews because their personalities shine through. Their tiny voices and pronunciation of words change, yet they seem to keep a lot of the same mannerisms and facial expressions they had when we started this tradition.
The birthday interviews made us hungry so I made some lunch, then we played a couple rounds of foosball. The competition gets a little intense when you start losing to a four and six year old. Then we watched a live concert from Lyla. Sadly, she requested no photos during the performance after she busted me taking one. Afterward, Lyla prepared for a little day date with her Aunt Taylor. Taylor picked her up in the afternoon and they spent a couple hours together shopping at ULTA, Sam Moon, and getting frozen yogurt. It was so sweet of Taylor to take Lyla out for some one on one time, because anyone who knows Lyla knows that dates are her faaaavorite! I know those fun memories will have a lasting impact on Lyla. She is so loved and I am so grateful.
In the evening once Kirk was off work, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Lyla was greeted with another gift from Jeremy, Charli, and Hali. The "LOL" dolls could have been the kick-start to Lyla's YouTube career, but instead she revealed their contents on the restaurant table. If you're confused by what I'm even talking about, well then, just carry on. We enjoyed pizza, with the exception of the birthday girl, of course. She does not enjoy pizza, although CPK is her favorite restaurant. Yup, now you even more confused by this paragraph. Oh well. It was a day well spent for Lyla and it makes me so happy to see her happy!
I started this sentence as "it's been so easy being Lyla's mom" and then I erased it because that is definitely not true. Motherhood is often full of doubt, fear, guilt, regret. It is full of love, gratitude, pride, reflection, laughter & so many silly moments. And sometimes all of those emotions wrapped into one at the same time. It's the hardest job I have ever had and sometimes I question who thought it would be a good idea to hire me. But I know in my heart Lyla was meant to be my daughter. She has been my greatest teacher and I am honored to be her mom. Lyla doesn't make it tough being a mom, I do that to myself. She is truly an amazing kid. I would describe her best as thoughtful, compassionate, & determined. And she is so fun! In school, she is eager to learn and so very smart. She is polite and attentive. She was recognized last month in her class for being a good example of responsibility. She has some perfectionist tendencies, but I'm going to try to guide her away from that because perfectionist life is too exhausting. And I may have mentioned this next part in a previous post, I can't remember because it's been so long since I blogged. We had a parent teacher conference and Lyla's teacher told us about a deaf girl in their class who Lyla always makes sure to include with her friends. Her teacher said she feels so relieved about having a student like Lyla in class because she knows nobody will ever feel left out. I left the conference crying and then cried some more as Lyla came home from school day after day excited to show me the new signing words she learned from her friend. Lyla pays close attention to people and acts accordingly. She is accepting and inclusive. Her kindness makes our family stronger, it makes her classroom happier, and the world a better place. Happy Birthday, my Lyla girl. I love you so much!
The Birthday Interviews
