Man alive, Teagan's Five!

In typical me fashion, I envisioned something fun and creative I planned for Teagan going a certain way and it went in another direction. While the birthday countdown chain was well-intentioned and entertaining at first, apparently it started a smidge too soon. We ended up forgetting about it for a while and were removing several links at a time a few times in October. And while it felt like it would go on forever when we started, the day came all too soon and Teagan turned 5!

I snuck into her room on the eve of her birthday (my favourite part of the day lately) and just watched my four year old sleep for a few minutes. She has the sweetest face, particularly when she sleeps.

I only decorated a bit - balloons, homemade banners and old photos - but it was enough.

The first thing she wanted to do when she woke up was measure her height to see if she'd grown now that she was 5. It was darling.

The second thing she did was help me make cupcakes to celebrate one of my Beehives' birthdays. Without complaint, I might add. I was very proud of her unselfish attitude and her being able to think of someone else before herself. 

We saved her a cupcake and then made the traditional, diabetic coma-inducing birthday pancakes. So much sugar it's ridiculous. Makes for a fun day.

We opened a present before church and saved the others for afterward. She was incredibly patient about it - a trend I hope continues in her 6th year.

We gathered the family (no small feat) at Grandma & Grandpa's for ice cream and cake. Beautiful cake. (Thanks, Grandma!)

We started singing Happy Birthday and didn't make it a few words in before she began to blow out her candles. Apparently the four birthdays previous weren't practice enough. It was kind of adorable. And so is she.

And not one to pass over sugar of any kind, or have the spotlight on anyone else for too long, Mason got a headstart on Teagan's cake. Truth be told, Grandma knew it would happen and made a practice cake. Not her first rodeo - always thinking. It was actually a bit of deja vu from when Teagan sampling a friend's cake a couple of years ago on the sly when she was just a few months older than Mason. Cake sampling in the genes, I guess.

 She is incredibly strong willed, which of course is wonderful when we're getting along or she wants to do what is being asked of her. We have a fair amount of power struggles and she is teaching me patience and how to choose which battles to fight. Heaven knows I have plenty to choose from! She is amazingly creative and artistic and I'm constantly in awe of her abilities. She's always drawing, painting, writing and illustrating books and asking for us to help her write the words. She's very bright - and that's not just me saying so, my friend who has her for preschool once a week has mentioned to me how well she picks things up. She's blossoming into a beautiful little girl, happy to share, always thinking of others and ready to play. Too ready to play at times - I'm afraid I'm not as good at imagining things as I used to be. She's constantly begging for me to play with her, which involves me "pretending" to be a mum 99% of the time. So in more ways than one, she's teaching me how to be a mum. I'll have to read her latest book "When I'm a Mum..." for some insider tips and tricks. Love this amazing little 5 year old of mine!