Happy Birthday Anya: Saying Goodbye to 7 and Welcoming 8

Baby girl turns 8 years old today.  It's always a bittersweet feeling for me and this year is no exception.  I am not going to get all mushy and sad again, so I am going to give you 8 fun facts about Anya as she turns 8.  Each year I sit back and reminiscence about the year that has flown by and it's one of my favorite reflective traditions.  So here we go.  

1.  Daredevil or Scaredy Cat?
This is a tough one and we are  still trying to figure her out.  For whatever reason Anya is the spontaneous one when it comes to being out on the lake.  She takes risks and seems to thrive on the adrenaline of going fast behind the boat.  She also seems to have no fear of being in the lake and even ventured out several times on the paddle board into openness without the slightest worry in the world (we on the other hand were not as sure).  That all being said, she is absolutely terrified and has been since the age of 3 of going on rides.  In Disney World she went of the scary rides but only because it was expected and it wasn't without total and utter horror.  In fact she doesn't really want to go back for fear of having to experience the rides again but otherwise loves Disney.  

She is absolutely terrified and her face expression (front left) is priceless.

2.  Miss Smarty Pants
The kid is quick and loves to read, converse and explore all kinds of topics and concepts.  She has an extensive vocabulary and tries out new words, not always successfully, but she loves to play with words.  She enjoys reading and has finished 11 chapter books since October Fairy Ones and Princess Posey.   She loves learning and comes home on a daily basis full of information from school.  The one subject she doesn't feel confident with is math.  We will make this a priority in 2018 so that we help her build up her confidence.

3.  Social Butterfly
She hugs everyone.  She loves everyone.  She chats with everyone.  She is her mother.  Seriously the kid loves and feeds off of peoples affection for her.  She is a crowd pleaser.  Teachers pet.  She loves to be loved and craves the approval of others. 

4.  And then SNAP
Yep, gets that from me too.  She is happy, happy, happy until she is not.  Being an adult I tend to be able to control it a bit more than she can.  At school it's always positive but at home when it's not her way it's the HIGHWAY baby.  Doors are slammed.  Eyes glare.  Feet stomp.  The good news is that when she is in a mood, generally if she is left alone in her room, she calms herself down and plays with her stuffies or draws until he emotions are balanced once again.  She  reemerges feeling totally happy once again.

5.  Chef Anya
Anya has taken up a love of cooking in particular this year.   She has always enjoyed cooking with me but this year has really taken it to the next level.  She is using Cooking by Rainbow cook book and pretty much can follow a recipe step-by-step by herself.  She only really needs me to help with some of the chopping that requires an adult. 

 

6.  Skating
Skating continues to be her passion.  For her birthday this year she was gifted a pair of skates from my sister and parents.  We have now graduated from regular skates that you can just buy at the local Canadian Tire or Walmart into more specialized Figure Skates, which means more $$, but also allows her to develop her skills in figure skating by providing her with more support in the boot and a larger toe pick for jumps and a blade that is built for clearer edges.  We are all learning together about the art of picking out the 'right' skates. 

7.  Harry Potter vs. Descendants.  This is a toss up in Anya's world.  I would say Harry Potter ruled the majority of her 7th year of life starting off with our favorite birthday party of all time, Harry Potter theme read about it here.  The highlight of our Disney World trip was visiting the Harry Potter world at Universal Studios, read about it here.  Everything about this past year has been Harry Potter, backpack, reading books, games, puzzles, etc.  With the release of Descendants 2 she has now turned towards being obsessed with Mal and is getting a new bedroom Descendants spread and bedroom decor from Santa.

8.  Generosity.
Anya is extremely generous with her love and with her stuff.  She is not only willing to give away her toys, clothing and share her goodies, mostly chocolate, but she is also willing to part with her money in order to buy something for someone.  She is constantly creating cards, pictures, letters and gifts to share with friends and family.  She is extremely conscientious of making everyone feel equally loved and appreciated.  People were commenting at both birthdays how Anya ensures that everyone's gift is given extreme praise and welcomes them with equal enthusiasm.  As parents we are extremely proud of her.  

Anya celebrated her friends birthday and family birthdays already.  She is so very loved by us all.  Today we will take her out for a special dinner and have a quite evening just the four of us.  We can't wait to see what the next year brings us.  We love you to the moon and back.