Y'all... My first born is 6! It's kinda blowing my mind really. How has it been 6 years since I started the journey of motherhood? On the other hand I barely remember what it felt like to be an adult and not be a mother. It was something I always wanted and it felt so right when Jane was put in my arms for the first time. Like I wasn't even fully myself until she was there. Jane gave me the greatest compliment the other day. I asked what she wanted to do when she grew up and she said "I want to be a mom just like you! And do accounting from home!" I definitely fail at being the mom I want to be often, but hearing Jane's answer makes me think that maybe I'm doing something right if she wants to be like me.
I asked her some more questions just for fun and she loved dreaming of her grown up life! She's going to have a tall house with stairs and 8 rooms with 4 beds in one room. She said she would live far away, but I can come for sleepovers. She'll have 11 kids. (Haha! I told her ok, but she can change her mind later.) I asked her if she would have more girls or boys and at first she said, "Only God can make that decision." Smart!! but I asked if she had a preference and she said she would have 6 girls and 5 boys. She even has her husband picked out. ;) I thought it would be one of her close friends, but it's a boy around 6 years older than her that she sees at the park. She got all bashful when she told me for the first time. (for her privacy I won't say his name) Basically she has her first crush! I can't believe my little girl is old enough for a crush. (I was 6 when I had my first crush.) The boy is super sweet and the perfect first crush in my opinion. I told Sam about it and he was not ok with it, I mean in a very dad like way. We had the stereotypical mother, father responses. I thought it was cute and he thought it was terrible. I already know no boy is going to be good enough for Sam's daughters. ;) But of course we're still a long way off from boyfriends thankfully!
Something that makes this birthday blog post extra special is that Jane is old enough to help me with it! In years past, if I asked her questions about her favorite food or her favorite toys or a favorite moment, etc. I'd get a lot of "I don't know. Stop asking me questions mom!" And while she still doesn't like questions too much she has the patience to give me a few answers. Before if she did answer it would normally be the first thing that came to her mind. She would never actually stop and think about it to give me an accurate answer. I love that 6 is the age I can actually get to know her not just by watching her but by having thoughtful conversations! <3
Jane does not like school at all. She likes when we do something new and then about two weeks after we start she is done! It's not new anymore and it's "boring" and she's too tired to do it. ;) She is really smart, but her own attitude, wanting the work to be easy and getting it right the first time every time gets in her way. I was the same way. The good thing is that when Jane realizes her school helps her be more independent it helps motivate her! We got some BOB books from my mother in law and they have been amazing to build Jane's confidence and help her realize our boring school really is helping her learn how to read books on her own. She loves to do things on her own! If she is capable of doing a task by herself she is happy to do it and she does not want my help. It used to be more work than help that she wanted to be so independent, but finally we're turning the corner and her independent spirit is now super helpful! I'm loving it!
Jane continues to love anything new! She can get excited about something as simple as a new cardboard box. It's hard to keep up with her favorite toys and such because they are always changing. For Jane, the newest thing is her favorite thing. She always wants to go! She never really slows down until she sleeps. Going anywhere outside of the house is fun for her. She LOVES dentist and doctor trips too. I wonder when I'll finally hear her say, "I don't want to go or do I have to go?" Just the other day she turned down going with me to pick up some food to bring home because she wanted to keep playing video games with her brother. I think that was the first time she voluntarily chose to stay home when she had been given the option to leave. Because new things are her favorite, imagining is her favorite way to play because she makes new stories every time she imagines. Like with the box she was playing with in the picture above. She made up a whole story about the box and how it was alive. She can make a story out of anything.
Jane is a social butterfly. She loves her friends! She said her best friend is Paige. (Top left) I would agree with that. She lives two doors down from my parents house and we love the whole family and get to see them often! Her best boy friend is Nathan, (bottom left) They've been buds since they were 2. <3 Her longest friend is Brianna (top right) They first met when they were less than a year old. Babyhoodies/2nd gen friends! Her newest friend is Chloe (bottom right) She's our next door neighbor and they became fast friends. When I asked her to think of more friends she named Cambrie and Collin, Heart park day friends, Liam, another 2nd gen friend! and Whisper, our old neighbor and gymnastics buddy. I love watching her grow and learn to be a better friend. She has empathy now and can understand how her actions effect others. She doesn't always make the right choice and put her friends first, but she is definitely making strides and doing better!
