Olivia Layne - 6 years old!

Somehow 6 takes my breath away. Did I say that at age 5, too? I'm amazed, as usual, at my sweet girl. She is growing up! Olivia is becoming more and more independent, empathetic, curious, eager to learn, helpful, funny, active, and delightful to be around. Of course at each age, she is my favorite age ;) She is doing great in school-a fast learner, a good helper, an example to others, a follower of directions, and a lover of kindergarten! At home she continues to LOVE to play with Daddy. Numbers and math seem to be one of her strong suits, but then again so does everything, if I do say so myself. She is super creative. She writes books for Georgie, makes artistic cards and pictures for us, creates neat crafts. She loves to learn about things. Especially animals. Almost every week she brings home a book from the school library about animals. This week at school they started reading a "real book" and she is thrilled. She's been learning to read at home with Dick and Jane, which is so fun and adorable, and also Piggie and Elephant. She loves dancing, singing, gymnastics, swimming, ice-skating, building snow forts, playing legos, reading with Mama, helping Daddy in the kitchen, having spelling bees at dinner time, training Georgie, exploring, trying new things, creating imaginative stories in her head for herself, her animals, her classmates. She loves her cousins and grandparents and brother and friends. She is hilarious, smart, energetic, silly, brave, active, a lover of life! She is a people pleaser and a rule follower, which will serve her well since she is also a girl who knows what she wants and is strong and passionate, which will help her reach for the stars and stand up for herself and what's right. She delights in her Daddy and something I hope I never forget is the sight of them running toward each other as they both get home from school. Just in the two weeks since she turned 6 I have loved watching her become more independent, less whiny, less demanding, easier to talk to, and fun to just be with. There is so much more I could say about her awesomeness, but the words keep tumbling around in my mind and it's hard to get them out eloquently. Babies growing up is bittersweet, to be sure. But I wouldn't have her any other way. I love my baby 6 year old beyond words!