Our baby girl is five years old!! She is getting so big and strong. The progress she has made is truly miraculous. We are so proud of her and blessed to celebrate her 5th birthday!
Aria is our only winter baby with her birthday falling smack dab between Christmas and New Years Eve. Once again, she was a bit under the weather for her celebration. Thankfully, she was still able to enjoy opening some fun gifts.
I made special gluten and dairy free cupcakes for the big day, but Aria just wanted to play with the candles. She did not want to even try one bite.
I thought just one taste may change her mind, but I was definitely wrong. She made quite the face when I snuck a tiny bite into her mouth. How dare I force feed her cake - haha!
I was hoping she'd be fully recouped for her party a few days later, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. She was feeling even crummier for the big birthday bash. She was still snoozing away the afternoon when the birthday guests arrived.
I finally had to rouse the guest of honor from her slumber so that she could join the party. Despite being sick, she still looked adorable in her pink birthday outfit and thoroughly enjoyed playing with her birthday balloons.
In fact, she didn't want to let go of the balloons even when it was time to open gifts.
She finally let go of the balloons to spend some time exploring her fun new toys.
Aria's always loved balloons so this year we chose a balloon themed cake for the party girl. The cake was a delicious chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling custom made by Mama Bear's Sweets.
After cake, Aria asked to do one of her favorite activities - play with the door. She is completely obsessed with doors and will point to her favorite ones indicating her request to be brought over ASAP so that she can open and close it over and over again. She finds it fascinating! But she hasn't quite figured out how to open the door if it latches shut so someone needs to be on standby ready to pop on over to help her out if need be.
Aria, you are the hardest working 5 year old I know. With an extensive therapy schedule of OT, PT and ST five days a week, you work hard to learn how to move and communicate. And while it takes time and a whole lot of effort, you continue to blow everyone away with your progress. You can now get into and out of floor sitting and push yourself around 360 degrees while sitting. Most recently you've made HUGE strides at bench sitting and have sat independently on a bench for over 30 minutes. Your core is sure getting strong!
You love to laugh and we love to make you laugh. It is pure joy listening to your squeals of delight. For some reason, you find it hilarious to be carried up the stairs while your siblings follow behind. You throw your head back screeching and laughing all the way up the stairs. Now that you're bigger and stronger, I have to hold on with all my might as you wiggle with glee.
You love chilling with your big sisters. You often ask to sit next to them to watch videos or play with toys. You are just one-of-the-girls and love to be included. You've always been a huge Mama's girl and preferred clinging onto me, so this newfound independence is exciting to see.
Baby Shark is still your favorite song. We often listen to it on repeat. As soon a the last verse is sung: "It's the end. Doo-doo, doo-doo.", you know it will be over soon and you quickly request more. While Baby Shark is your jam, you absolutely loathe Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC Song. If they happen to start playing, you will look at me with concerned eyes which will quickly turn into tears if I don't react fast enough to turn it off. For some reason, slow melodies make you sad so we do our best to avoid them whenever possible.
Your favorite activities include opening and shutting doors while sitting in your chair, stander or even just laying on the floor (this may be your most requested activity!), driving your bumper car in circles over and over until the battery is fully drained, and playing fetch (you get a kick out of seeing just how far you can make your mama run after the ball and think it's hilarious if I have to crawl under a tight space to retrieve it).
You have become quite the little boss - telling your siblings to move away from your space (you really do not like to share "your" couch with anyone) and demanding nearly anything and everything that they may have in their hands, especially from Cole! No matter what Cole's holding, you are always yelling at him to give it to you. You are quite the little bossy bee.
We are amazed at how you've learned to communicate your needs. One just needs to listen with their ears and eyes to understand you. You use facial expressions, gestures along with noises, signs and even a few words. Your most often used words are "hi" and "help". It's impossible to say no to you when you are so clearing asking for something so you pretty much get anything you ask for.
Aria, you are such an amazing little girl. You love cuddles with mom, being wild with your siblings, and dancing to your own beat. You are one determined little girl. We are blown away by your hard work and all that you've accomplished. We are so very blessed to celebrate your birthday with you. A very happy 5th birthday to you, Aria!
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