My Beautiful Five-Year-Old "Baby"

I would be remiss in my January blogging duties if I didn't make a blog post celebrating my sweet January baby. On January 15th, 2010, I gave birth to my third beautiful daughter Aurora. This year, on January 15th, we celebrated Aurora's fifth birthday, and marveled at how much she has grown and what an amazing kid she is turning out to be.

In many ways, Aurora was my most difficult baby. It took her a really long time to start sleeping through the night. She was the biggest "mama's girl," and for the first several months of her life, she wanted no other living thing but me. This meant she would never take a bottle, or even a pacifier. Nathan was never able to bottle-feed her as he fed Lorelai and Celeste. For the first year or two of Aurora's life, her daddy was convinced that she hated him! I, on the other hand, was constantly desperate for a little time away from my super-clingy, cuddle-craving daughter.

As Aurora has grown up over the years, many other aspects of her personality have changed, or been made manifest. But her cuddly nature has remained a constant. More than anyone else in our family, Aurora needs physical affection to feel included and loved. My other girls are usually happy with a quick hug or a pat on the back. Aurora craves physical contact with Daddy or I whenever she is nearby. She needs our arms wrapped around her, or our hands stroking her hair or giving her a foot massage. She thrives on frequent kisses and hugs, and she is not shy about doling them out in return. Even though she is a "big" five-year-old girl now, she still sits on laps whenever she gets the opportunity.

Aurora's love for physical affection is changing a bit as she grows older; she has slowly transformed from a cautious "mama's girl" into a social butterfly who can't wait to meet everyone. When we're grocery shopping, Aurora will strike up conversations with fellow shoppers or cashiers. When she sees her friends or their parents, she bubbles over with excitement and starts sharing the highlights of her day. Just tonight, our family was in our church building waiting for an appointment with a stake presidency member. Two older men (strangers to us) were sitting in chairs in the waiting area. Aurora walked right up to these men, shook their hands, told them her name and age, and started telling them about her day and about all the fun she was having at church! I know...perhaps she is a little too forthcoming! I will have to teach her about talking to strangers, and about self-restraint. But it has been a joy to see how friendly and welcoming she has become to all sorts of people.

And don't get me started on dogs. Aurora loves dogs more than she loves people, and will immediately approach any dog she sees. Thankfully, she has learned to hold back and ask permission to pet a dog before advancing; still, though, her affection for all the world's dogs can kindly be described as "smothering." When she goes to a friend's house, and that friend has a dog, more often than not Aurora will spend most of her time with the dog, sometimes ignoring the friend for long stretches of time. And if there's no dog at home, she has been known to be zealous about playing with cats as well.

My youngest daughter is generous; she is more willing to hand over toys or snacks to others than any of my other girls. In fact, she has given away some of her toys to her friends permanently! Aurora can have her "bossy" moments, but she also loves to work with a team and be included in groups. She cares deeply for her friends and loves to share her life with them. She has very strong opinions and is not shy about expressing them, but she can be a good listener too if you get her in the right mood. She has a mischievous streak a mile wide, and you can tell by the twinkle in her eyes if she is hatching some grand plot. Maybe for that same reason, Aurora is the only girl not fooled by her daddy's teasing; she can always tell when he's not serious (unlike our more gullible older daughters, who often fell for his jokes).

This year, her birthday celebration came in the midst of many other activities. It was a relatively quiet affair. We didn't have a big party or celebration; just presents with the family. I told myself I wasn't going to get our girls any more dress-up clothes, but I caved with Aurora. Seeing all the little "Queen Elsas" (the main character from the movie Frozen) last fall made me want to get a pretty dress for my little girl one more time! Luckily, she seemed to like it...

She got a variety of gifts, including a craft project, a cute outfit, a microphone (which she's been blaring around the house for weeks now), and a book or two. Nothing earth-shattering, but she loved all of it. She also loved the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting we baked for her; she added the sprinkles herself!

Since this was her fifth birthday, Aurora got to start a yearly tradition that the other girls have been observing for a few years now; they've gone out on a birthday dinner date with Nathan. Usually, he lets them pick the restaurant (or at least the type of restaurant, and then Nathan can search for a specific place). When Celeste turned five, she wanted to go to Red Lobster. What did Aurora choose? McDonald's! Clearly, her palate is not so sophisticated yet. Nathan humored her, though, and she had fun eating her cheeseburger and playing in the PlayPlace. Perhaps for her sixth birthday, she will choose a more *ahem* "grown-up" restaurant.

But despite her questionable food preferences, I am so happy Aurora is mine. It has been a good couple of years, having her home with me while the older girls are in school. I have enjoyed our one-on-one cuddling and bonding time. I am glad my youngest is a cuddler; it means I can pretend she is small for just a bit longer! Our lives are all changing; later this year, my "baby" will enter kindergarten and start growing up even more than she has heretofore done. Part of me is excited for that day (Aurora, after all, keeps asking me when she can start kindergarten, "now that she is five"), but a large part of me dreads it as well. It means my girls are "growing up"...and I have more feelings about that than will fit into this blog post. So let me close by saying: Happy Birthday, my beautiful Aurora. I love you and can't wait to see your next five years...then your next twenty-five!