Our Little 7-Year-Old

 Naomi is 7! But if you ask her, she'd rather be 6. She's had a lot of fun as a 6-year-old, and is concerned about growing older. Nevertheless, she managed to enjoy a pretty amazing birthday.

[For some reason the photos won't allow me to text-wrap around them, so this post is going to be super choppy. Hope it works better next time....]

Sisters are still the #1 way to make a birthday special, and Kalina and Elise rose to the challenge, celebrating every little moment with her. We began with birthday cereal: chocolate Lucky Charms, which even Matt tried a little of among his Cheerios, reacting about how you'd figure to Naomi's complete delight.

And of course, there were presents: a birthday dress for Naomi and Elise's gift to her, a book of pompom animal crafts. Naomi's been happily making pompom animals on her own, but this book took it one step further, so a large portion of the morning was spent making a tiny multicolored hedgehog and, for Elise, a red squirrel. Kalina began a bunny, making an amazingly perfect pompom that is currently...an amazingly perfect pomom and nothing more.

Naomi also opened a stuffed red panda, which she'd been asking for but, as she later confided to me, she didn't think I'd actually be able to find. I'm not sure the red panda has felt the floor under its paws since. Kalina helped her make an impromptu bamboo craft out of popsicle sticks so the panda would have something to eat.

After a pretty low-key morning and Matt's famous chocolate-chip pancakes for lunch, we opened another gift (a laundry set with a washer/dryer that really turns--because Naomi has a lot of laundry from her dolls and Calico Critters), and then headed to the neighborhood pool. Which has been packed this summer, for obvious reasons. 

Amazingly, we had it to ourselves--or at least it felt that way because our presence nudged out the two sunbathers who had been enjoying some peace and quiet. We felt bad, but hadn't exactly been canonballing into the water, so not too bad. 

Naomi has been learning to swim, so she paddled around a bit and we enjoyed our floats, and dumping Daddy into the pool and such for nearly an hour before unattended teenagers and then 5 young boys and their babysitter showed up. By this time, we were chilly enough, with the temps only reaching the mid to upper 80s, that we decided to call it good. 

A Zoom birthday! Quite fun--
if Covid has done one thing
for us, it's gotten us connecting
more!

Back at home, Naomi enjoyed a few presents, and we chatted with Grandma and Grandpa on Zoom. Before we knew it, it was time to pull everything together to have Grandpa Tom and Marianne for dinner. I hustled out the door for dinner and balloons, and everyone else tidied up.

The lighting is off,
but it was a very
pretty cake!

While Naomi enjoyed her pizza and breadstick meal from Fazolis, it soon became clear what was really on her mind: her purple-frosted angelfood cake! With rainbow sherbet on the side, in case the cake itself wasn't sweet enough. Although a little timid of her candle, she relished her moment and then devoured the cake. After a few more gifts, we called it a night: birthday officially celebrated!

Notice how the red panda,
named Cuddles, appears in 
every photo for a while.

The next day, we held a tiny outdoor friends party for Naomi, because we do like to celebrate! She wanted a Build-A-Bear party like last year and fortunately, Build-A-Bear came through with a stuff-at-home kit. So, for way less than the cost of making Build-A-Bears at the mall, we distributed small animals to her 3 guests (and Elise, who steeled herself to be okay getting the unchosen animal) and used the fun plastic machine to pump in some stuffing. 

I'd been a bit concerned that maybe some of Naomi's friends would be "over it," and not get as charmed about the whole Build-A-Bear process as, say, 4-year-olds. Conversely, I also worried that they'd be way too into it, and erupt in tears if they didn't get the exact animal they wanted.

Kalina noted that the
stuffing machine uses
an Archimedes screw,
no batteries required!

In the end, the only "problem" was that one girl didn't want to use the stuffing machine and instead wanted to stuff her animal herself. Which, as you've probably deduced, wasn't a problem at all, unless you count the fact that I thought the stuffing machine was super cool and I wanted everyone to play along and use it. Even though that would make more work for me. But I let it go and we all got on marvelously.

Kalina and Elise were excellent help, as Elise added the pizzaz to the "heart" ceremony thing they do at Build-A-Bear, and Kalina fetched and helped at a split-second's notice.

When the bears (actually, 1 unicorn, 2 kitties, and 1 bear) were stuffed, someone suggested making parachutes and launching them off our deck. Someone else suggested materials, and soon we were semi-floating animals down to a blanket below. Alright.

Covid candle-blowing,
single-serve style.

Then, someone complained of being hungry (the girl who is always hungry when she visits our house), so we broke out the cupcakes and juice. It took all of 2 seconds for the cupcakes to be devoured. Which was a minor issue because Kalina and Elise were hiding goody bags and clues around the yard for a mini treasure hunt, assuming that the girls would be distracted for a good 5 minutes. Fortunately, a friend of mine had stuck around so she managed to keep the girls in one spot while Kalina and Elise scrambled to finish and I took care of something inside the house.

