Elise's Birthday Blast

After a year of waiting, months of planning, weeks of buildup and several lists, Elise's birthday finally arrived! And it turned out as monumental as she hoped.

It was 5:28 when we first heard the stirrings of a birthday girl. "It's my birthday!" she declared for everyone to hear. "I'm six!" Kalina groaned, Matt pretended to be asleep and I shot out of bed, heart pounding, to remind Elise that it wasn't yet morning. Thankfully, it was still dark and at least several of us got back to sleep.

"Real" morning began, then, at a much more reasonable time of 7:00-ish, three of us trying hard not to hold a grudge and the birthday girl walking on air. We all rocketed downstairs for a bowl of "birthday cereal," chocolate Lucky Charms that the girls deemed too sacred to pour milk on until I told them it would turn regular milk into chocolate milk. Magically delicious (Matt might have another word for them).

And we started in on presents. Naomi was all too happy to offer hers up for unwrapping. She'd hinted throughout the week that Elise would be opening either a lamb or an owl, but managed not to spill the beans that they were, in fact, puppies, just as Elise had specifically requested. Puppies that had been lovingly introduced to the house, pretend-bathed and cuddled by the 3-year-old before being wrapped snuggly while they slept (she insisted on putting them on their backs in the wrapping paper).

But as Elise's birthday fell on a Sunday, soon it was time to head off to church. Although initially annoyed that the day wouldn't be one long party, she warmed up to the idea of church when she realized that, wearing her birthday button, lots of people were likely to say happy birthday to her. And they did! "I got a lot of happy birthdays and a donut!" she cheered.

When we returned home, Daddy had a present for Elise: a clue. It would be the first on a treasure hunt that led us through the house, outside and to real treasure once we assembled the map! Elise admitted later she was just expecting to dig up a little toy. As it turned out, the treasure was actually pirate-worthy: a silver coin minted in the year Elise was born, buried in a ziploc baggie beside the swingset.

Next we all headed to McDonald's, where we ordered Happy Meals, ate them on a special light-up table and played in the play area, just as Elise requested.

Birthday frozen
yogurt! Colorful and
sweet, you are what
you eat.

Somehow, Elise managed to keep adding small components to her special day, with us barely noticing--and she does it so sweetly we hardly mind. Which is why, shortly we returned from McDonalds, she and I sailed out the door again for a Mommy-Elise frozen yogurt date.

And then we opened more presents at home with Grandpa, and played with them as much as we could in our packed schedule. Stop having fun, Elise, it's time to have more fun! I didn't want to rush the girl, but I had to remind her we still had exciting plans, so we kept pressing forward even as we oohed and aaaahed over such things as roller skates, craft activities and the rock tumbler Elise has been begging for (but, as she later told me, didn't think she'd actually receive).

Kalina and Elise, by the way, patiently let Elise get all of the attention, most of the time, at least.

After a quick "supper," we were off to Monkey Joe's, a bouncy-house/game place that we thought would be the least busy between 5 and 7. We added our three kids to the general not-terribly-busy bustle, constantly reassuring Naomi we wouldn't leave her and remaining super visible so she'd believe us and relax. Which she did! Of the three, she was actually the one who was least willing to leave in the end.

Having a blast at the bouncy
house place.

The popular fishing
game!

Elise had a fabulous time bouncing and sliding, and so did Kalina. We also checked out the games and had fun winning tickets in various goofy ways. We enjoyed popcorn and a pretzel, managed to pick multiple prizes for each child without driving the prize counter person completely crazy, generally agreed we were all glad Elise had suggested the outing and decided we could actually picture doing it again sometime. Happy birthday to all of us.

We'd saved two presents for afterward, and cake, which Elise has been planning for weeks. Vanilla cake was topped with chocolate frosting and chopped strawberries, for a delicious combination. She added three kinds of sprinkles and candles, and we all enjoyed the final birthday cake of birthday season. Well done, Elise!
After opening her roller skates, Elise jetted upstairs to change into pajamas (our full day extended past bedtime), so she'd have time to roll around the house a little before the day officially came to a close. She's taken them off a couple times since...

Elise decorated her own cake (and her
own face)!

Happy birthday, sweet Elise!

In so many ways, Elise is more big kid than little kid, except she retains so well the joy of childhood that it's hard to place her age. I suppose six will have to do! The only extrovert (probably) in the family, Elise happily talks to anyone, telling plans and ideas, making little jokes, explaining her little jokes and informing. And at the same time, she certainly shows a reserved side, too--she's perfectly capable of blending into the background in group settings, without being completely ignored.

