Happy Birthday Ruthie

 

Dear Ruthie, 

Happy Birthday my little Firecracker! It is hard to believe that 7 years ago you came into this world and lit up our lives. From the day you were born you brought us immense joy. Your eyes have always sparkled with mischief and merriment. You are tiny but every inch of you is packed with personality! You can be rough and tumble and you can be a little fashionista. You can be completely wild and then sit calmly for hours and work on an art project. You are full of life and there is never a dull moment when you are around. You know what you want and you figure out how you are going to get it. From the time you were just a tiny thing we would find you in all kinds of hard to get to places as you tried to get your own snack or brush your own teeeth or pick out your own clothes or get the toy that was just out of reach. You are determined and a little bit stubborn. When I told you that you were old enough to drop your nap and could instead play quietly in the playroom while JP napped I would find you fast asleep many days in some strange place (often on top of a toy bin or right at the top of the stairs). You knew you were tired but you were NOT going to take a nap in your bed because you were BIG. Ruthie, I know that your determination, persistence, and your ability to set and achieve goals is going to serve you well in life!

You have had a big year this year Ruthie Roo! After an amazing 7 months of kindergarten with the BEST teachers you were suddenly stuck at home doing kindergarten with mom. You missed all your sweet friends and teachers so much but you adapted pretty well. This year we are doing 1st grade in virtual school. It has been a big adjustment as you were not too keen on mommy being the teacher but you have adjusted pretty well. I know you are ready to go back to school but you are pushing through. You were a little behind in reading but you have worked SO hard this year and you just had mid year benchmark testing and wow! You have come SO far in just a few months. I am so proud of your determination and it makes my heart happy to see you pick up a book and want to read it to yourself. 

This year we also moved to Greenville. You made moving look easy! You have made so many new friends and you love living down the street from grandparents!

This year we really settled into the maintenance phase of OIT. I am incredibly proud of how well you have done with taking your dose. I love those moments when you want to eat something with peanut in it and we can tell you YES. There are times when I can tell you don't really remmener what it was like to have to wrorry about every bite of food that went in your mouth and that makes me happy. Eating is fun again for you and not full of fear and even better you don't remember all those years of fear. I love that you have taken charge of your dosing. We will sometimes let you skip a dose in a week and you will plan out your doses for that week so that you can skip the day that you want to skip (for instance, you made sure to dose on Christmas so that you could skip on your birthday).  When you "free eat" peanut during the day you have to rest for 2 hours afterwards and I love to watch you debate the pros and cons in your head. Is that peanut item worth having to rest afterwards? I feel like you are developing such important life skills early on. When we went to Disney you did amazing with your dosing and would get right out of bed and eat quickly so that by the time we got to the park you were ready to do everything! 

This year you learned to ride your bike without training wheels and you were SO proud of yourself. You didn't want to learn but then JP was working really hard on it and you were NOT going to let your little brother ride his bike before you could ride yours! We were so proud of you and JP for earning your bells at Kiawah this year! 

You are fierce and you will ALWAYS stand up for yourself, especially against one of your siblings! Nobody puts Ruthie in a corner! When you were born I think someone forgot to inform you that you were the youngest. You are positive that you are the oldest and therefore should be in charge of everyone. We often tease that you don't have a "nice" bone in your body but you actually do have a few of them! Just when we least expect it you will show your sweeter side. You can be snuggly and generous and kind (when you want to be!). But you don't ever pull any punches! You are bluntly honest with everyone and you make sure they hear you loud and clear too. You keep all of us in line...and we love you for it!

 I am so proud of all the changes you have weathered this year. Things have been so different than what you were used to, between moving and the pandemic, and I know there were times it was really hard. I hope when you look back at this year you remember the good and the fun. I also hope we didn't turn you into more of a germaphobe than you already were! 

Ruthie, I know 7 will be an amazing year for you. I look forward to seeing what new adventures you have and watching your personality grow! I love you fiercely my little sparkly eyed baby and am so proud of you!

