Lorelai Is Getting So Grown-Up

Last week, my oldest daughter Lorelai turned nine years old. This year, her birthday wasn't as busy or momentous as her birthday last year (when she turned eight, threw a huge party, and was baptized). But in some ways, this birthday was even more significant...at least from my point of view. I am seeing my oldest daughter in a new light these days.

In the last few weeks, as her birthday approached, I have noticed a subtle shift in the way Lorelai acts, talks, and thinks. I am starting to realize that Lorelai is not a "little kid" any more, but a "big girl," or "tweener," or whatever you want to call this age. She is getting even more thoughtful and helpful than she used to be; she has an aura of quiet responsibility wherever she goes. She is quicker to lend a hand to those who need it, and at the same time more eager to do things without her parent's help. She is gaining new skills rapidly, and the talents she already has are getting more developed.

As an example, I woke up one morning after a bad night's sleep, only to find that Lorelai had made me an omelet. No prompting from Daddy or myself, or anyone else; she just decided she wanted to make me an omelet because she's nice like that. Nathan helped her a little bit, but she did most of the prep work and all the presentation. I was surprised and touched at her thoughtfulness and maturity; it really impressed me that she came up with the idea all on her own. It is humbling to think my daughter might be better at quiet acts of service than I am!

(For the record: she's made several omelets over the last month, sharing them with various family members.)

Her cooking bug resurfaced when it was time to make her birthday cake. She wanted carrot cake this year, and she volunteered to help me make it! Of course, carrot cake is a little more labor-intensive to make than most cakes, but Lorelai was still able to add ingredients to the mixer and scoop out the batter, and (of course) lick off the beaters afterwards.

We got the carrot cake made in time for her birthday "party" the Saturday before her birthday. After last year's big bash, I was determined to make this get-together as small and easy as possible. So she invited over two friends (Abigail and Hyrum) over. They ate cake; they opened presents; they went and swam at our clubhouse pool for a few hours. A good time was had by all!

 

Grandma and Grandpa came over briefly on Sunday night to wish Lorelai a happy birthday. At the same time, Nathan and I allowed her to open one of her presents...

...this cute mini-muffin tin, as well as a pastry decorating kit. Maybe this will spark her culinary imagination some more! In any case, we unwrapped it so Lorelai could use it to make brownie bites to share with her class on Tuesday, August 12th (her actual birthday).

On her birthday, we got up early to open the rest of her presents...

 

She shouted in triumph when she saw the gift she wanted most of all...

A sweet remote-controlled car!

She got a Spanish-English kids' dictionary from Daddy; all three girls love it

Sadly, she didn't get to play with her new car until after school that day. Ah, to be young again and have no school on one's birthday! At any rate, she didn't have a lot of time after school to play, either, because she had a dinner date with Daddy planned for that night.

Since Nathan usually rides the commuter shuttle to work every day, it can be inefficient for him to come all the way home if he's going back to Tucson again later in the day. So we tried something different this year, in honor of Lorelai's being a "big girl" now...we sent Lorelai on the northbound commuter shuttle by herself, in order to meet up with Nathan downtown and go on their date from there! To be safe, I sent my phone with her, in case she needed to call anyone (as it turned out, she ended up texting Nathan the whole drive up).

It was very hard to overcome my "protective" genes as I got her seated on the shuttle and waved goodbye from outside. Her face looked ready to crumple into tears as the shuttle pulled away, and it was all I could do to not launch myself onto the shuttle and hang on the outside, so I could keep my eye on her for the duration of the drive. But guess what? She survived the trip (which is only about 20-25 minutes long), she met up with her daddy, my phone lived to call another day, and they had a fun birthday date at Olive Garden!

They brought home a ton of food, too, and spent much of the rest of the week eating it. Yum.

The following weekend, Lorelai and I had another outing designed to expand her independence; we took a bike ride together across Rancho Sahuarita. We biked all the way to our local library branch, so we could pick up a couple of items. At the same time, Lorelai would be testing out her new bike lock.

With this bike lock, she will be able to drive her bike to the library (or the grocery store, or the clubhouse, or the McDonald's) all by herself, and make sure her possessions are looked after.

It was a hot, muggy morning, so the drive to the library wiped us out. We decided to celebrate our journey with a refreshing smoothie from the nearby McDonald's. Lorelai managed to lock and unlock her bike at the McDonald's, too...with a little practice she should have no trouble securing her bike wherever she goes!

It has been really fun to have these "big kid" experiences with my girl. It makes me really excited to have them someday with Celeste and Aurora as well! Sometimes, I still feel a little pang of regret that I won't be having any more babies. However, I am also really enjoying seeing my daughters entering this more mature, sophisticated part of their lives, and I am lucky they enjoy sharing their lives with me (for now). I wonder what life will be like when they are teenagers who are too independent and "too cool" to go on bike rides with me, or share their thoughts with? Better live in the moment, and put off those worries for another day!