Thinking About 6

Ella turns 6 tomorrow, and I was thinking yesterday about how accomplished she is becoming. She can swim (though that's nothing new--she learned to swim at 4!), ride a two-wheeler, tie her shoes, read a book, write her own birthday thank-you cards (just an FYI for when you receive a thank-you card that says only "I love the present!"), and get herself a glass of water. She can open granola bar wrappers and put the straw in a juice box and sort of operate the TV (I say "sort of" because we have three remotes, and it's complicated even for me sometimes). She can zip her own coat and get herself dressed (including shoes). She can make her own bed (but doesn't do so as a matter of course). She can do a cartwheel and a backbend. She has friends I've never met and they have inside jokes I don't quite understand. She rolls her eyes at me and says things like, "MOM! Don't ask me about THAT!" She can reach the sink without a step stool, can change a toliet paper roll (which reminds me that we're out of toliet paper AGAIN), can navigate the Internet (to some extent), and can shower with minimal help.

We've come a long way, baby.