Eight!

My little newborn daughter is eight years old today! That just boggles my mind completely. The past eight years have flown by, way too quickly, really. But I look at her, and I am so very proud of my big girl. She really is, Ka"H, a pleasure and a joy and I am beyond grateful every single day that she is ours. Instead of a big birthday party this year, she chose instead to invite her three best friends for a small party (and considering my 9 months pregnant state, that was a very, very appreciated decision). So on Sunday morning I took the four girls to a jewelry beading place nearby and it was just wonderful. They all had a great time, they were beautifully behaved and a lot of fun! They each made a bracelet or a necklace and I made a necklace for Amira, which she was also thrilled with!

She had her eight year well visit last week and has grown 3 inches in the past year and is now exactly 48 inches tall! Which means that she has grown 29 inches since she was born. That's just amazing. She wanted to know how many more inches she has to grow to be my height (16, for the record!). Savta is here visiting us (read: helping me) and came along yesterday to pick out glasses for Amira, who failed her vision test in school and can't see the board anymore... Not a big surprise considering her parents and her love of reading! She was very specific in what she liked and didn't like and chose a pair that she was thrilled with, and I was happy with. She looks so grown up in them, though, which just feels weird for me. But then again, the whole concept of having a child who is eight years old and in second grade is completely weird for me as well. I wonder if it ever doesn't feel weird to watch your children grow up. I just wish it wasn't flying by so quickly. I am really, really enjoying this stage of life very completely.

I asked Amira last night what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she said either Sushi or Pizza. So we are having a birthday dinner of Sushi with Savta! What a wonderful treat.

One small Yaakov note: I had to take him to the Pediatrician yesterday since he was up all night the night before crying that his ear hurt. He does in fact have an ear infection, so I am glad we caught that! While we were waiting for the doctor, he was telling me that Savta took him and Amira to the playground and that he had fallen in some water and had to change his pants when he got home. I asked him which pants he was wearing before and he scrunched up his face and said: "Um, they are the ones that are, I think, champagne colored?" I knew right away which ones he was talking about but am so curious where he learned that color! Too funny!

Anyhow, back to my sweet, delicious, and beyond precious birthday girl. It is my hope and prayer that she continue to be the good, sweet, loving, kind, smart, beautiful, fun, independent, warm, helpful, responsible, fun loving, book loving, friend and family loving and all around wonderful person that she is now. Yehuda and I are truly blessed that she is ours, and please G-d we look forward to watching her grow and learn and develop and continue of the beautiful path she is on in good health and happiness, Ad Meah V'Esrim.