Six.
There’s something about that number that seems very significant – as if it’s the 21st birthday of being a kid – as if they should legally be allowed to drink caffeinated beverages or something.
Last weekend, I went through the ridiculous amount of photos that I’ve taken of Ali’s six years of life. It was a strange sensation to look at photos of her toddler years – it all seems so so foreign now. After all, she’s been a kid for a LONG time.
But it was fun to observe what has and hasn’t changed – at least in photographs.
She’s not always been clean,
She’s not always been polite,
But she’s had six years of a fabulously persistent right dimple…
Six years of me attempting (and failing) to answer the question “Exactly what color ARE her eyes?”
Five years of insane hair (that first year was pretty sparse)…
Four years of making her own couture fashion statements…
Six years of being a Daddy’s Girl…
And six years of being attached to Mommy whether she liked it or not.
After four solid years of being a trio,
She’s now had two years of being an impressively kind and caring (albeit an obsessively over-cautious) big sister.
The year of five was good. She showed that she is a kind, compassionate, conscientious, eager to learn, joyous little girl with a soft heart toward God and other people.
(As well as being OCD, poetically minded, informative, appreciative of illness, a rule-follower to the brink of disaster, helpful with dieting, a camel, a deep theologian, overly thorough, and intensely ambitious.)
The year of six, I’m sure, will only be better.
Happy birthday to your beautiful girl. She looks so grown up in that last picture. Eek, give her some coffee!
The December of this year picture is absolutely stunning!
Thank you! I love that photo too.
Happy Birthday Ali… I hope that you have a very blessed day….
Happy Birthday to Ali (and mommy, who the day is just as big for)! Six is a big number, but I’m starting to think everything out of the preschool years is big. So far away from the tiny babies…
I know!! Almost makes me want to have another one. Almost.
Happy Birthday beautiful Ali!
I love the “flipping the bird” picture. She looks fierce!
She was. And is. But especially was – she was quite the serious baby.
Wow – happy birthday, Ali! I can’t believe she’s 6 already. Sometimes it’s so strange, I seem to know you so well but actually I don’t know you at all. I think I’ve been reading here for maybe 3 or 4 years?! Wow. (When your christmas card arrived, I told my boyfriend “Rachel’s card is finally here” and he was like, “Who?”)
I didn’t know you’d been around that long – that’s awesome! Thanks for sticking around – I’m not sure why, but thanks!! :-) — and I’m so glad you got the card!
She’s been precious her entire life! So adorable! Hope she’s enjoying her cupcakes and cupcake stand. :-) Don’t forget to tighten that screw if you haven’t already!
She absolutely is, and I did tighten the screw! She has them tucked away in her bedroom where her brother can’t get to them.
Happy Birthday, Ali!!! And congrats, Chris & Rachel on everything you’ve done for 6 yrs! That’s a lot of hard work!
Also, I love all the hair pictures! Too cute!
Thank you! I love her hair pics, too – it’s crazy how much it’s changed!
Enjoy. It just keeps getting better. We celebrated 20 years of being parents last month:)
Happy BIrthday Ali! You sure are a cutie.
Love all the photos!!! So sweet. She went from oh so cute to beautiful. She looks so grown up these days. I meant to have K send her a bday card. I’ll have to get a bleated one.
Thank you so much! And I can’t wait to see what a bleated birthday card looks like. ;)
I *love* the face she is making in the first collage, second row, red and white outfit. Hilarious. :)
Thanks! I love that picture, too.
Happy Birthday to your over-the-hill single digit child! ;) It took me all morning, well I am technically schooling my kids, but I read through all her linked posts for the year from her birthday post. Wow. I love your interaction with her and the way she obeys to a fault.. of course, I’m having one of those days where I wanna curl up in a corner and rock. So not a fan of my own parenting today. Thanks for the reminders and encouragements… poo pyramid, ceiling art, Wiki tool usage.. it’s all part of the package, and it is a blessed package.. poo and all.
I’ve had a curl-up-and-rock week, if that makes you feel any better. I think where I went wrong was on Monday at lunchtime: making an actual list of everything that had gone wrong. It was as if I was saying, “what else could go wrong?” — but the rest of the week has shown me exactly what all else COULD go wrong. Not nice.
she is so adorably beautiful! i love how they look like themselves from birth, but you just don’t know it yet b/c you don’t know them! happy birthday to the big girl! perhaps she can help potty train her brother ;)
Oh…now wouldn’t THAT be interesting,.
Happy Birthday, Ali! Now you can use two hands to show how old you are. Hope it’s a super great day!
Happy birthday Ali! Great photos! My baby turned 6 last month too. If the two of you ever met, you would probably spend many happy hours together talking about math problems.
That would be just awesome!! :)
Happy Birthday Ali!
Your photos look so grown up (I just realized that I’ve been reading this blog for more than half of Ali’s life! Doesn’t seem nearly that long!)
Do you have AA Milne’s “Now we are six” poem? Since there is a six year old in the house it is practically required.
PS What on earth happened to the bathtub?! That looked intense!
No! I’ll try and find it – sounds fun!
The bathtub is explained here and here.
Happy (late) birthday, Ali! :)
Rachel…really?! Her eyes, her hair, her dimple….can she get any cuter?!
Thanks so much! That’s what I think, too. :)
I don’t comment often (since I read your blog on my phone, and commenting is a pain), but I had to come out of the woodwork to say: Ali is just ridiculously gorgeous!
Thank you so much!!
Happy Birthday to Ali. I loved seeing all the photos of her over the last 6 years in this post. That little dimple and her hair…oh how i love it. :) Enjoy this next year because from 6 to 7 I noticed a huge difference in my little girl. She just seems and looks so much older now. It goes way too fast.
Oh no! I don’t know that I like the sound of that.
Oh my goodness HER EYES. I don’t care what color they are, they’re gorgeous.
Thank you so much! I don’t know where she got them, but I love them.
She has quite possibly the most amazing eyes I’ve EVER seen! Wow.
Thanks so much!! :)