And in fact, it's a little bit impossible to ignore Elise. Forgotten middle child she is not, although she's much more of a rules-follower than most people would take her for. Disobedience and disorder, while they can be entertaining to her, make her uncomfortable and she's my main whistle blower when things are not going the way they should be. And yet, she certainly loves a little fun...

"What is it?" A rock tumbler,
of course! It'll be running for
the next month.

Elise is fairly close to: swimming, biking start to stop with no training wheels, writing her lowercase alphabet, reading cohesively, and completing first-grade math. She's coming along on piano, can recite multiple poems and Bible verses, enjoys singing for us and isn't afraid of a challenge. Elise can do monkey bars, climb a rope quite high (if it's knotted--but even if the knots are spaced more for a 10-year-old), befriend older kids, break eggs (even though she prefers not to), explain various scientific concepts, and create recipes that are starting to almost sound tasty (or at least not awful), even though most of them involve lots of sugary foods layered together. She also, however, seems to think that if she says it, it will work. Case in point: "Mommy, I know how to make chalk! Just put chalk dust in a bucket and let it sit for a year. After a year, the little pieces will have hardened into chalk!" Considering the only way Kalina and Elise play with chalk is to grind it into dust, this kind of "chalk cycle" would be pretty handy.

Elise's sense of fairness is strong, as are her sweet negotiation skills (you never really feel as though you lose, no matter which side you come out on). She has a penchant for science, and especially chemical reactions that turn colors or explode (or even mixtures that just look cool), and cool rocks. Elise has lots of big ideas, and would like to invent something or sell things from a card table in the driveway (lemonade, painted rocks, moss gardens--you name it). She easily picked up knitting and crocheting, as well as the ever-popular finger knitting and rainbow looming. In fact, she watched me crochet one day, and was able to successfully do it the next, with very little instruction. She has not, however, actually learned to fly--but don't tell her. The girl fully believes (it seems) that if she runs fast enough and flaps her wings, she takes to the air a little bit. "Mom, I flew a little! Watch!"

The birthday girl at
McDonald's

Elise is best friends with each of her sisters--nearly Kalina's twin, and also spending lots of happy time playing with Naomi. With Naomi, Elise expertly plays a dual role of playmate and caregiver--at least until the fact that she's 6 kicks in, and she gets annoyed with Naomi's 3-year-old sharing skills. She's also started to branch out, and easily develops friendships at her various activities, and also with the neighbor boy next door (who she apparently is now not going to marry, despite having planned on it for months).

In the future, Elise hopes to have a lot of pets, be a preschool teacher, and be on speed dial to help anyone who needs any kind of help. She also may be in a circus, and/or a movie producer and animal advocate. She has warned us that she might not have much time when she's a grownup, because she'll be so busy helping people.

Elise's treat memory survives, as does her cheerful disposition that keeps her from holding a grudge very long, or feeling down very long at all (although some things do get to her). She's also still infinitely quotable. She no longer brings Pink Bear and Soft Blankie everywhere, but instead brings a pair of kittens, about whom she's developed quite a history. For her birthday, she added several kittens and puppies to the group, so it'll be another interesting year in stuffie world.

Kalina made an Elephant and
Piggie bookmark!

While Elise still entertains an active imagination, she stays rooted in reality. As such, it can be hard to place her actual age. She'll discuss her plans for selling self-watering moss gardens, holding a circus (she'll be the tightrope walker, among other roles) or various inventions as though she's someone's mother--and yet we're still in a conversation about selling moss from the driveway, not-so-impressive playground tricks and unrealistic or highly impractical gadgets. She has a wonderful memory and can tell me her impressions of events years ago ("When I was little"), whether or not they're associated with treats. She giggles as she confidentially reveals what she used to be scared of or confused about or babyish about, as though we're 28-year-olds, sharing coffee and reminiscing about our childhoods together. ("Mommy, I used to take Pink Bear and Soft Blankie everywhere!" she laughs at herself as she runs off to round up armfuls of stuffed kittens.)

Elise finds real buried
treasure: a silver coin!

Elise desperately wants to be in the newspaper, and in fact believes she should be: after all, she's discovered six really cool rocks (white quartz and such) and a coin from New Zealand in the pumpkin patch. She plans to be famous someday. In fact, she has a lot of plans. "Mommy, mind setting me up with the computer? I need to print out 'Naomi's Art Book.'" Because she's making an art book with/for Naomi. Of course, if I go down the rabbit hole of typing it out for her, there's no telling where we'll come up...but at least we'll have had a marvelous time!