Now We Are Six

My dear Olivia turned six today. I'm finding this very hard to comprehend. The baby book that I started when she was a baby...well I just finished that last week. Perhaps I was trying to avoid the inevitable realization that these years are so short and the memories are so hard to hold onto.

My favorite memory of you this year is the day you decided to try and dig for hidden prehistoric temples in our yard. You were just convinced that they could be out there, anywhere and so you started digging. You were out there for ages and you dug a fair sized hole. I joined you for a while in the digging (I had to convince you that the front garden was a very unlikely place for a temple, but the back garden by the fence had some serious potential). We did find some exciting bits and pieces, but alas, no temple. I love that you jump in and do what you imagine doing. Six months later you are still taking about being an archeologist.



Olivia you have changed a lot this year. You are so different from who I imagined you'd be, but I'm constantly delighted by who you are. To me you are always new and surprising. I feel the excitement of a gardener who plants a mystery seed, and then watches it grow, her curiosity growing as the plant grows. Life with you is wonder upon wonder upon wonder and I love every minute of it. Right before my very eyes you are becoming this independent, thoughtful, and creative being whose horizons stretch way beyond the limits of our life here. My wish for you this year is that you will experience some of the adventure you are craving. I love you Olivia, all the way to the Milky Way and back.