Not sure where we'd be in this
world without sisters.

Soon, the girls were off racing around to find the locations their clues sent them to, and then enjoying the zipline and swingset. The girls knew each other, if only vaguely, and they all got along like old friends. Last of all, Naomi opened her gifts. She was delighted to receive a soft cat that you can actually take for a walk. And that meows at us. And scares the actual cats. She also received cat costumes, which also scare the cats--but not before we got at least one good picture. So this was not the very best day for our kitties, but Naomi sure enjoyed herself!

She's also zipping through thank-you notes like a pro; faster, honestly, than anyone in the house ever gets them out. 

At 7, Naomi frequently wavers on the line of big girl vs. little girl. For one thing, she can go out and play with her sisters without returning 5 minutes later in tears due to some injury, real/imagined and physical/emotional. She can keep up, emotions intact. This is huge. And yet, Naomi also loves to dabble in the little-girl world of pretending and baby animals.

Naomi's relationship with Elise has developed a lot this year--they're better friends than ever and actually share interests. Elise is delighted to have a rapt audience for her sweet stories about magical animals, and Naomi is thrilled to be Elise's writing partner. "Kalina is good at editing and Naomi is good at encouragement," Elise compares. They also both enjoy yarn crafts and general silliness. Naturally, Naomi and Kalina get along wonderfully as well, but Naomi and Elise are enjoying more togetherness than they have in the past.

Naomi reads fluently and phonetically, but she still often prefers picture books chapter books. She questions the need for much conflict, let alone tragedy, in any story. "Why couldn't they just make it work out okay?" she will ask through near-tears. She loves Mr. Putter and Tabby and the Wellie Wishers books, and anything about animals or anything silly, like Amelia Bedelia. Before I read her a chapter book, she'll often ask if anyone dies in it. 

She's excellent at puzzles, writes very neatly when she takes the time to (which is not always), spells quite well, knows her way around a globe, and plays piano quite well. Now that she's conquered reading, site-reading music is no biggie, and she likes to sound out her own little tunes. 

Naomi also enjoys singing and occasionally turns everyday moments into a musical. Which is sweet, and especially hilarious when she turns on her Italian/Spanish impression (on meatball night it's Italian, when Matt's doing Spanish with the kids is more Spanish) and kind of sing-songs her words. She cracks us all up.

Although Naomi's a lovely caretaker, she can't stand anything human-body. If one of us so much as mentions the word "blood" or "bone" she covers her ears and begs us to stop. She's totally good with Band-Aids, though. And will handle slimy things that I run from.

While not super adventurous (she's still learning to bike and swim), Naomi can be coaxed into trying new things by getting used to the idea. Except foods--nothing can convince her to try new foods unless they fit into the "fats, oils and sweets" category of the food pyramid. When I mentioned that it can be convenient to try to branch out, she replied, "But Mommy, it will be easier when I'm an adult!" She kinda had me there....

Naomi's been described as super sweet, easygoing, and great with younger kids by her friends' parents and grandparents. In fact, she loves hanging out with kids a couple years younger than she is, to indulge the part of her that enjoys being young, to smile at their cute antics, and, probably, to feel big for a change. But she also gets along great with her friends who are her own age, and even a few of the older girls' friends, making her a well-rounded little person.

She has a silly sense of humor, and sometimes, the zanier the better. When she gets into a fit of giggles, she finds it hard to stop--and we find it hard not to join in. She's incredibly ticklish still. She's also generous with her friends and sisters, especially when it comes to sharing windfall treats.

Naomi loves dot-to-dots and mazes, and makes up her own crafts. She will do anything to check a box in her schoolwork and likes a good worksheet. She can easily tie shoes, catch a minnow or toad, make herself any animal costume, kind of jump rope and hula hoop, roller skate across the kitchen (but not exactly with correct form), make up jokes, solve multi-digit addition with renaming if she really thinks about it, memorize poetry, empty the dishwasher, put away laundry, name continents, oceans and some states, make herself a PBJ, sew (kind of), and braid her dolls' hair. She still gets really creeped out by being alone on any level of the house or in her room, but we're working on it.

Naomi is alternately a little sunshine trying to cheer everyone up, and a hard, competent worker. She decompresses by crafting, reading, or taking care of animals, and she's definitely an introvert. If she's too tired, she worries, but otherwise generally roles with things pretty well--as long as she's not taking them personally or anxious about change. 

The girl has been wearing 2 French braids every day for a full year. I think she likes how they feel. She also still sticks to dresses, with exactly one skirt-shirt outfit she finds acceptable, plus her American Heritage Girls uniform. She likes new clothes and shoes, but they come with their own stresses--especially if she loves the look but finds it uncomfortable. Fortunately, her preferences are easy to work around, and are loosening up a bit.

Naomi is a little sweetheart of a girl, and we're so blessed by her, every day!

To divert you away from the saccharine sweetness of this photo,
I'll mention that the kitty ear headband was too small on Kalina
and caused actual, physical pain. She's that good of a sister.