To Larkin, On Your 6th Birthday

Today is your 6^th birthday…actually you officially turn 6 in about 30 minutes.

Lately, you and I have begun to tell old stories, which is entertaining considering that your stories couldn’t possibly be that old, but you’ve started retelling stories that I’ve shared. Some of our favorites…

Why I call you “Chicken”…because when you were a baby (maybe 2-3 months old), there was no single funnier word in the English language than “chicken”. You’d giggle uncontrollably. This is made slightly funnier by the fact that your Daddy calls you “monkey”, so you’re a chicken monkey.

Baaa…One time I was leaning over you in the car, you were just over a year old, and I said aloud to myself “What does your sheet say?” To which you quickly answered “Baaaaaa!”

Lion Limes…You first became interested in gardening at about age 3, so I told you that after dinner Daddy would take you outside to see the limes…to which you replied “Lions!? There are LIONS in the backyard? I wanna see them!”

You regularly wander into our room in the middle of the night and proceed to recount some wildly vivid dream, and then just as quickly head back to bed leaving us confused. You always want to help out…whether it’s standing on top of the refrigerator pulling the tape off after your Daddy painted or planting vegetables. You LOVE washing dishes…I’m assuming this will change in the near future. You make your own PB&J sandwiches.

This year you pulled the Thanksgiving wishbone with your brother…and upon winning said “I wish for a dog”…and then looked around for it as if the wishbone wish was the equivalent of a genie wish. You kept asking when your wish would come true…which is how a month later we ended up with Ronin…your not quite 5 month old Great Dane who is now bigger than you.

You are so smart. And because I don’t know when you’ll read this, I just want you to know that I don’t mean that just as every proud mom, I mean you are really really smart. You read well beyond where you should be, including a Biology textbook for fun, math is just second nature to you, and your grasp of science is most impressive. Your favorite thing lately is to do science experiments at home, complete with generating hypotheses, following the methods section with our help only when necessary, and making your own observations and conclusions. You’re a natural. I hope that love of science, that innate curiosity, never goes away.

You love dance class, especially ballet. You play soccer and love being part of a team. You are always asking to run a race, you’ve run 4 so far, and you have a great ability to pace yourself. I dream of us running a half marathon together someday. You LOVE to sing, and honestly, it comes so naturally to you that I’ve wondered if we should replace soccer with voice lessons…but time will tell. We want you to choose your own path, which is why we’ve recently started playing the piano together after you asked.

You are probably the most compassionate 6-year old I have ever met. I’d say that it developed because of your brother, but it was always there. You stood up for others, you welcomed everyone, you comforted all of your friends. Yet, when autism landed in our house, you rose to the challenge. You continue to surprise us with your ability to connect with Kellen, to make him work, to stand up for him. You are and will always be his greatest teacher. And you are his biggest fan.

We laugh…A LOT. We love to run errands, especially ones that involve Starbucks, Target, or frozen yogurt. You love salads, hummus, and fruit. You’re getting better on your bike, but not quite ready for your training wheels to come off, and just last week you taught your brother how to drive your truck. You love to draw, write, and you leave notes for us all over the house. The first note you ever wrote almost a year ago (which I still have), you stood at the top of the stairs and said Psssst and handed it to us. It said “KELN IN MY RM” …and yes, in fact, it seems that Kellen was in your room when he should have been in his own bed!

You police us all, call us out if we’re grouchy (for which you and your Daddy have labeled me Grinch-Ann…thanks for that), reprimand us for saying bad words (like stupid and hate), and have made us very aware of how we talk to each other. You are also VERY tall…you come up to my shoulder, so we’re on the countdown towards the birthday that you will pass me up…it won’t be long.

You have so many possibilities in this life that I can’t even picture you 10 years from now, 20 years from now…just know that we love you, that we support you, that we can’t wait to see what you do in this world.

(Also know that I went to about 10 different stores trying to find Webkinz since apparently they are discontinued but that’s what you wanted for your birthday!)

Happy Birthday Chicken!