We had a great day together today. She woke up early-ish and came in to ask me if she was 5 yet. I said of course, gave her a big hug and told her “Happy birthday”. It was cold so I asked if she wanted to snuggle for a few minutes – she crawled right in and snuggled up. We talked about being 5 and she informed me that 5-year-olds don’t get time outs and they always listen to their mommies and daddies. At first, I was opposed to her growing up, but I like the sounds of this.

So after a bit, we got up and went downstairs. She opened her gifts before breakfast. Her “big” gift was an easel and she also got some fairy books, a book on making tissue paper flowers, 2 dresses, and a pretend birthday cake. After breakfast, we got dressed for the day. She wore her birthday skirt that I made her.

Our plans for the day included a visit to the Build a Bear workshop, lunch, and Toys R Us to exchange a gift from her birthday party this weekend. She’d been excited about Build a Bear for weeks, so of course that was the first stop. She picked out a pink bunny to stuff and take home. The first step is stuffing the animal, then putting in her heart. Then she gets a bath, then you dress her and name her. It’s such a neat idea and Megan had a blast. She had her eye on this particular dress for her bunny before she was even done being stuffed!

After Build a Bear, we were getting hungry, so we headed to the mall food court for some lunch. To my surprise, Megan chose a hamburger for lunch, and actually ate a good amount of it! After lunch, we stopped into a few clothing stores in the mall, to see if there was anything she needed. Everywhere we went, she was so well-behaved and people wished her “Happy Birthday”. She also received several compliments on how well-spoken she is. I was so proud of her. I was most proud, though, when she was complimented on her birthday skirt and she told them that her mommy had made it for her (with pride in her voice).

After shopping, we headed to Toys R Us to exchange a gift she’d received that she didn’t want to keep (it was a breakable doll really aimed at much older girls, and she wouldn’t have been able to play with it). After she’d picked out something for herself and still had some money left over on the merchandise credit, she decided that we needed to get something for Molly too. I thought that was so sweet of her to think of her baby sister!

We headed home to relax and the birthday girl crashed for a good long nap. For dinner, we treated her to McDonald’s. Both girls had fun eating their meals in the restaurant, since we normally just drive through and bring it home. She ended the evening with a birthday phone call from her Nana and Grandpa Loveless.

I was so proud of my little girl so many times today. She can be a real pain sometimes with her sassy attitude and grumpiness, but today she was just a really cool kid. I love her so much and can’t imagine life without her. I don’t know where the past 5 years have gone, but I’m sure glad to have spent them as her mom.