Brenna, you are 5 years old today! 5 is a big deal...you said to me this morning on the way to school "So Momma, I'm 5 today, right? Not 5 and a half, right?" Nope, you are 5...please don't try to speed up the process on me.
Each year I look forward to sitting down and reflecting about who you are and who you have become in this past year. Your 4th year started out pretty smoothly. Your new school, CEC, was a terrific fit and you enjoyed learning so much in Pre-K. You are so smart and I can tell that you are going to like school. Here you are on your first and last day of PreK-4.
One thing that really stands out this year is that this is the year that you and Lily really fell in love with each other and have become best friends. You are her "BaBa" and she just adores you!!!! And you are the best big sister in the whole world.
My heart just about exploded when I went to an exercise class and it was one of Lily's first times away from me. You and her were in the childcare room with other kids and Lily was sooooooooo upset. You comforted her even though Jalyn was there and wanted to play with you. You took the best care of her, getting down on your knees to talk to her and hug her and have her sit in your lap....I was so proud of you for that...makes me cry just thinking about it.
You are one of the most inquisitive kids I've ever seen. You want to know about EVERYTHING. I can't really watch the news because you want to know about EVERY story that comes on...you have a deep empathy for others and that is one of your qualities I am most proud of. If there is a fire on the news, you need to know where it is and who lived there or if there's a story about a sick child, you want to know more and sometimes will even ask to make a card for them. If there is a song on the radio, you are not content just humming or singing along, you have to know what the song is about...if it's about a boy and a girl breaking up, you have to know why they broke up...what did the boy do? For example, here you are singing a Christmas song and explaining what the song was about.
You are a true beauty inside and out. You remembered how we gave a donation to Brave Maeve for Lily's 1st birthday and on your own wanted to do the same for your 5th birthday party coming up.
You have a passion for the water. You excel at swimming and had fun taking diving lessons this year.
And of course a big highlight was the addition of Sydney Mae Grace. You had been asking for a puppy for months..."A puppy named Sydney." It was such a treat to add her to our family this year.
The year wasn't without challenges. Your mood and behavior can be intense at times. You had a bad bought of UTI's at the beginning of the year and it really affected you and caused you to want to withdraw from a lot of things. For a big portion of this year, you became very attached to me and didn't really want to do anything other than be at home with me...school, dive, dance...pretty much everything became a struggle to get you to do them without tears. You ended up in our bed most nights this year. This is where parenting gets tough...sometimes I would let you bail and sometimes I would try and get you to keep on truckin....I'm not sure if I made the best choices but I did my best, Brenna. You still struggle with anxiety at times and I have a feeling that this "emotional intensity" will be a recurring theme as you get older. This parenting stuff isn't for the faint of heart. This is one reason we decided to "red-shirt" you and repeat Pre-K4. Being that your birthday is right on the cut-off we wanted to give you another year to be a kid before moving on to elementary school.
I keep a jar on the counter for Kid Quotes and write down some of the cute stuff you say during the year. Here are some goodies:
1/13: Upon Lily waking up really early in the morning, I said to Brenna "I'm sorry Lily woke you up." Brenna: "It's ok, I mean it's probably going to be my low point for the day, but it's ok."
1/13: Mom, my hands are so clean because I used the whole bottle of soap in the bathroom. That was a lot of soap so they are like really really clean now."
6/13: Brenna: "Please give me the lellow crayon." Me: It's Y-ellow. Brenna: "L-ellow." Me: "Say Yo-Yo" Brenna: "Yo-Yo" Me: "Yellow" Brenna: "Lellow" Me: "Yell" Brenna: "Yell" Me: "oh" Brenna: "oh" Me: "Yell....Oh" Brenna: "Yell...Ow" Me: "Yellow" Brenna: "Lellow" Me: We will try again once my coffee kicks in....;-)
7/13: Brenna begging for a dog says "Don't worry, I'll still play with Lily sometimes too if we get a dog."
7/13: After doing summercamp at Temple Beth Am. Brett: "The statue of liberty is hollow, you can actually walk up to the top." Brenna: "The statue of liberty is made of Holla like bread???"
8/13: Brenna: "Mom, can you have another baby?" Me: "No, why?" Brenna: "Because if there was another kid here, we could play duck duck goose and it would be more fun"
My prayers are that you remain strong, healthy, kind, compassionate and brave! It's ok to push yourself because you can do so many things! We love you sooooooooo much. xoxo your momma
