7

Edie turns 7 today.

She started 1st grade last week. None of the nerves from last year, only excitement about her teacher and friends. She lucked out and her beloved kindergarten teacher is moving up this year to teach 1st grade and Edie is one of only 8 kids who get to be in her class this year. That and her two best friends are also a part of that 8.




Summer flew by. This summer, we :
Spent 2 solid weeks on Orcas climbing rocks, tooling around in boats, and having Shreya's family visit









Had our first family sleepover on a boat at English Camp in Garrison Bay (with Jeff's parents)




Picked buckets and buckets of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries





Baked pies and made jam




Got stung by a bajillion bees (photo in earlier post)

Learned to steer the Whaler


Crushed it at tennis camp, engineering camp, art camp, adventure camp, and farm camp (picture from Wild Whatcom - an outdoor girls camp she did the week before school)

Went to the Lynden Fair








Had lemonade stands


Went swimming at the community pool and Lake Padden




Met her new cousin, Rio (and yes, I had a heart attack when this moment happened and "casually" asked her if she wanted a baby sister - she said definitely not - WHEW)


Became a chicken whisperer


Made popsicles


Saw a musical at BTG (pic in earlier post)

Partied hard








She's growing up into this amazing girl right now. I'm not an overly sentimental person and I don't do a lot of backward gazing when it comes to parenting. I love the phase of family we are in right now and I'm excited for what's coming. We have officially entered the 'sweet spot' where she is smart, capable, adaptable, sleeps all night, helps around the house and in the kitchen, and regularly entertains herself by playing, drawing and reading. It wasn't that long ago that I was pulling my hair out and questioning all of my decisions because it felt like I couldn't get Edie to leave the house to do ANYTHING EVER without melt downs and hissy fits. And when I dragged her, she would make the entire activity miserable. My biggest parenting struggles at this point are whining and interrupting. So, by comparison it feels like we are winning right now.

I told her we could do anything she wanted for her birthday. She asked for pancakes with a candle in them this morning and wants to go out for pizza for dinner. She didn't want me to pick her up early from the YMCA because they are going to have a little party for her. Pretty easy to please. Most of her gifts this year are art and Lego related.

She had her Harry Potter themed birthday party this last weekend and invited 14 kids, which then grew to 18 kids with siblings. If I hadn't cut her off at 18, it easily could have been 30. She is the definition of social. The thing that brings me the most joy as a parent is how completely comfortable and confident she is in her own skin right now. She likes other people, herself, and new experiences.



She picked out her outfit for her birthday last night and it included a floral print seafoam green dress, yellow and fluorescent green shorts, navy blue knee highs with white fuzzy hearts printed on them, and a sequined hoodie. Oh, and grey and lavender tennis shoes. Because she needs to be able to run fast in her tulle lined party dress? Duh Mom. And for some reason, I'm not worried that she's going to get made fun of at school, because she wore that ridiculous ensemble with such confidence that I almost think she could turn the look into a trend. On her first day of school, she very seriously asked me if she could borrow a formal shrug-style cardigan I wore to an old-timey costume party last year. It is shiny grey satin with huge ruffles and I bought it at Value Village from the used bridesmaid section. She was legitimately pissed when I told her she couldn't wear it. And maybe I should have just let her? I basically gave birth to Punky Brewster 2.0.  I see pictures of perfectly manicured kids on Instagram. Like kids who let their parents pick out their clothes, or maybe those kids naturally enjoy wearing horizontal striped boat necked tops, black leggings and neutral ankle booties and I barely remember those days. If something doesn't have cheetah, sparkles AND rainbows, Edie just isn't interested.

It seems impossible, but she still loves playing kitty and all things cat. It drives me bananas and if she says, "Mom, you can be the big sister kitty and I'll be the baby kitty" one more time, I'll.... we'll. ... I'll probably be the stupid big sister kitty. But I will hate it the whole time!! Gah!

She's reading like a champ, although her enthusiasm for it goes in major waves. She's signed up for more swimming lessons this fall and maybe one day we will take the training wheels off her bike and teach her how to ride it for real. Maybe. Are there people we can pay who come and do that for us? Because this is a parenting experience I can live without.

At 7, in her own words:
Favorite book: I kind of have two. Secret Garden and Star Girl.
Favorite dinner: Pizza with cheese and kalamata olives
Favorite flavor ice cream: Rainbow sherbet
Ice cream or popsicle? Both
Teacher: Ms. Linville
Best Friend(s): Iona, Julia, Shreya
What I want to be when I grow up: Veterinarian
Best advice: Don't talk to strangers
Favorite thing about being 6: That I learned how to do the spinning monkey bars
What you are most looking forward to about being 7: Spelling better, and getting to know the new pet fish in our class (his name is Bubbles)