Happy Birthday, Boo!

Dear Boo,

You are five years old today!  With your new little sister joining our family, I am reminded of my first baby, which you will always be.  You’ve grown so tall this past year and I can only catch little glimmers of your baby face and features.    

 

Your personality has really begun to emerge this past year.  You love routine, consistency and structure in your day.  You are going to LOVE school.  One more year!  This little trait has taken on a whole new level now that you can read numbers on the clock.  You seem to run this house with Von Trapp-like punctuality; informing us when it is snack time, lunch time, story time, bath time, scripture time, and holding us to it.  One night we got home really late and I carried you to bed and just tucked you in.  You woke up from a dead sleep and said, “Mom, I forgot to brush my teeth.”  I assured you they would be fine from missing one night of brushing, but I could tell you weren’t quite sure.  You enjoy an early breakfast of honey nut cheerios and kindly offered the suggestion that, “You could just pour my bowl of cereal at night before you go to bed and I’ll pour the milk, cause I’m big.  I can pour my own milk.”  It’s been a wonderful system.  Thanks for the suggestion! 

 

You are quite the little mother to both Yaks and your little sister.  You have been a tremendous help this first week with a new baby.  You run and fetch anything I need, and although the change hasn't been easy for you, you are doing a great job with it.  You sometimes beat me to the scold when Yaks is  into something he shouldn’t be, particularly if it’s something dangerous.  You love him a lot and want to keep him safe.  I keep waiting for the day when you would prefer someone else’s company over your brother, but you are still thick as ever, playing with your stuffed dogs, playing restaurant, hammering nails into a block of wood, or working a puzzle.  As I type this, you are both playing with the toy tools and medical kit and you are pretending to punch "train tickets" out of puzzle pieces.  I always seem to find your two little blonde heads bent together doing something (constructive or destructive). 

 

A milestone for you this year has been quitting your thumb-sucking/Zee-Zee dependency cold turkey.  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought for sure there would be braces in your future and painful methods of breaking you of the habit.  I think Dad mentioned that it wasn’t good for your teeth to suck your thumb, which you translated in your cute little brain to mean that your teeth would fall out…the end.  You still sleep with it and asked the other day if Grandma could patch the disintegrated holes on her sewing machine.  She’s great at sewing, but I think Zee Zee is beyond that sort of repair!  I’m proud of you.  You are a strong little girl. 

 Primary is such a fun time for you.  Again, probably the structure and routine to it, but I like to think that you feel the Spirit when you sing the primary songs and we talk about what we each learned in our lessons that day around the lunch table. The primary presidency gets a kick out of your loud, off-key yet heartfelt and energetic singing of the primary songs.  You love to help with Sharing Time and the primary leaders and teachers are so wonderful!  After we have our family night lesson, you and Yaks each take a turn to teach a little lesson to the rest of us.  It’s so fun to see you mirror the way your teachers teach. This past Monday it was Yaks turn for the lesson.  He showed a picture of the temple and asked, “Who can tell me about sharing?”  You said, “Sharing is when you have a toy that I want and you give it to me!”  Yaks though about it for a minute and then said, “Dats not sharing!  I’m just kidding, it is.”  Haha. 

Your favorites are macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles (Kung Fu Panda Noodles), salad with Catalina dressing, carrots, applesauce, cheese sticks, french toast, cheerios and “pink yogurt with the flower on it” (Vanilla).  You love wearing skirts and having your hair fixed different ways.  I’m  slowly learning some new styles and it’s been fun to experiment on you!   You love going to the library and checking out new books, working puzzles, doing projects and making special treats.  You spent an hour creating this card for the baby.  

I think you used 100 post-it notes to complete it!  You’ve really enjoyed time with Dad on Saturdays this summer going on hikes.  It’s fun to see your special relationship with him.  He loves his “Princess of da Boo”, and I love you, too!  Happy Birthday!  

Aunt Abby made this special "Princess of the Boo" cake for you on Sunday to celebrate Aunt Angie and your birthdays.  You sure have a lot of people who love you!   She worked really hard on it, and your face lit up when you saw it.  Mine did too, since I could have never managed to create so much as the waving flags!