The Clock Doesn't Stop

No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to make the world pause along with me. Which means my Baby Girl turned 5 today, despite there being much less than the usual fanfare.

She awoke to her birthday banner and presents before Daddy headed off to work. There may not have been a special cake baked by Mama, but it snowed most of the day, and Big Brother got to stay home from school to enjoy it with her. We even managed to get me peeled off of the couch and out for dinner at her requested Olive Garden. Complete with pink tutu and Hello Kitty shirt (on her, not me).

My sweet and sassy Girl, the one with the imagination as wide as the Milky Way, who can wear all 10 pair of her brand new Princess panties at the same time...

...who made a paper crown for herself, then turned it into a Darth Vader mask to go with her cape and light sabre...

...who wants to name her first son B.A. Baracus, and squealed with delight when one of her gifts was decidedly pink and fluffy and tutu-y...

... who adores her Big Brother and hugs and kisses and riding on tractors with Daddy and shooting Nerf guns and talking on her play phone to her Grandma and eating ice cream and leaving trails of toys all over the house...

That same girl who stole our hearts in a hospital room on the day a rare tornado touched down, she is growing up. I treasure every day I have to share breath with her. I'm not so sure I'm ready for her to be this grown up just yet, but I also look forward to the years ahead, watching to see who she becomes.