Happy 6th Birthday, Mae!

2005

Mae is funny.  She is always looking  for an opportunity to make us laugh with her funny faces, gestures or comments.

2006

Mae is such a sweet big sister.  She does get frustrated with this job at times but definitely has a desire to be Will's mother hen.

I've seen Mae's compassion... when a friend was upset she tried to console her, comfort her and give her sympathy.



2007


One time I was outside at Mae's recess after dropping her off at school.  Another little girl fell and scraped her knee.  I watched Mae sprint into the classroom to tell the teacher.  Then, to the outside teacher to tell her.  Finally she made it back to her friend and led her to the teacher outside to have her check the wound.  She didn't hesitate for a minute to help and didn't go to play until her friend was okay.

2008

Mae wants to grow up so bad.  She cannot wait to wear a bra, have her own room, have braces, choose her own clothes and wear make-up.  A lot of her girl cousins are older than her and she definitely aspires to be exactly like them!

2009

Mae is graceful and she takes ballet very seriously.  I've had to have several talks with her about not yelling at the other girls in her class when they get too close and get in her way.  Its not that they are imperfect, its that Mae has to do the dance perfectly and gets upset when she can't.

2010

Mae is competitive!  This one is tough for me because I'm the opposite of competitive!  Everything is a race -- who can buckle up the fastest... who can make their bed the fastest... who can eat the fastest (ew gross).

Mae loves soft ice cream and loves to let it "sit" for awhile and then stirs it up before eating it.

2011

 We found out that Mae also has some imperfections... she hates coloring and still scribbles like a 3 year old.  She knows this and just doesn't care.  Its not worth the time or effort to her.  One time in class she had to get a new coloring page and start over because she had scribbled on the entire page.  She wasn't upset about the fact that she had to start over... she was upset about being embarrassed.

Mae does, however, love to paint and create things.  She loves scissors, glue, stickers and paint.  When there aren't any "lines" to stay in, she LOVES it.

Mae is very friendly.  I could not have seen this coming.  When Mae started preschool at age 3 it was because she was terribly shy and had a lot of anxiety in social situations (like nursery at church).  It helped A LOT and now she is the opposite of shy.  When we go to a park she'll immediately find a child she doesn't know and ask her name and how old she is.  Then, they are best friends and play together like they've known each other for years. This makes me SO HAPPY because I was never like this as a child... I was always very shy!

Mae has learned how to pitch in.  When its time to clean up the toys or the bedroom, Mae always takes the lead and gets it done.  Although there are times when I find several things shoved under the bed or in the closet, most of the time she does a great job.

Mae loves to change outfits and dress up.  I thought she'd grow out of the eventually, but that hasn't happened yet... and we seem to acquire more dress-ups as the years go by!

Mae thinks she can trick me and has started to tell a few white lies here and there.  I've had many talks with her about this and she drills it into Will all of the time, but I'm not convinced that she knows SHE shouldn't tell lies.

Mae is very emotional.  There are times when she has an emotional outburst daily.  I've had a hard time with these but have figured out that sometimes she just needs to CRY and get it all out.  Its healthy to do that and I don't want her to think that crying is bad.  So I usually just have her lay on her bed while she cries.  Almost anything can set this off and most of the time she blames it on "missing Nonny and Poppy" but there are times when she gets her feelings hurt at school and I'm so glad that I can take the time with her to talk it out.  I never want her to feel like she can't share anything with me.

Mae loves LIFE.  She is happy.  She is active and she is always moving.  She loves Barbies, her scooter, her princess dolls and playing family.  She still doesn't love her bike, but maybe someday she will.

I'm so happy to be her mom and to be able to enjoy these years.  I know they won't last long.

Here's to another year gone and my baby turning 6.

Happy Birthday Mae!