A letter to Addi at SIX.

My sweet little Addi,

The famous last words of any parent: where did the time go?  I can not believe that you are six years old.  It just doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that I was holding this teeny little baby in my arms.  I remember thinking that you looked like a little doll all bundled up in pink in my arms.  You were so small with such long legs and fingers.  Since the moment you arrived at our little family you have brought joy, light, and just a general happiness to everyone.  You remind me so much of your dad because you have a carefree way about you that just makes life so easy for you.  You enjoy the little things and constantly remind me to stop and smell the roses (literally) or look at the pretty sunset or notes the bright green forests that are passing by in the car.  There are so many things that I love about you that the list would be too long to list.  So here are the things that I want to remember about you right now, at six BIG years old.

• You always stop to smell the flowers.  I think I love this most about you because I rarely stop to smell the flowers and you remind me almost daily to just slow down a little to take it all in. 
• You love lip gloss, purses, and lots of girly things.  If only I cared about makeup and hair half as much as you!  Half the time you are brushing my hair and putting sparkly lip gloss on me or reminding me to paint my nails. 
• You are a bundle of nerves and yet exude self confidence.  You can walk into a room and people turn and you can totally handle that and then on the other hand, your nerves get the best of you some times. 
• You fell off the balance beam at gymnastics class this past spring and it comes up often…like whenever I ask you if you want to do gymnastics again.  Which you always answer with ‘No’…because you fell off the balance beam.  And yet you cartwheel around the house like it’s nobody’s business. 
• You are sweet and kind and caring and your friends love you for that.  You love to play with Nick, Greyson, Kasey.  Nick made special arrangements this summer for a summer session of Dino  camp and Greyson always asks you to come over to his house to play. 
• You’ve got rhythm like your dad and like dancing to music all around the house.
• You are just about ready to start first grade which makes me very nervous.  But you are so darn smart that you’ll be fine.
• You bring out the best in Will and play with Kenedi.  Will likes to wrestle with you and play on the tire swing.  And you like to boss Kenedi around while playing house. 
• You spill everything and I used to think that you were very clumsy but now I know that you really just don’t pay attention a lot, usually because you are chatting with someone.  The result is a lot of spills. 

I love you sweet little girl and am so excited to watch you grow up…but maybe you can slow down for just a little bit, so that I can soak it all in.