Naomi's Ninth

Naomi was super excited to be
the birthday girl!

Naomi is nine! And nine is a big deal. Her birthday wish list, written on the dry-erase board, included the following:

A glue gun (later crossed off, because I didn't allow her to put glue all over the counter in an attempt to make solid glue creations)

A real pet Guinea pig

A pencil sharpener

A tape dispenser

Erasers

Really big drawing paper

A specific Guinea pig book

Mini lights that you could turn on and off, to use for crafts.

A stuffed axolotl Squishmallow (Google it)

Only later did it include things like:

A stuffed Guinea pig

Another specific Guinea pig book

Much later. Saturday later, with her birthday on Sunday.

Fortunately, unlike a certain stuffed puppy crisis of Christmas 2018, Naomi had a delightful birthday even knowing that she wasn't going to get a real Guinea pig (yet, anyway), and that she'd probably written the stuffed Guinea pig on the list too late to actually receive one. If she was feeling emotions such as "disappointed" or "frustrated," she bottled them up well.

But it'd be hard not to have a great day when waking up to a sweetly decorated dining room (llamas were the theme), plenty of gifts that she actually did request (nice of Target to have so many back-to-school sales just in time for Naomi's school-supply requests!), Lucky Charms for breakfast, and a sister sleepover the night before. 

I will never get tired of saying how grateful I am to birthday-girl sisters for making each others' days special. The two older girls pulled out all the stops even after losing sleep to a sister sleepover.

And even when, in addition to the stuffed axolotl from Elise  Naomi got the super cool gift they both probably would've asked for if they knew it existed: a 3D printing pen. I'd had the idea when Naomi gave up on the idea of a glue gun. "Wait... I think they make a product like that that's way cooler... Amazon?!?"

Eventually we made
guinea pigs instead
of random strings.

Although much of the melty plastic was initially used to make long vertical strings and other kinda weird little sculptures, Naomi eventually learned how to make a bunny... sort of. There's lots of room to grow, but the YouTube videos sure look cool.

Naomi was delighted to wear the Birthday Girl button at church--where they had a giant box of donut holes set out just for her (or for a volunteer recruitment event, maybe--but probably just for her). She loves going to her class and even made a new friend named...drum roll...Naomi! 

Fuzzy rug from Grandma and
Grandpa, and a cuddly sister!

Back at home, Matt had his super amazing pancakes all ready to whip up. Naomi opened a gift and played a quick game of Telestrations with me and her sisters, who were still, thankfully, not too worn out by all the celebrating to stick close to the birthday girl and continue to make it a special day.

There wasn't a ton of afternoon left after our late lunch, and before Grandpa and Marianne arrived, but Naomi had plenty of ways to fill it. Soon, though, we were metal detecting in the yard with Grandpa. Whose birthday is it?!?

Chocolate cherry
cake and llama
plates--a great
combo.

And then Jason's Deli, a rousing game of Telestrations (new family favorite?), more gifts, and lots of fun overall. Plus cake, and two different ice creams (if you only go to Jason's Deli once a year, you do kinda need the free soft-serve!), including Grandpa's special homemade ice cream. 

As a bonus birthday, Naomi also got to invite friends to paint pottery at a local studio the Saturday after. Although there was frequent confusion about which pastel color on the palette would turn which vibrant color when the pottery was fired, a patient attendant with a wet sponge was able to fix every mistake and help the girls enjoy their experience. 

See the worry in Naomi's face?
She's still nervous about fire.

Naomi painted an adorable orange and white cat (2 guesses where she got the inspiration), and enjoyed seeing her friends paint a mix of dolphins, horses, and other animals--plus Kalina's plate. We also enjoyed cupcakes and gifts, most of which were crafts. She's set up for a while now! 

It was a pretty awesome birthday, and so much fun to celebrate our sweet girl! Happy birthday, Naomi!

Naomi is gaining confidence as a 9-year-old, which shows up not only in how she talks to her sisters (which is ripe with pros and cons), but also in tasks that she takes on. Case in point: trying to earn 6 new badges over the summer so she can fill up her "flower" on her AHG vest. Ambition--I like it!

Naomi shows off her new
pencil sharpener, and I show
off my new 9-year-old.

Stuffed animals are still her favorite, but she's increasingly enjoyed playing with little kids this year, like neighbor girls and little sisters of friends, and her well-honed nurturing skills are transferring well. Moms/grandparents everywhere love her--she's a natural and she genuinely enjoys playing with littles.

Naomi desperately wants a pet Guinea pig, but also openly recognized that eventually she "might not be as into Guinea pigs anymore." So she wants a pet one before she's lost interest. Hmm... maybe we won't just run right out to the store for that one. However, if she maintains interest, and maybe at some point we're short a bunny...

She uncomplainingly and unfailingly takes care of the bunny, which she's claimed for her own (to the annoyance of Elise, for whom I don't feel much sympathy as she's unwilling to do anything about it) and renamed Oreo. She's done this partly to convince us she could handle a Guinea pig. And she's totally proved her point. Matt and I just can't handle cleaning out another cage.

Naomi's expanded her reading horizons, breezing through the only 3 Harry Potter books we've let her read and picking up a lot of historical fiction. She's been increasingly able to handle suspense and sadness in books, shows, and conversation, as well as even a tiny bit of blood and guts. We're up to, like, a paper cut.

Increasingly adventurous outside, Naomi will happily hold frogs and scale cliffs. Yet she's very scared of the dark, and ants. She's also a newly discovered claustrophobic. Worms are her least favorite.

Naomi's new skills include baseball (thanks, cousins, for playing with us!), practicing piano without needing much from me, violin, a pretty decent cursive, making pancakes, cleaning toilets, a solid doggie paddle and diving underwater, actually eating food she doesn't like (it happened! Like twice! Only because I made her, though...), using a porta potty (despite being claustrophobic and only, she informed me, because it was her only option), a few computer skills, doing her own hair, and drawing fairly well--her newest thing is to draw people sitting down. Like Mona Lisa. I think she may actually surpass my skills in that this year (not that that's much to speak of).

She had her first audition in a musical theater class this year, and earned a fun little solo part that she's really excited about. We're excited to see her personality shine through on stage, and she's been enjoying acting and learning to sing with a group. 

The girl loves flowers (always has, looking back--many wildflowers lost their lives to be stuffed into a vase after family walks), and is uncovering a new interest in interior decorating. We have vases with fake flowers that she arranged all over the house. And ceramic bunnies as decorative arrangements. And pompom animals. It's super sweet, and I'm counting the days until she can for real decorate my house for me. Until then I'm enjoying the colorful hodgepodge.

She also likes shopping with me, but mostly at stores that have "animal decorations" (i.e., ceramic bunnies and such). Usually, this means Hobby Lobby, but I've also convinced her to come along to Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Even the grocery store she doesn't really mind. 

She's asking really good questions lately, showing lots of thoughts and larger-than-life connections. We often Google things together.

Around the house, Naomi will happily do Elise's chores for her, but will freak out about washing dishes. Why? The plate may have touched food she doesn't like. Some things never change after 9 years--but we wouldn't have it any other way!