Happy Birthday Reagan

Last week my teenager turned 5!

Five years ago when I brought her home from the hospital I had no idea what would be in store for me.
There’s not a single day I spend with this girl that I don’t feel a total range of emotions…. from the highest level of excitement and cherishment, to the lowest level of frustration and exhaustion. It’s almost like we have a bi-polar mother-daughter relationship.

If you know Reagan well, consider yourself lucky. She doesn’t open up to just anyone. She has this personal radar that detects genuineness which can sometimes come off as being rude (we’re working on that), but in fact it is her way of guarding herself. As a people pleaser, I admire her ability to choose friends and people she would like to be around, and being perfectly okay to not participate with others. She knows what she wants.

And she already knows what she’s going to be…. “a kid doctor.” She’s already planned her entire life. “I am going to kindergarten next year, then I’m going to college, I am going to be a kid doctor when I grow up. Then I am going to buy a big house and a con-fort-able (convertible), and a house-car (motorhome). I am going to drive the con-fort-able to work, and when we go on vacation, Carter (her husband) is going to drive the motorhome with the kids in the back.” How many kids are you having? “TEN!”
I have no doubt in my mind that she can become and do all of these things (except, maybe marry Carter, that might be out of her control)

Independence is her middle name (after Noel). Shawn and I have learned to pick our battles….. having a matching outfit is less important to me than whether her teeth are brushed. She has finally stopped putting up a fight over brushing her hair, but only if we are leaving the house. She insists that she is capable of caring for Kennedy. During the day she dresses her and changes her diaper. When I find a wrapped up diaper lying on the floor, I know she’s changed the baby without me knowing. She’ll burp her, feed her applesauce, and play with her endlessly. In fact, Kennedy is the only thing Reagan will play with.

Reagan doesn’t like toys, she never has. She has every toy a little girl would love, but it just sits in the toy box, un-played. So what does she do all day?
Follow me around! She sweeps the floor, and cleans the bathroom (I’m not kidding), helping me is her favorite thing to do all day. She also loves taking baths, and sometimes I selfishly let her take a bath for an hour just so I can get a break. There are times I feel frustrated with her (daily actually). It may be because her and I are alone all day/every day, or because she follows me around unless I’m in the bathroom, and then we’re only a door apart. But in a frustrating moment, I take a deep breathe and remind myself that I WILL MISS THIS. And I will. Every year she gets older I mourn the loss of my little 2 year old, 3 year old, now 4 year old.

If only I could stop the clock……
at 6:00am, when she climbs into my bed with the worst morning breath, begging to cuddle
7:00, when she insists on oatmeal with brown sugar, and extra sugar on top
8:00, when she sings along with the shows on PBS
9:00, when she comes out wearing purple floral leggings and a polka-dot shirt
10:00, when she takes 100 pictures on my phone of items at the grocery store 
11:00, when she insists on putting away the groceries in the kitchen, by herself
12:00, when she can’t decide what she wants for lunch and finally settles on a bowl of applesauce
1:00, when she cheats at Memory by flipping over 3 tiles instead of 2 each time
2:00, when she begs to hold Kennedy and carries her around the house like a doll
3:00, when she races me on her scooter to the bus stop to pick up the boys
4:00, when she sits quietly at the table just waiting for the boys to finish their homework
5:00, when she rearranges the place settings at the table so she can sit by Kennedy and Daddy
6:00, when she helps to clean her room by folding and putting away her clothes
7:00, when she gives the greatest bear hug goodnight and kisses us all
8:00, when she comes out of her room to tell me she can’t sleep because she wants to be close to me

10:00, when I find her asleep (finally), on the floor, surrounded by books, Legos, and paint, with a sucker stuck in her hair.

One of the 3 Faces of Eve….

On her birthday we went out to lunch together while the boys were gone. She wanted to go where “you can wear a crown,” so we ate at Burger King. It was almost as if they were expecting her….

Then we went and got her ears pierced….

Ha, she wishes. Those are just stickers. She has wanted her ears pierced for a while, but Shawn wants her to wait. Finally, he budged. He told her, “if you go to bed on time for 1 week, you can get your ears pierced for your birthday.” I got really excited for a minute, but it was short-lived because she didn’t go to bed on time once.

We waited to celebrate her birthday as a family until Saturday. We went to Marbles, the children’s museum in Raleigh. All the kids had a blast! Then we went out to eat… she couldn’t decide what she wanted, “I want to eat everything,” she said, “except the things I don’t like.” Well, that narrowed it down. We went to a buffet.

When we got home we had cake and opened presents.
She wanted to make her own cake this year… so she did. I helped her bake, but she frosted and decorated it herself. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Blowing out the trick candles….

Opening gifts….
I actually found a pediatrician Barbie. I bought it just for the novelty of it, because we all know she wont play with it! Or, maybe 5 year olds like toys?

Thanking big brother for a pack of Ring Pops….

Shawn and I got her a doctors kit. We weren’t impressed with the plastic kid ones, so we made our own…. with real tools. Like a pediatric blood pressure cuff, and stethoscope, thermometer, reflex hammer, and tons more. It’s a legit kit. I know where I’m going when I get hurt.

I think she had a great birthday week. I’ve never seen her smile so much.
 

Happy Birthday to my little burst of energy!

I know you already have your entire life planned out. But please, please, don’t grow up too fast. You can stay my side-kick, and wake me up with your morning breath as long as you want… as long as you stay little.
I love you 100 + 1