Love, 

Mom

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(PS. I really miss those curls!)

Happy Birthday Emmie!

 Dear Emmie, 

Happy 11th Birthday sweet girl. I'm not quite sure how you're already 11 but here we are! 

This year has been a wild, strange year full of lots of change. This year we moved, switched to virtual school and are in the middle of a pandemic! Whew! Never would have predicted the craziness of this year. I have been absolutely blown away by how you have handled all the change. In the course of 2 years you have gone from a child who was so anxious you wouldn't get out of the car at school some day to a child who faced a year of big changes, many of which were very sudden, and met them head on. When school went to virtual in March you handled it like a champ. Literally overnight our day to day lives changed drastically. We went from busy busy busy to home all the time. You transitioned so easily to e learning and rolled with the new normal. You had moments where you were sad and missed seeing your friends and teachers but you did amazingly well with the change. 

When we moved you once again did great. In true Emmie fashion you have quickly made new friends. We were so glad that you were still able to zoom with your best friends in Columbia as that really helped with the transition. We have lots of kids in our neighborhood and I am so glad that you have been able to quickly make some wonderful friends. I have loved watchin you experience the type of childhood I had where there were friends right down the street! With the move you also got your own room. I laugh because you love having your own space that you can keep organized and clean but almost every night one of your siblings ends up sleeping in your room with you because you don't really like to be alone at night. It reminds me of when Ellie was a baby and you used to go sleep in the chair in her room after she fell asleep so that you weren't alone. 

When we made the decision to do virtual school this year I wasn't sure how you would do. It was so new and so different on top of all the other changes you had already dealt with this year. But Emmie you have blown me away. Virtual school has been so good for you. I have LOVED watching you grow as a student. I have loved watching you master things that were hard for you. Most of all I have loved watching you persevere even when things are hard. You are SUCH a good student. There are days you are working an hour or more past your siblings but you rarely complain. You just keep plugging along. Your work ethic at such a young age makes me so proud of you. 

This fall, in the spirit of change, you took a break from dance and tried out soccer. I was nervous about it since you were on the older side for a beginner but you did great. You had really great girls on your team who helped you out when you didn't know what to do and you learned so much. We had to work pretty hard on teaching you to be aggressive...you were so sweet and usually stood back to let the other player get the ball, even if they were on the other team! But you learned a lot and did pretty well and most of all you had a lot of fun! You say you want to play again in the spring and I am looking forward to seeing you improve even more.

This year wasn't all weird and full of change. We also took a fun trip to Disney World! It was up in the air for so long as to whether or not we would be able to go but we went and had a blast! You were pretty brave about riding new rides and you had a great time. The last time we went to Disney World you were having lots of seizures and you were terrified to let go of my hand. You had fun but it was overwhelming and you felt out of it a lot of the time. I loved how much fun you had this time. 

Speaking of seizures, we finally have you on a medicine that is working and doesn't seem to have any major side effects. I am so thankful that you are back to your normal self. I am thankful that you had a 4th grade teacher that poured so much love into you and helped calm your anxiety and restore your confidence. This year your teacher is virtual but she has been such a wonderful cheerleader for you. It is a joy to see you back to your normal self and feeling good physically and mentally. You battled hard for many years and I am so thankful for a reprieve from those hard years. Next week you go for an EEG to see if you have outgrown your seizures. We are so hopeful that you have and it would be such an answer to prayer but if you still have them then I am so thankful that we have found a medicine that works for you. It has been hard but it has helped shaped you into the beautiful person you are. 

Over this year I have loved seeing your personality grow and change. I am incredibly proud of the person you are. I could write for days about my love or you and my dreams and hopes for you. Not to say you don't have "tween moments" but overall you are a delight. You love people and strive to make others happy. You are helpful. You are kind. I love you to the moon and back. 

Love, 

Mom

Dec. 17, 2009

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