When I was one I had just begun

When I was one I had just begun

When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

~A. A. Milne

Sweet Girl turned six this Sunday.  It was wonderful.  

She dressed as a princess, blew bubbles, informed the world of her day, ate cake, opened presents.  She played in the pool and was indulged.  And she was excited and happy.  It was wonderful.  

This girl nearly hummed with electricity generated from anticipation and excitement on Sunday.  She woke up and exclaimed:  "Oh!  It's my birthday!  I'm so excited!" The rest of the day remained the same.  She was so excited to play outside.  She was so excited to put on her Sofia dress.  She was so excited to wear a birthday gown.  She was so excited that people came to have a party.  She was so excited about her cake.  She was excitement.  It was wonderful.

This year she had requests.  Much like Halloween, I was shocked that she had thought about it beforehand.  I was even more shocked that she had opinions about the whole thing.  Sweet Girl wanted a purple Sofia cake with a purple six candle.  And she wanted balloons and "lotsa, lotsa, cupcakes".  And she wanted it at Disney World.  My girl knows how to dream a dream.  Nana and I accomplished the cake and I found an acceptable candle.  Sweet Girl loved every minute of her birthday ("Mommy, this was the best birthday ever!").  If she missed the things unfulfilled that she requested, she did not mention it.  She was beaming enough to rival any Supermoon.  It was wonderful. 

And now we are six.  It is daunting.  Six is indeed young, yet it is a small demarcation that will only become more and more defined as the years pass.  Now we are six and we will act as six year olds.  Our differences will little by little become our definition rather than a question to some people.  We are six and it is time to put away some things from childhood.  I am not ready for this.

Sweet Girl has come a long way from the girl who couldn't go to the grocery store without a serious anxiety attack to the girl who sang the loudest when presented with birthday cake.  But Sweet Girl is not the six that the rest of the world expects.  Sweet Girl will remain younger than her peers because Sweet Girl does not develop in the same manner.  She will gravitate toward things intended for younger children because they are the things she knows and therefore do not cause her anxiety.  She will continue to develop and acquire new tastes, but she will always be younger than her age.  Schools, developmental pediatricians, and a good amount of society at large, will point that out in case I forget.  Now we are six and I'm not ready for this.

But we'll muddle through to the best of our abilities.  We will celebrate every little thing that isn't so little.  We will work on the things that need our attention, and we will continue to fine tune our understanding of what is really important. (So she doesn't always put the s on plurals, at least she has found a comfortable form of communication.  So she chooses to wear mostly purple, at least she is dressed and she is happy.)  There will always be a mountain climb or a fight to fight.  I used to worry that she would never talk.  Then I worried she would never potty train.  Then I worried that she would never have a friend.  In a year, there are a million worries but there is only one birthday.  This one was Sweet Girl's favorite.  This one was wonderful.  And now, we are six.

Us Two ~ A. A. Milne

My six year old.

"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh.
"That's right," said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!"- and off they flew.

"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he,
"I'm never afraid with you."

So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said: "True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he. "That's how it is," says Pooh.