On Emeline's actual birthday, she was super excited to bring something special to share and celebrate with her classmates. First, she dressed up in her favorite new dress. We even left her doll in the car to keep her company at her doctors appointment later. They were quite the pair.
Near the end of the day, I met her at her class with rainbow snacks. She still loves rainbows! We did rainbow fruit skewers and rainbow goldfish, to go along with the One Fish, Two Fish book we donated to the class in her name.
Everyone sang to her and she was excited.
Then we passed out the snacks and had fun.
Oh Emeline, I cannot believe you are 6. The years just keep coming. You just keep growing and changing. I made this little montage as I reflected on Emeline over the years. And I didn't even put in her birth picture. I can remember each of these faces so clearly. But it is the most recent one I feel like I hardly recognize. She is growing up so fast she always feels new to me.
Here are some things I want to remember about Emeline at this age....
She is as feisty and tenacious as ever. She has strong opinions and desires and she does not give up on them. When she is interested in something, she works hard at learning new things. You can see this in her learning to play softball. She will keep at practice learning to throw the ball. If she wants a snack or a toy or something, she will negotiate till the bitter end to get it. Her logic and arguments are growing. She knows how to think things through to get what she wants.
She loves people. She wants to be friends with everyone. She doesn't stick to the smaller groups or cliques that some girls her age often enter in. She feels hurt when she or others aren't included. She is empathetic when she sees kids in hard situations. She really feels things strongly for other people.
She is physical and she is strong. She has loved every sport or movement she's tried. This school year she's done soccer, gymnastics, softball, and folkloric dancing. We've done some swimming over spring break, and I can see her strength. She talks about wanting to do ballet. Any sport or physical activity she wants to try it. She loves riding her bike and scooter, and still wants to do more skateboarding, though it's been hard to find time. She caught on to ice skating fast and enjoyed that too.
She likes to be free. Her favorite part of school is "exploracion", or free play time. She likes to have choices and make her own decisions. She also says she likes math in school, but I don't think that showcases her freedom as much.
She loves her sisters. She loves to laugh and play with Adele and take on small projects with Kate. They are such an awesome pack together.
She likes to help. Lately, after dinner, while her sisters bathe first, she helps me with the dishes and dinner clean up, that is, if her homework is done. She's a good helper and is learning to do a lot.
As I tried to write this, Emeline came and joined me after her quiet time. Cuddling with her after quiet time is one of my favorite things, and rare since she's usually at school too late to do so. Anyway, she came in while I was writing this, and I asked her to tell me about herself, and what she likes. This is what she said,
I like to ballet. I'm nice and kind. I like them (new friends). And I play with them that I meet, at school too. Sometimes Adam and Jake like to play with me. And Thomas too. I like to play with blocks by myself. I like exploracion. I like to ride bikes and scooters. I like to think about Frozen. Cause it's my favorite movie. Elsa is my favorite. I like to dance in the cafeteria, in baile class.
So that is Emeline at 6 in a nutshell. I'm sure I've left too much out. I'll leave you with one more picture of Emeline at 6. She lifted up her arms to make them in the shape of a rainbow.
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