Number Five

Katherine has been waiting a good six months or more to turn five. Every time she asked it was always a few months or many weeks or after Daddy's birthday or after Mommy's birthday.  For a child who counts time in the "number of sleeps" until an event I know it must have seemed like an eternity to wait.  It doesn't help that all of your friends in your preschool class are turning five before you, Miss K has the distinct priviledge of being the last in her pre-K cohort to have her fifth birthday.

Yesterday morning Teddy and I went into her room to wake up our sleepy birthday girl.  When I told her that she was five, that the day was finally HERE, her little face lit up in a delightful expression.  When Ted walked in the room he was greeted with:  "Daddy I'm five!  I'm really five!"  Even cuter, she looked herself over: "I'm the same size I was yesterday."  I think I've mentioned before that Katherine attributed amazing rights and priviledges to turning five, although she didn't seem all that dissappointed that, well, there wasn't too much difference between this day and the day before when she was only four.

Since Katherine had already had THREE birthday cakes and rounds of presents (one Massachusetts, one in Virginia and one on Saturday with us and my parents...and yes I need to get the pictures uploaded of each one) her actual birthday turned out to be a rather quiet day at home with just the four of us.  Still, I would look at her every now and then and marvel at how much she's grown.  I'm sure on every birthday I will think back to the day she was born, when we were heading to the hospital, when I was walking the halls, when the big moment finally arrived.  This year I noticed how tall she's getting, how long her arms and legs are, how she's getting little freckles on her nose and cheeks.

We've got a busy couple of weeks ahead of us with new routines to settle into.  I'm wondering who will have the hardest adjustment and I know it will me realizing how my baby girl is now my little girl and is very quickly becoming a "big kid".