Honestly, if we're on the subject of friends I can't leave out her very best friends, her siblings! Before Jane even turned a year old I knew she needed siblings. Her favorite way to play is not with toys, but with others! She needed built in friends. She ended up with 3! One sister and two brothers. Every time a new baby was on the way she got just what she wanted. She wanted a brother first, a sister second and another brother third. She must have God on speed dial. ;) Atlas and Jane are very different which makes for lots of disagreements and some fights, but man do they love to play together. They are always thinking of each other when they're not with each other. If something happens when they are not together Atlas is the first person Jane wants to tell. They make a fort out of Atlas's bottom bunk and have sleepovers sometimes. They play mermaids, dress up, mommies and daddies, dinosaur family and cars and trucks. Jane adores having a little sister to play with and guide. She is happy to help Xan get dressed in her mermaid attire and loves to match clothes and play girly things together and watch Frozen together. I love getting to see the sister relationship develop since I've never experienced it before. It's so sweet. And of course having a cute baby brother to hold is the best! Jane LOVES to hold Flynn. He's the first baby I've let her hold standing up and pick up from the ground sometimes. She loves everything he does and thinks he's the cutest baby in the whole world. I have a feeling she's going to have something of a motherly bond with Flynn. All 4 siblings love to be together. It's Jane's absolute favorite when all 6 of us are together doing the same thing. <3
Weight
Birth: 8 lbs
1 Years Old: 18 1/2 lbs
2 Years Old: 25 1/2 lbs
3 Years Old: 29 1/2 lbs
4 Years Old: 34 3/4 lbs
5 Years Old: 40 3/4 lbs
6 Years Old: 45 lbs
Jane has always been either at the 50% or lower in weight for her age. Jane loves to eat and will always ask for a third hot dog or piece of pizza even though she knows the answer is no. The things is, other than her very favorite foods, she has a good sense of when she is full and doesn't over eat. Also she's so active it would be hard for her to put on any extra weight. It's funny I always used to hope for her weight percentile to be higher so I felt like she was eating enough food. I always had trouble getting her to sit still long enough for a full meal. That is no longer a problem and it finally feels like the age that I would like her to be at 50% or lower on the scales instead of higher, so she can stay fit, healthy and strong as she gets older.
Height
Birth: 21 Inches
1 Years Old: 28 1/4 inches
2 Years Old: 32 3/4 inches
3 Years Old: 36 1/2 inches
4 Years Old: 3' 3" (39 inches)
5 Years Old: 3' 6"
6 Years Old: 3' 8.5"
Jane has never been tall and for the first few years of her life she was pretty petite. When I look at her next to her friends now she looks pretty average! That dress she is wearing doesn't look too different on her than last year, other than the faded colors because she's worn it so much. But if you look closely, you can see the ends were dragging on the ground by a couple of inches and now it's above the grass. Looking at her height through the years I realized she has a trend of growing about three inches each year for the past 3 years! I wonder how long that will keep up??
Firsts
Kindergarten - August 2019
I wasn't sure when I started this section of the blog post what it would end up like. I like to look back through the year and find firsts no matter how unconventional or small they might seem. I thought for sure this year I wouldn't find enough firsts to make it through the whole year. I figured if it fell short I'd find favorite moments or experiences to finish it out. But whadda know, I found enough firsts to fill every month of the year. This year also marks the first time I don't see too much change in Jane's face from the first picture to the last in this section. She's growing up on me.
 |
| Automated Car Wash - May 2019 |
 |
| BFF bracelet - June 2019 |
 |
| Wearing my veil - July 2019 |
 |
| Tube slide - August 2019 |
Kindergarten - August 2019
 |
| Trip to the BEACH! - September 2019 |
 |
| Original Halloween costume - October 2019 |
 |
| Recognizable drawing with no help - November 2019 |
 |
Balloon animal - December 2019 Meeting Baby brother #2! Flynn! - December 2019 |
 |
| Ice Skating - January 2020 |
 |
| Kitty! Milo! - February 2020 |
 |
| Quarantine/ FaceTiming with a friend(Paige) - March 2020 |
 |
| Reading a book on her own - April 2020 |
 |
| Strawberry Picking - April 2019 |
 |
| Watching the Blue Angels! - May 2020 |
 |
| Taking dolly to the playground - May 2020 First time thinking of her own first to add to the blog! |
Favorites
Jane LOVES food! She has very specific favorites and I'm so proud that she will try almost anything! Here are some of her favorites. Papa John's - Cheese Pizza, Cici's - Cinnamon Rolls, Chick-Fil-A - nuggets kids meal, Whataburger -Grilled Cheese kids meal, Canes - Chicken Strips kids meal, Grilled Cheese and tomato soup, Cracker Barrel White Mac and Cheese, pigs in a blanket, pancakes, Bacon, fruity chewy candy, Ravioli, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Buttered bread especially freshly baked or restaurant bread. Drinks - Water, Caprisun Splash or Pacific Coolers, hot chocolate and Chocolate Milk.
Jane loves being read to! It's so exciting that she is starting her own reading journey as well! She loves a variety of books, but some of the ones she asks me to read more than the rest are: Usborne's Illustrated Fairy Tales - The Elves and The shoemaker, Princess and the Frog, Little Critter - Just a Thunderstorm, Shine a Light - At the Hospital, Panda Club Tree House, anything with Mermaids in it, Sonic Comics, Why Leopard has spots, Farmer's Market Surprise, Little Golden books: Little Mommy, We Help Mommy, Frozen. Her favorite books to read on her own are BOB books.
