Dear Kate

Dear Kate,
I love you! You finally, finally had your birthday!  You've been waiting all year for that wonderful day.  In your opinion, birthdays are the absolute very best day.  I can hardly believe that you are five, and yet I can hardly believe you've only been in my life for 5 years.
Kate, you are such a beautiful girl.  Someone once said that the happiest girls are the prettiest.  That must be why I see so much beauty when I look at you.  You are one incredibly happy little girl.  The simplest and smallest things will make your whole face light up in a smile so big your face can hardly hold it.  You love life.  You appreciate it.  You enjoy it.
Usually in the morning, you will come in with a big smile and get so excited to snuggle into my bed.  You always say you love me with that same big smile.  You love to sit on my lap.  You like to play this silly game where we lay down and pretend to sleep, and I snore like crazy and make it so you can't sleep.  Your current love is My Little Pony.  That was the theme of your party this year, and you came away from it stocked with more ponies than you might know what to do with.  Good thing you have lots of sisters to share in the fun.  You and Macy share a room right now, and as soon as Macy wakes up, she gets you to go play with her.
You are a little social butterfly.  Everywhere we go, you'll ask, "Can I make friends?"  Whenever I say yes, you get that big grin on your face and head off to find the nearest friend.  You are always wanting to go to other people's houses to play.  You love to go to Owen's house and say that you're in love with him.  When I ask what that means, you tell me it means you're going to marry him.  There is a little competition though, because Carter is nice and has fruit snacks.
Fruit snacks! You have some kind of weird obsession with them!  I've never been a fan of them and don't generally buy them, but I might need to start.  Your favorite people (Grandma Robin, Grandma Mary, Ashlee, etc...), they all have one thing in common.  They give you fruit snacks!  Your other obsession is frosting.  You're not picky about what's underneath it because you generally don't eat anything but the frosting.  Think donuts, cake, cookies, cupcakes, oreos, etc.  While I'm talking about food, I should probably mention that you could eat chicken nuggets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  At first, I resisted when you requested nuggets (with ranch dressing) for breakfast, but I eventually caved to that sweet little face.
One thing that everyone knows about you is how much you love parties.  I'm pretty sure you ask me everyday if we can have a party.  It doesn't really matter what for, as long as there is a party.  You love to decorate for them.  You can blow up balloons all by yourself, and you got quite creative last time with the streamers, threading them through the stair balusters.  You love to bake things, especially if they have frosting.  I try to let you have as many parties as possible.  How could I not when you get such enjoyment from them?
You are working hard at your reading.  Sometimes I think you've got some form of dyslexia going on.  We've had to work really hard to get you to sound words out from left to right instead of backwards.  You also will write your name and other things completely backwards (flipped letters).  What I find interesting is that Avery did the same thing, and you both are quite creative and see the world and things in it in ways I don't.  Maybe those two things go hand in hand.  I am so impressed with how hard you've worked and how many words you've learned.  You are doing so good sounding out words that you don't know.  You are much more interested in the pictures though and spend lots of time looking at all the details.  You notice things in books, and just in general, that other people miss.
Maybe because of that, your art seems quite good to me.  I might be biased since I'm your mom, but the amount of detail in your drawings is impressive.  You draw a lot of gowns and say that you want to be a fashion designer when you grow up.
You are so loved, Kate.  You are a little ray of sunshine in our house and in my heart.  We are all constantly commenting on how cute you are.  Dad wishes he could record you all day long because you say the cutest things and are so imaginative.  I've loved watching you with Hadley, hearing how sweetly you talk to her.  I love that every night when I put you to bed, you have to give me two hugs and two kisses, one on each cheek.  You love your cowboy boots, your green blanket, and wearing winter hats.  I love you sweet Miss Kate!
Love, Mom