Rose turns 9

Dear Rose -

Yet another year has flown by, and we are once again celebrating you on your birthday! You were ecstatic to be turning 9 years old. We were out of town for Aria's therapy on your birthday, but made sure to squeeze in some fun for your special day. You started out the morning with donuts - YUM! You love donuts so it was the perfect start to your birthday celebration.

You were so excited to open your gifts that you quickly gobbled up your breakfast. You eagerly opened up each present so see what fun things were hiding inside. You received a couple floral dresses, a rose necklace, fuzzy bunny slippers and a pair of Heelys (tennis shoes with a special wheel compartment so you can skate as you walk.) You were thrilled!

Dinner was your choice and out of many options, you picked McDonald's. The location up the street had a large climbing structure so you were sold. You enjoyed a burger, chicken nuggets and a lemonade. It definitely hit the spot. 

Then you and Kate had a blast climbing up and sliding down the play area. Lots of giggles and squeals filled the room as you two ran and played.

Your birthday celebration wouldn't be complete without a cake. We had made a special trip to the grocery store so you could pick out whichever one you wanted. You took quite a bit of time weighing your options and eventually settled on a chocolate brownie cake. You of course needed a couple boxes of candles so you could spruce it up.

We had such a wonderful day celebrating you, our beautiful Rose. You have blossomed into a wonderful young lady with a deep love for music. It's currently one of your favorite things in the world. You most often will be found with your headphones on bopping to some new tune you've discovered online. You'll eagerly place your headphones onto anyone who's willing to listen. You love sharing your favorite tunes and watch with anticipation to get our reaction, hoping that we love it as much as you.

You have become quite attached to a fuzzy gray blanket that I had purchased a couple years back. It's your absolute favorite blanket and is nearly always attached to your body. You drag it all over the house, up and down the stairs, across the room, sometimes even out to the car! You are a bit like Linus from Charlie Brown when it comes to that blanket. Despite it falling apart after just one washing, you don't care. Nor do you let me wash it for fear of it falling apart even more. You sure love that blanket of yours!

You love to whip up tasty goodies in the kitchen. Most weekend mornings you will ask to make pancakes. Measuring, mixing, and flipping up a tasty batch with your secret ingredient - chocolate chips! You are very possessive of your baking process and most definitely like to be in control. So when your little sister asks to help, boy, oh boy! It almost always ends up in a big fight as her way is not your way. And you really prefer to do it all by yourself.

You are an outside-the-box thinker - always coming up with creative projects and crafts or unique ways of doing things. This leads to messy tables covered in crayons, colored pencils, paints, paper, play dough, clay and any other sorts of medium you can get your hands on. You get an idea and there's no stopping your creative juices. You will work and work on it until it's up to your standards of perfection.

While reading and writing has been a bit difficult for you, you have made wonderful strides. We are so proud of how far you've come. Your hard work and determination is definitely paying off. Lately, your favorite books to read are the "I Survived" series. You are currently deep into the "I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies" book. When I asked why you liked that series, you told me you weren't sure why, you just do!

You are quite the socialite. Everywhere you go, you make friends. You have no fear walking up to a kid you don't know and quickly forming a relationship. You are definitely one outgoing little girl. You are also a huge animal lover. You love searching the great outdoors for critters like frogs, worms, and turtles. Over the summer you were on a mission to "save the turtles" by carefully removing any that you found on the road and placing them in a safe location far from the danger of a vehicle. 

While you love many different animals, your all-time favorites are still, and will likely always be, dogs. You have loved dogs for as long as I can recall. You used to take off running towards any puppy you laid your eyes on. Now you are more restrained and ask the owner first before approaching. You would so love to have a dog of your very own, but alas, that most likely won't be in the cards until you are grown. Luckily both Uncle Jason and Aunt Donna have pups that you visit often. So for now, your 'cousin' dogs will have to do.

You are one active girl. You love trying new things and being on the move. Swimming, biking, sailing and golfing are a few of your favorite activities — just not dance.  You do not like dance anymore and have been quite vocal for some time about hanging up your dance shoes. You just look so darn adorable all dressed up in your Colombian dance costumes.  I will definitely miss seeing you perform.

You and your little sister Kate are often attached at the hip. Where you go, Kate follows. You are the best of friends. Although you do like to be the leader which can cause quarrels quite often between the two of you head-strong girls.

On many a weekend, you and Kate pack up your bags for a sleepover at Nana Judy's. You two love heading off to Nana's together for a fun filled time playing board games, eating out at the Pizza Ranch, and winning tickets at the arcade. You love sleeping on Nana's super comfy cushion on the floor. You think it's way more comfy than your bed. But you don't like going to sleepovers all by yourself. You much prefer to have a least one sibling tag along. 

While a very independent young lady, you will stop yourself in your tracks to ask for a "huggie" from either Mom or Pa. You sure do love your hugs. And many a night, I can find you sneaking into bed next to me to get your fill of cuddles. You do it ever so quietly knowing that if you wake up Kate, there will be a fight over who gets cuddles with mom.

Rose, you are sure growing up. You are all about your clothes and your hair and posing for pictures these days. You are turning into an independent, confident, natural born leader. Your determination and feisty spirit will no doubt lead you to big and wonderful things. We cannot wait to see what amazing things you learn and accomplish throughout the next year. A very happy 9th birthday to you, Rose! We love you to the moon and back!