The joy of Shel Silverstein

We found you quietly reading "A Light In the Attic" by Shel Silverstein last night. You were so content and happy you barely noticed we were in the room.

Happy 5th Birthday!!

My sweet baby girl. You turn 5 today.

I can't believe we've reached this milestone - it seems like just yesterday you and I were laying next to each other in that hospital bed trying to figure out what to do next. So far, so good!

You are such an amazing little girl. You have an amazing heart, and an exceptional mind. You are constantly striving to learn and to achieve. And much like your mother, you are always seeking perfection. I fear I have passed along this little burden to you.... you are so talented in so many things: signing, drawing, puzzles and other strategic games (it's kind of crazy how good you are at strategic/think-ahead games!) - but you get so frustrated if you can't do something perfectly the first time! If we're in the car on the way to school listening to Lady Gaga or Adele, Berit is singing at the top of her lungs, and I look in the mirror and you're just mouthing all the words. And since you are so much like me, I know it's because you don't want to sing the song until you have it mastered. You approach most things in your life like this.

One of your New Year's Resolutions was to learn to read. I fully intend to help you realize this sooner than later. We read together every night and we work on sounding out words. You always start off so strong and so excited, and after a few minutes I can see you start to get frustrated and you want to stop. It is so funny.

You learned to ride your bike without pedals about two months ago. We started you at Boulder Indoor Cycling in a Strider class, and after a few lessons you were a pro! We put your pedals back on after a few weeks and without any assistance you just took off down the driveway! It was amazing. You impressed all of us so much even your 2 year old sister decided to take classes. You are so strong and so athletic. Your little muscular body is going to take you so far in your life. I just hope you always appreciate how amazingly strong and agile you are, and how blessed you are to be so healthy. Not many girls are as strong as you at this age - and it shows in how fast you run, how fast you ride your bike and how quickly you picked up the "snow plow" in your first ski lesson!

I am so excited for this next year for you. You start Kindergarten in August and you are so ready. You continue to amaze me with your kindness as a daughter, your understanding as a friend, and your unbelievable patience and never-ending love as a sister.

Happy Birthday, Hadley Palmer.

iloveyoumadly.
mama