Seven

Today is Lily's 7th birthday, and she is so excited about it that her head might just pop. Normally, I have to drag her out of bed by the toes on school days, but today she just about levitated herself into the living room while singing, "Today's my birthday! Today's my birthday!"

Her teacher told me that Lily made this announcement yesterday in class: "Tomorrow's my birthday. You can all make me birthday cards!" The girl loves being the center of attention.

We're having a family dinner tonight with fancy cupcakes, and then she's having a roller skating party on Saturday. She's been counting down the days to her party for the past four weeks, complaining that time is moving too slowly.

Lily was so calm and quiet as a baby. She liked nothing more than sitting in her seat and taking it all in. It turns out she was studying everything that was going on and learning from it. Now, she chatters non-stop and manages to infuriate her siblings at an alarming rate. She can be wildly enthusiastic about the entire world and devastatingly heartbroken about the entire world all in about five minutes. She's been twirling and dancing since she could walk, and her Saturday ballet classes are the highlight of her week. She's my animal lover, wanting to mother every animal she meets. She's also the snuggliest of my babies, always happy to climb into my lap for watching movies and reading stories.

Happy birthday Lily-bear. May seven be as wonderful as six was.