Happy Birthday Elizabeth

It hardly seems possible that another year has gone by and Elizabeth is five - she has grown so much since last year.  I've noticed that we refer to her as our "oldest", which is just insane because she is still our little girl.  Elizabeth has made amazing strides over the last year.  She can recognize and write every letter in the alphabet and numbers zero through nine.  She has a thirst for knowledge - she loves being read to and continually surprises us with her questions (and answers).  She survived some bullying at preschool during the early spring and emerged from the experience as the teachers' little darling.  Elizabeth continues to challenge us every day - she is independent but clingy, strong willed yet timid.  She has an amazing amount of energy, but is a great sleeper.  Elizabeth is a great big sister - she definitely has Emily's back.  When I was recently scanning through some photographs, I realized that when they are around other kids, Elizabeth is always there to guide Emily (holding her hand, helping her out, touching her back) and that really moved me.  I hope that the bond between them continues to grow. 
When we think back about all of things that happened this year, two things stand out.  During our trip to Magic Wings earlier this year, we were looking at a display and I innocently asked "what's that?" and Elizabeth launched into an explanation of butterfly eggs and crystalis - much to our amazement and the amazement of the three or four people standing near us!  More recently, we were blown away by the fact that, for two straight weeks, Elizabeth got on the bus every morning and went off to summer camp.  She was one of the youngest camp participants and certainly the youngest child on her bus.  The experience, while great, must have been overwhelming for her at times - yet she barely stumbled.  She is an amazing little girl.
Happy Birthday to our Elizabeth, the little girl who changed us forever when she became part of our lives five years ago today.