72 months

We ventured into new territory this month, a birthday party! This was something I was able to bribe her out of the last few years with a trip to Disney and a princess meal, didn't work this year,  J was very persistent about wanting a party with her friends. I had saved an art party a few years ago on Facebook that someone posted and with her love of drawing, coloring and detail thought it would be a great theme for her party. She loved the idea and had a list of things she wanted, we compromised with paint, chalk, playing with friends and face painting. We invited all of the girls in her class and then some of our other friends, mommy made her invitations and she helped me address them all. She helped me to glue all of the paper for the centerpieces together and helped to mix the frosting colors for the cupcakes. She wants to help with everything, mommy needs more patience as I can get things done so much quicker by myself!

The day of her party she was so excited and couldn't wait to help me set-up, we had rented the pavilion in our old neighborhood and it was a beautiful first Saturday in December. She helped to choose what table cloth colors went where, helped me set-up the paint station and patiently waited for her friends to arrive. She was shy at first but then opened up and the kids started playing, eating (lots of sugar to be had and the dipped marshmallows were a hit) and getting their faces painted, of course J had to be first. When it was finally time to paint their masterpieces they were all excited, I was hoping for a good 20-30 minutes to paint time and for the most part we got that and more! Once J said she was painting a rainbow most of the other girls chose that route in some manner. They played some more after they finished painting while we got the mess cleaned up, paintings set-up to dry and cupcakes ready. Of course she was shy when everyone sang to her but wasted no time blowing her candle out! Afterwards we got a group picture (minus one who was having a meltdown) and called it a day! She was excited to get home and open her presents! I think it all came together very well, we had a nice little turn out and the kids had a great time!

 

She didn't eat much at her party and even broke her cupcake apart I think because her tooth was super wiggly and she was afraid to eat and lose it! That night I snapped a picture of her to capture one last glimpse of all her baby teeth as I had a hunch it wouldn't be long. The next morning she got what she wanted a missing tooth, and she had no clue it was missing until daddy asked her where her tooth was. She had lost it in her sleep (I think she grinds her teeth), what a way to loose it, no blood, no drama and no being scared it it coming out. Now if she could just lose every tooth this way and we skip the freaking out and blood part that I know will come with the next one!

She had another good month in school. She was purple three days in a row, her longest purple streak, mommy challenged her for a week straight but she got blue on day four (which is still good). Her school put on a holiday literacy night which we all went too (the kids in their jammies), they had teachers reading holiday books in the classes, some crafts in the cafeteria and then had milk and cookies while Mrs. Claus read The Night Before Christmas. Was just enough chaos for elementary kids and the girls had a nice time. I helped with her class holiday party, I was the only parent to show up so it was a little hectic but J was happy I was there. She passed the pink list on her sight words and is now working on list six, she is still one of the furthest along in her class for her words and we are super proud of her. She is starting to try reading more signs when we are out and is doing well at sounding the words out, although she tries to guess first. She is doing well at attempting to write things out on her own and spell words, for the most part you can understand what she writes.

Someone was very much into the holiday spirit, well as long as she was on the good list! One of our neighbors had an ugly sweater family party and the girls were excited to go and play with some new friends. Again this year we went to the Santa party through my moms group where they crafted and decorated cookies while they waited to see the big man and get their first gift of the season. The Santa visit are getting better and the girls are less timid and more talkative to him. We had to practically ask them to shut up so that they could get their picture taken (they were talking about their list they made and our elf Bert) and let the next family have their time. She was very much into the elf and had to be the first to find him each morning, this lead to to troubles/fighting and the elf needs to go away on a vacation for a few days! My cheerleaders watched me run the Jingle Race on Mainstreet and then enjoyed the Florida snow (bubbles) and sledding!

She had her six year old check-up and she is doing well. There were no shots or tears and we were in a out pretty quick. They used a cool machine to check her vision (all is good) and she is still a skinny minnie at 42 pounds (31%) and is just shy of four feet tall (46inches and 60%), she's our string bean, long and lean, definitely takes after her daddy! She can't wait for her next dentist visit and to show him that she lost her tooth!

We rounded out the month with Christmas Eve at home. The girls were super excited for the send off Bert gave this year, he strung lights in the foyer and couldn't wait to show me when I got home from my run that morning. We tracked Santa on the computer throughout the day seeing where he was delivering presents. We opened some presents later that night and had lasagna for dinner (both of the girls gobbled it up). They sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn, put on their jammies, left out milk and cookies for Santa and then hit the sack with anticipation of what the next day would bring.

Here are the pictures from the month.