Like all favorites for Jane, her favorite TV shows are constantly changing. I had put on here that Shaun the Sheep was one of her favorite shows because we watched the first season over and over for like a week. When I was listing these off to make sure I was right about her favorite shows she said yes to all of them but Shaun the Sheep. I guess she is over it!! Haha, Some recent favorites are: Masked Singer, Winx, Sugar Rush, Nailed it, Disney Shorts Collection, Twirly Woos and Inner Workings short. Also Atlas and Jane have been preferring to play video games together instead of shows a lot lately. As long as they play well together I don't mind! Her favorite video games are: Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Just Dance, Super Mario 3D World, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Sonic 2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Without a doubt their most favorite game to play is Kirby's Return to Dreamland for the Wii. It makes me think that this is the game that will house the same memories for them that Sonic does for me as my first game to play.
It seems to me that Jane likes movies over TV shows. When given the choice she will almost always pick a movie. Frozen was the long reigning favorite in this category. It has recently been dethroned by none other than.... Frozen 2! ;) She just loves Elsa! Otherwise she seems to get stuck on one movie for about a month before moving on to anther movie. These are a few of the movies she got stuck on this year, Barbie Spy Squad, Onward, Little Mermaid 2, Sleeping Beauty and Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm excited that Jane is getting to the age that live action movies are just as exciting as animated movies for the most part! Since she seems to share our love of movies, Sam and I can't wait to share some of our favorite movies with her as she becomes old enough to appreciate them.
It's hard to pinpoint Jane's favorite toys because it always has to do with who will play with those toys with her. She is not an independent player at all, never has been. Lamby is still the VERY favorite stuffed animal, no contest. Lamby is a must at bedtime! She really likes her Mermaid Barbie for the bath tub. Her Elsa's dresses are definitely a favorite, she can't wait until her birthday to get the Frozen 2 dresses. She really just loves to dress up in general. It also makes sense that she loves board and Card games since you get a lot of interaction with other people when playing them. Her favorites so far are Sleeping Queens, Spot it and Guess Who. Finally within the last month or so Jane has developed quite an attachment to her American Girl doll. I gave her my American Girl doll from my childhood a couple of Christmases back and she liked it but didn't play with it much. She is finally old enough to dress the doll herself and it seems that was all she needed to really enjoy her now. Jane tried and tried to name her and she did a couples of times, but kept reverting back to calling her dolly and never calling her by the name she picked, I told Jane I knew a friend named Dolly and it could be her name too. She loved the idea and now dolly's name is Dolly. :)
I've realized the only favorites that seem to stay the same through the years for Jane are her favorite activities. They are still anything new to try, Swimming, Jumping on the Trampoline and Gymnastics. She is continuing to improve in her swimming, trampoline and gymnastic skills! She swims like a fish, serisouly, she has no trouble swimming around the pool with a mermaid tail on. On the trampoline she jumps high and does some scary tricks. She still hasn't landed a true front flip yet and I'm not encouraging it for now. ;) She has moved up to Silver skills for Gymnastics and recently mastered the hip circle skill on the bar that she had been practicing for quite a while! I hadn't been that excited since she got her cartwheel down. She worked hard for it! She did add a couple of new favorite activities this year and those are drawing, puzzles and imagining.
Jane's favorite place to go is ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE! She always wants to go!! I would say this past year brought a definitive favorite place to go though. The Beach! She is absolutely in love. In her prayers every night she asks to go back to the beach. Her love for it is making me hate it less. I will make myself go because my kids love it! And I think slowly I'm starting to love it too. The other thing she prays for every night is to go to Marmee's house for sleepover longer than one night. She loves Marmee and Pappaw's house! Other favorite places to go are: Urban Air, Jumpalooza,(which just announced they will not be reopening :( Unfortunately) Pump It Up, the library,(probably the place we're missing the most due to COVID) Parks - Rustling Elms & Bear Branch Park, Colin's house, the movie theater, Scott and Anna's house and her friends' houses.
The word that keeps coming to mind to best describe Jane is vibrant. I looked it up and it means full of energy and enthusiasm. Sounds right to me! Some synonyms are dynamic, spirited, peppy, lively, active, animated, sparkling, vivacious, zippy and zesty. That's my girl! Being as animated as Jane comes with some drama. In fact Jane seems a little addicted to drama. She even creates it when it's not there because she wants everything to be exciting. I'll take a little drama to get to experience the sparkling star that she is. She has a thirst for knowledge and wants to know how everything works. She really enjoys watching videos of how things are made or how things work. When she happens to catch me browsing social media, she always stops me and asks who's that, what's that, what are they doing?? She has to know! When I don't have an answer for her she'll usually come up with her own. Everything has to make sense and has to be fair or it's very upsetting to her. She still looks out for #1 a little too much, but I have seen a lot of improvement this year. This is the year that I realized Jane sees and can vocalize my own failings with validity. It's certainly humbling. She tells me, "You're acting grumpy mom, remember, count to 4 to calm down." I think it is just as important to have my kids respect me as it is to be able to take correction from them as well. I do not want to be beyond reproach. Jane is really good keeping me in check and making sure I adhere to the rules I set for the house. She is becoming mom #2. She definitely lives up to her name. She is God's gift to our family. Keep shining bright my daughter.
Happy 6th Birthday Girlie! We love you so much!
Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
