Fabulous Five!

For some reason, I have always thought of my little Sophia as just a baby. She is so impish. Or maybe it is that she was just eighteen months when we plucked her from her home in Salt Lake and moved her across the country. With her, time seems to have stood still. But these days, I have to look twice when I sneak a peek at her five year old body, stretched out across her bed in the middle of the night, or when she chases the boys after preschool, shrieking with delight. When my head was turned, she grew a foot or more and now I am staring kindergarten right in the face, along with chapter books, a social schedule, logical arguments and requests for music lessons.

The day after Christmas we celebrated Sophia's fifth birthday. I always feel a bit sympathetic with Sophia, having to celebrate her birthday the day after Christmas. Intrinsically, this day is set aside as a clean up day, not a day to buy more presents and throw parties! I always make an effort to really celebrate with Sophia, and this year was no different. Sophia woke early to breakfast in bed.

She thought that it was great that her dad made flower shaped toast and strawberries with sugar. I took Sophia and Annelise to the American Girl store for a birthday brunch. Getting a reservation the day after Christmas was a trick, so we were lucky to bring the girls' dolls, Kit and Felicity, for strawberry lemonade, fondue and sandwiches in the American Girl Bistro.

The waitresses brought a cake for Sophia and sang happy birthday. We were all presented with birthday gift bags.

We took the dolls to have their hair done and then Sophia picked out a horse riding outfit and a hair styling video for Kit.

(I had to take a photo of this clothes washer from the 1920's. While the girls were browsing, Annelise asked me if this was what I washed my clothing with when I was her age!)

After a little shopping in the mall, Sophia and Annelise followed the hair styling tutorial and gave their dolls up-dos when we returned home.

Steve then took the kids to see the Princess and the Frog. Sophia's day was full of all the excitement a five year could dream of, or so I thought. When I was tucking her into bed, the tears began to roll down her cheeks. She agreed that her birthday had been wonderful, but she pointed out that she did not get to wear the birthday hat! Each birthday child in our family chooses either a menu or a restaurant and dons the birthday hat while they are serenaded. Sophia was right. We had indeed skipped the birthday hat tradition. I thought that by the morning, or surely within a couple of days, she would have forgotten about the birthday hat. With Sophia, things are not easily forgotten! Finally a few weeks later, we took Sophia and the rest of the family to the Cheesecake Factory, with the birthday hat packed in my purse. Sophia was finally content when the Cheesecake staff surrounded her, singing the birthday song, and of course complimenting her on the birthday hat perched atop her head!

*More Sophia birthday moments to come. Sophia decided that she would really like a summer half birthday party for her friends, with the ice cream truck of course. As soon as the ice melted and the snow piles were gone, she decided that, no, she really wanted a winter party. Her party plans are still in negotiations.