Miss A's Seventh Birthday Par-Tee!

Miss A turned 7 last week. 

This was her year to have a party (we do parties every other year) and she wanted to celebrate with some of her first-grade girlfriends at the local miniature golf course. 

Here are a few pictures from her pink and green golf-themed birthday party:

And in honor of the seven years we’ve had the joy of having her in our lives, here are seven things we love about our Little Miss A:

1. True to her namesake (Amelia Earhart), our middle girl loves adventure! She loves to go new places and try new things. The world is an adventure to her and she wants to experience it all! She’s a thrill-seeker who loves riding rollercoasters (at least the ones she can meet the height requirement for), catching waves on her boogie board, skate-boarding, doing tricks on her bicycle and climbing trees.

2. She’s a cuddle-bug with a sweet and tender heart. She loves to cozy up next to Mommy or Daddy on the couch. She doesn’t want one of us to get more love than the other, so she’s most content in the middle.  She loves for us to sleep with her.  She coined the phrase “lovey dove”, as in “I’m going to give you the lovey dove”, which in our house means sleeping next to someone with one of your arms or legs draped over them.

3. We never know what’s going to come out of A’s mouth! She’s extremely observant and says the most hilarious and profound statements at the most random times. Yesterday, she told us she thinks our family is more like a cartoon family than a real family. I asked her to explain what she meant by that and her answer was that she thinks we do things in crazier, funnier ways and we laugh more and have more fun doing ordinary things than any other family. D and I are like characters in a show that people would have fun watching. Like we ride scooters through the house. And she and her sisters always get pushed higher on the swings than any of the other children at the playground. She feels sad for children who aren’t in our family because their lives aren’t as fun and their parents aren’t as silly.

4. She has the most adorable little high-pitched voice. The kind of voice that sounds cute even when she’s fussing and whining. And though she's shy about vocal performance right now, she has the sweetest little singing voice and can really carry a tune. And it’s not just her voice that’s tiny—everything about her is adorable and little, from her ears to her hands and feet—so cute and petite. She hasn’t lost any teeth yet and she still has fine baby hair. She and K can wear the same sized clothes and shoes and are only a couple pounds apart. I love that even though she’s 7, I can still carry her around on my hip—and I do it all the time!

5. She loves to test boundaries, push the envelope and push people’s buttons. She loves to get a reaction. She’s that child who will quickly do something one more time after being told to stop or come in.  Or make one last peep when it's time to get quiet.  She’s our only daughter that lets toots and burps slip out at the dinner table (her brothers are going to love it!). And she's skillful at diffusing sticky situations with humor. So K will blurt out matter-of-factly “that was rude”, to which a typical A response would be (in a sophisticated British accent) “Well, do pardon me. I thought the little stinker was going to be silent.” She’s a mess.

6. She’s smart and competitive. Straight A’s on all her report cards. Artistically talented and articulate.  Loves to read and always reads more A/R books than her goal. Wanting to practice piano or violin even after the timer buzzes, because she doesn’t want to quit until she plays it just right. A math whiz--gets excited to do her drills and smiles all the way through.

7. A marches to the beat of her own drum. A loves experimenting with hairdos and fashion and coming up with her own ways to wear clothes and accessories. She’s a breath of fresh air and does all things with her own flair and style.

Well that’s seven things, but I could go on and on and on. There are so many things we love about this girl.  A, you are pure sunshine and we love you to the moon!