Addie on her 8th

I'm late writing this.  We had a party for Ms. Addie last Friday night with all of the girls from her 2nd grade class.  There was a lot of squealing and running around, and Eric launched a pinata off the roof of the house after the handle broke and we couldn't hang it.  It was a great party.

This has been quite the year for our Addie...so many changes as she has emerged from being a child into being a pre-adolescent.  A lot of her whininess (some of it pretty bratty, there, for a while) has disappeared and now there is this sweet, sensitive, smart, funny girl.  Here is what I see in Addie at 8:

1)  A fierce desire to do things on her own, but also a total willingness to seek help when she struggles.
2)  A strong sense of her own likes and dislikes.  She is not likely to dress like anybody else if it means not feeling totally comfortable in what she is wearing, for example, and she's got strong opinions about books, movies, and people.
3)  A girl who loves hugs, kisses, and cuddles, even as it is difficult for her to sit still long enough to enjoy them for very long.
4)  Someone who is in constant movement.  When watching t.v. she bounces relentlessly on the couch or fusses with a blanket around her feet; when reading, hair is always in her mouth (and it got caught off this year because it was always sopping wet).  She is swept up in the excitement and emotion of things easily, which I think speaks to her massive heart and excitement for life.
5)  A lover of nature still, always.  A lover of books still, always.
6)  A daughter who wants quiet time with me and her Dad, more than anything, but who is also quite independent and able to be on her own for long stretches of time.
7)  A builder of legos; drawer of very detailed pictures; lover of spaghetti and pizza; boss of her sister and sometimes her friends; tall; thin; music-lover; shy-girl and comedienne.
8)  A granddaughter who is never happier than when in one of her grandmother's laps having her hair smoothed.
9)  A baby giraffe on the soccer field, still, but getting better and better all the time, especially at defense.
10)  A young lady emerging into her own.  She asked her friends for presents that we wouldn't have probably okayed had we known (those later Harry Potter movies will have to wait); a girl who answers the phone on her own; a girl starting to ask questions about how bodies and politics and the world works.
11)  And still, forever, my baby.

Happy birthday, my first born.  You are always in my heart.