Happy 5th Birthday Kate!!

Kate turned FIVE years old a few weeks ago!

Five seems like such a big girl age. School age. And Kate seems like such a big girl these days. She wanted her ears pierced for her birthday. I think her main motivation was that Annie does not have her ears pierced, and this was a chance for Kate to do something first. She was really excited about that, as she should be!

The ear piercing itself went down in a classic Kate manner. Kate is so stoic. She's so smart, and sometimes she just looks at a situation with an expression that just cuts right through the bullshit. So we go to the mall, and they are really busy, so they have to pierce her ears one at a time. She was super quiet, as always. The girl did the first ear, and she didn't cry or react at all, really. But when the girl tried to do the second ear--that clearly wasn't going to happen. She was looking at the girl as if to say, "You seriously think I'm going to let you near me after what just happened?!" She just turned her head down so she couldn't get to the ear. We did that for awhile, even though when we asked she said it didn't hurt. Then, the screaming commenced. This also went on for awhile, attracting the attention of another resident we know and her mom, who were shopping at the mall. They came over and tried to convince her, as well. Eventually, Matt and I had to hold her down to let the girl pierce the other ear. Parents of the year.

Kate was totally fine and super happy 10 seconds later, though. She didn't even cry--there was just quite a bit of yelling. She is so proud of her new earrings. She likes to wear her hair so you can see them, and she never forgets to have me clean them.

(We are the worst parents. This is the only picture we took of her on her birthday.)

At five years old, Kate is sweet, silly and serious all at the same time. She is quiet and thoughtful. She loves Annie more than anyone, and she loves to play with her. She loves Evie and loves to have someone to follow her around when Annie is at school. She is reading small words and loves preschool. Over the past few months, she's really started to come out of her shell. She asked for a new friend from preschool to come over to play, for the first time ever! For her birthday, she requested a Barbie microphone that plugs into an iPod so you can sing along to your favorite songs. She is quite the entertainer. As long as she thinks no one is looking. She loves to do puzzles and mazes, play board games, read books and watch tv (she would watch literally all day long if I would let her). She loves ballet and her friends.

We love our Kate, and we can't believe we've been so lucky to have her in our lives for five years!