Ryley Ellen,
Oh sweet girl – you are five today! You have waited for so long to say that you are five. We started a countdown a week before and you would eagerly tell me how many more sleeps you had before you were FIVE! Today you woke up, crawled into my bed and told me “Momma, I’m five now!” I asked if you were any different and you very quickly said “Yes, my legs are longer.”
Oh Ryley you are so very smart. You can count to almost 100, know all your letters and numbers and are so very close to reading. We have started reading the Judy Moody series and are on book number 8 right now. You will listen to me read and then talk about the characters all day. “Two watches mom! Like Amy Namey in Judy Moody!” Yes, sweet girl. You are right.
You absolutely love Shopkins. You have a collection of over 200 of these tiny grocery store figurines. They are your pride and joy. Any time you meet someone knew you boldly ask them “Do you love Shopkins?” You assume that everyone loves them as much as you do. You can spend hours playing with those tiny toys and you have requested a Shopkins birthday party. Per your request, I must make you a Cheeky Chocolate birthday cake for your party too.
You are my best baking buddy. I know I get impatient sometimes, but I truly love having you by my side. You love getting the “gredients” and putting them in the our Kitchenaid. You are also a great taste tester. You seem to always be more interested in the batter then the end product. You love licking the beater and occasionally share with your brother.
One evening I may have mentioned chocolate chip cookies in passing. You took that as we were going to make them. Right now. I look over on the counter and you have taken out almost everything we need to make them. You couldn’t reach the baking powder and vanilla, but you had everything else on the counter for us.
You proclaim that your favorite colors are pink, purple and red to anyone who will listen. Just the other day we painted your nails pink and red because you “love” those colors. You are still doing Tippi Toes dance and are still loving getting all dressed up for recitals. We started you late last semester and I wasn’t sure you would be able to pick up the dances for the recital. You did, so we purchased a costume and you preferred in your winter recital. You did so very well and I might have had tears in my eyes the whole time.
We also went to your first professional ballet performance this year! We went and saw the Nutcracker the week before Christmas with namaw. You did so good for the first half of the show, but loudly asked “Is it over yet?” when the second half was under way. Namaw bought you a shirt and you wear that thing with pride. We hope to go to another show this spring.
Although you love all things girly, you also love to get your hands dirty. You ride your bike up and down the street (with training wheels for now) and love playing in the sand box. You even helped daddy by bringing him his bait when we went fishing! Little brother didn’t want any part of it, but you grabbed it and proudly handed it to daddy. You were also so very interested in the fish he caught. You kept looking at it and touching its side. Such a brave little lady!
You may seem like a momma’s girl, but you love spending time with your “dadda”. You want to know what he’s doing and why at all times. If he’s not home you declare that you can’t wait for daddy to get home to see his pretty girl. You. You are his beautiful baby girl. And mine! We love you so very much Ryley Ellen. We have cherished these 5 years watching you grow and learn. You make mommy and daddy better people. You make everyone who knows you smile. You are sweet to your brother when he doesn’t deserve it. You are our Ryley Bear and we love you more then words! Happy 5th birthday sweet girl!
Love,
your momma
Want to read more about Ryley? Check out:
- Happy 4th birthday
- That time Ryley peed in Target
- Ryley’s birth story
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Mom says
I have tears in my eyes reading this. Our Ryley bear is one super special girl! Love her to pieces!
Kelley says
Thanks momma! She sure is special 🙂