Six

Ryleigh,

On December 16th,
our "baby" girl turned six.
This has been such an exciting
year for you, Ry!

From starting kindergarten
to learning how to read,
from finding a newfound love of soccer
to discovering a passion for
art and illustrating,
from having your work displayed
at the town library,
to losing your two front teeth,
from making huge strides
on the softball field,
to riding the school bus,
buying lunch in the cafeteria
and making new friends
at the big kid school...
this has been a year of full of growth,
development and independence
for our Ryleigh Roo.

At six, you are no longer 

the little sister who simply tags along,
you are very much your own person
with passions and opinions and
interests, and your daddy and I
have loved every minute of watching
this process unfold.
We are so proud of you and the big
girl you are becoming,
and we love to see your face
light up with each new accomplishment!

At six, you love The Little Bear
and Mo Willems' book series.
When it comes to reading, the lightbulb
has been lit, and you now whiz
through your take home readers.
You came home recently with a math
workbook and proudly work your
way through its pages.
You spend hours on the art hub app,
following the step by step instructions
for drawing every animal under the sun.

This makes sense since you are a huge
animal and insect lover.
You follow Bailey around the house,
smothering him in hugs, kisses and squeezes.
Your love extends to all animals, though.
You've started asking for both a rabbit
and a hamster, you love to catch ladybugs
and slugs and create habitats for them.
You are always on the hunt for a lizard
or a worm in the backyard.

You are such a social little girl
and love both the boys and the girls
in your class.
We hear about the twins,
Harry and Hudson,
and Haley and Olivia constantly.
You make friends easily and always
want to be right in the mix.
I was informed by one friend in your
class that he plans to marry you once
he becomes a first grader.
Another little boy seeks you out at
soccer practice and tries to give you
a sweet hug.

You have an infectious giggle and
are quick to smile and laugh.
You are such an affectionate and loving
child - racing up to mom and dad full force
for a giant hug, or looking to snuggle with us.
You are also prone to pouting,
and dragging your feet when you
don't get the answer you were hoping for.
You can be very sensitive and get
your feelings hurt easily,
so we continually challenge you
to act like the big girl you now are.

Newly pierced ears for the birthday girl!

You love to swim and have just joined
your very first swim team.
You remain quite musical, picking up
the words and harmony to a song after
hearing it just one time.
You watched the movie Leap
and got right to work creating your own
dance performance.
After The Greatest Showman,
you reenacted your own version of
the trapeze act.

You have a way of endearing yourself to people.
Whether it's your smaller size,
or your bright smile
or your cute little bob haircut,
people always seem to comment
on how cute you are
and root extra loud for you!
We really can't blame them,
though of course we are a little bit biased.
Your biggest mission in life is to
be your sister's best friend forever.
Praise and attention from her
make your world go round.

For your birthday,
we decided on a party at
Taste Buds Kitchen since you
love helping out when it comes to
cooking and baking.
You and your girlfriends
had a wonderful time creating
personal pizzas and cupcakes
and then taste testing the finished product.
We continued the celebration with a Rita's
party at school followed by a special
breakfast at one of your favorite
weekend restaurants.
Perhaps the most exciting moment
was the big reveal...a brand new big girl
bed for our very own big girl.
Happiest Birthday, Ry Ry.
We love you more than you'll ever know!
(Written on 5.22.18)