Five

My big girl is five today.

Ellie, this post would not be a birthday post without the requisite I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday, waking before dawn and speeding through the Lincoln Tunnel toward the hospital in New York City.

A quick ultrasound right before your birth told us you'd be "around seven pounds." Ha. You were nine pounds, eleven ounces of squishy, substantial, pink newborn goodness. When my doctor pulled you out she proclaimed "You just gave birth to a toddler!"

Meeting your extremely proud and excited (though here, a tad nervous) big brother Leo.

And now:

This year you learned to swim and you are a confirmed fish (as long as you have your goggles).

On the cusp of kindergarten, you are learning to read. "Zoo," "Lucy," and "Harry" are a few of your sight words. Your handwriting is coming along and you are very interested in how words are formed. At night we lie in your bed after reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and you ask me "Mommy, what does 'i-r-c-e' spell? What does 's-r-k-t' spell?" Your eyes are round with anticipation and when I say the "words" you collapse into giggles.

You still love pink but have branched out to purple and red. You have a serious sweet tooth and love to pile gummy bears and M&Ms on your ice cream (Why not? You only live once.) You also have amazing willpower and patience (when you want to). Almost every day you save something "special" from your lunch box for the ride home from school. Be it fruit snacks or dehydrated strawberries or the rare piece of chocolate I throw in there as a treat "just because." "Why do you save things?" I asked you once. "Because then I have something to look forward to for later," you replied. Good answer.

You just discovered chewing gum. You love drawing and painting. You are still incredibly social but you are becoming more independent, able to play alone or with Leo, with Ponies or Legos for longer and longer stretches. You love to make beds for all your dollies and babies and stuffed animals. You love to take walks. Not that we spend many days at home anymore but when we do you say "Mommy, are we going anywhere today?"

You are the best big sister two babies could ask for. You amaze and impress me daily with your generosity and patience when it comes to these twin troublemakers. I don't think I've once seen you show jealousy or exasperation (I'm still working on the latter, when it comes to those two). You anticipate their needs better than I do sometimes and are quick to make sweet suggestions: "Mommy I think Lucy wants her bottle." The other morning I was rushing to finish getting dressed and Harry was screaming in his crib and you bolted out of the room. I assumed it was because the crying was too much, but no, you just left to go get him some toys--you returned immediately with an armful of stuffed animals which you deposited swiftly into his crib: a monkey and your beloved pink baby beluga, of course.

You know exactly what you like and don't like and I respect you tremendously for this.

And you can never get too many snuggles.

Happy birthday, Ellie. I can't wait to see what five brings for you!