Sometime between returning from Singapore (more photos later, one hopes) and today, Kate turned 7. We had two partial-celebration events- the first with family in Singapore, some days before the actual date, and the second with family in Minnesota, on the actual weekend. Kate still does not like cake, so we found tasty alternatives - brownie with ice cream in Singapore and, in Minnesota, the above ice cream log.
Part of the Minnesota-family birthday festivities was a meal with her paternal grandparents Arne (whom she calls Grandpa) and Karen (whom she calls Nana). Just before she left for lunch with them, she prepared a meal for Bunny.
The charming note aside, here are the elements of the meal (L to R): plate, carrot sandwich, bowl of carrots, lemonade.
Someday we will look back on these sweet days and marvel at the way children think about the friends they love and treasure. All three girls enjoyed this phase; Emily has now left it behind but Jenna has one foot in it still and Kate . . . well, Kate isn't ready to move on yet. And we aren't in any particular hurry to make her.
We have one more celebration for Kate - a birthday party with her friends that we are planning. It involves gems and pickaxes and chests and potions. It also requires decent outdoor weather, so we're waiting a while to be sure we get some.
In the meantime, let's talk about Kate. She's in a lot of the recent bupbilla posts because of her adventures with Bunny and her unflagging enthusiasm for crafts and creative writing. She is still a bundle of explosive energy, she is still dramatic, and she is still capable of eating the same thing over and over again at mealtimes. She is still thoughtful and helpful and will sometimes secretly clean up the kitchen or set out the breakfast cereals or load the dishwasher from sheer boredom. She is still a champion cuddler and morning-snuggler-in-bed-before-facing-the-day. She still collects tiny things in tiny containers. She still loves being read to, and watching movies and playing dress-up and cooking (especially for Bunny). She still has wobbly teeth, and is excited whenever the Tooth Fairy comes to visit. She still sings to herself in her lilting descant which we hear, like birdsong on a breeze, whenever she's happy and playing deep in the bowels of the house.
And she has added more things to her arsenal of skills to be reckoned with. She now types and illustrates (some of) her stories on the computer. She does astounding still-life drawing and coloring. She reads entire books on her own (and some to Bunny). She is desperate to learn the same kind of Math as her sisters. She now eats the bun along with the hot dog. She plays Minecraft. She has opinions on favorite and unfavorite music and bands. She drifts in and out of a jeans phase, a skirts phase, a denim-shorts phase, a leggings-only phase and a camisole-and-cardigan phase. She proudly wears a Twins cap. She thinks digestion is hilariously inappropriate. She is outgrowing pink and ingrowing blue. She is reasoning faster than she can form words to express it all.
All that in just 7 years. One can only imagine what she'll be like at 14. Or 21.
