Nine

Elizabeth turns nine today.  I can barely remember a time when she wasn't part of our lives, but it still hardly seems possible that it's already been nine years.  As I started going through photos to put her birthday video together, I was stunned by how much she has changed over the last twelve months.  Gone are almost all remnants of our little girl, replaced by an older, wiser, more mature and more sophisticated almost-fourth grader.  She continues to love sports - soccer (started playing offense this year and scored her first goal!) and swimming, running and now lacrosse.  She is expanding her horizons and this year, was in her very first play, an experience that she loved and cannot wait to continue with in the fall.  Her love of reading knows no bounds - she has read more than 200 books in this year, the vast majority of which were over 300 pages, and some of which were over 500 pages.  Keeping up with her literally appetite is a part-time job for me.  Her curiosity knows no bounds and we enjoy the non-stop barrage of questions.  She even won her first award - a city-wide history contest, for which she interviewed my father and wrote a report about the life of my grandfather.  Socially, she really blossomed this year.  She has many wonderful friendships and finally feels comfortable at her school and with her classmates.  She is a loyal friend and stands up for what she believes in.  One of my proudest moments this year was when she declined an invitation to an amazing birthday party (party-bus limo trip to Boston to spend the day at the American Girl store) because the hostess (one of her classmates) is mean to her and isn't really her friend.  It was an act of amazing courage and not without misgivings on her part, but it was a pretty huge decision for an eight year old girl to make and stick with.
Lee and I are so proud of the person she is and the person she is becoming.  Although we are starting to see some glimpses of moodiness (good grief!), she is a joy to be around and we can't wait to see what the future brings.  We love you so much, Elizabeth!

Nine?  Or sixteen?