Jennifer Woodbury

For a girl who has only ever wanted to celebrate her birthday at home with family, it seemed fitting that Claire should be the last person to celebrate a birthday in our old house just one week before we moved.

On her actual birthday, a Wednesday, she woke up and asked if the birds and butterflies were here now since it was also the first day of spring. Sadly, there was still snow on the ground. I took her out on a lunch date to Panera Bread (her request) and then we got our nails done together just like last year. I asked her if she wanted to invite a couple of friends from school to come with us, but she just wanted it to be me and her. “Maybe for my six-year-old birthday,” she said. That evening she opened up her presents: a ballet bag, a heart locket with a picture of Mom and Dad inside, and a two new fairy books. It was exactly what she had asked for.

On Saturday we had our family celebration. Even though life was a bit crazy at the time, I tried to make it special
for her. But I didn’t order the edible butterflies for her cake in time, so the mailman ended up delivering them just a couple of hours after we ate the cake. But who really cares about edible butterflies anyway when you have an entire edible cake to eat?

I made a variation on last year’s rainbow cake. This year’s version was four layers in varying shades of pink.

After cake we headed into New York City to have afternoon tea at American Girl Place. It was ridiculously overpriced, even by New York standards, which led Matt to declare that this was “truly a once in a lifetime experience.” (It wouldn’t have been so bad except for the fact that I think we were hungrier when we left than we were when we arrived, if that’s possible.) The highlight for Claire was getting her new doll Caroline. I was rooting for her to choose my personal favorite Kit (I guess Lucy is my last hope on that front), but Claire fell in love with that curly blonde hair. The next day she declared: “I am really loving Caroline because she has such beautiful hair.” She’s slept with Caroline next to her every night since.

She’s in for exciting things this year. She’s learning how to read, kindergarten starts in the fall, and she’s about to lose her first tooth. It’s definitely good to be five.

Here is this year’s birthday interview. It’s really interesting to compare her answers to the ones she gave last year and see which ones stayed the same (she still wants to be a mommy when she grows up) and which ones changed (American Girls have replaced Hello Kitty for favorite toy):

My favorite fruit is: strawberries.
My favorite TV show is: Full House (the girls are hooked on re-runs).
My favorite thing to eat for lunch is: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
My favorite outfit is: all of Ella’s old dresses (the barely worn ones that I just pulled out of storage).
My favorite drink is: soda (said with a sly grin because she very rarely gets soda). Alternate answer: lemonade.
The toy I love to play with most is: my American Girl dolls.
Something that makes me scared is: loud noises.
My favorite animal is: a pig… no, an elephant!
My best subject in school is: art.
The thing I do the most awesomely is: numbers.
If I could go anywhere in the world, I’d go to: Florida beach.
My favorite color is: pink.
My favorite thing to do on the weekend is: read my fairy books.
The snack I could live on is: goldfish.
My best friend is: Hope and Rian.
If I had one wish it would be: to stay with my family all the days.
When I grow up, I’m going to become a: mommy.