It’s the night before Livia’s sixth birthday and I just botched an entire batch of M&M cookies for her school treat tomorrow. But before I get too frustrated by the botched batch—say that five times fast!—I have to remember that things could be worse. It could’ve been a botched cake, and that would’ve been bad news.

As it is, a heart-shaped cake awaits icing on the counter. Bags of decorations and unwrapped gifts rest on the living room couch. Our little white Coton snoozes in his kennel after a satisfying dinner of dog food. And my handsome web developer web-develops upstairs; surely he won’t mind eating the rest of the cookie dough for me.

Tucked in her bed, with a stuffed pink octopus nestled in her arms, lies my little girl on her last night of being five years old. Awake she is vibrant, chatty, imaginative and strong. Asleep she is only a breath away from that baby who slept peacefully with her arms behind her head, legs splayed like a little frog.

Praise God for this child who calls me Mama. Each day of Livia Raine is a blessing to me.

Today is a banner day.

My child can [drumroll, please] read. Read! R-E-A-D, READ!!!

Though I love words, they are failing me now as I’m having difficulty describing how much it means to me that Livia is starting to read. Really, the whole thing blows my mind.

We’ve been reading to this kiddo since she was placed in our arms and we’ve never stopped. I signed her up for the library’s summer reading program before she even cared about it and I read competitively to her that season. (And the next year, too. Silly competitive book-lovin’ mama.) Only recently has Livia taken to flipping through books on her own; she wasn’t really the kind of baby who simply adored books. She did read her first word at 3.5 years: b-o-o-k. And we were ecstatic over that.

I ordered the Bob books from Scholastic recently and we cracked them open today. Well, guess who is ready to read? My kid. My five-almost-six year old. Sounding out words, stringing letters together, remembering the new words and reading them correctly the second time around.

Sheer awesomeness. It’s a whole new world.

One more thing. Livia and I wrote our own story—and she read it at least five times today. Here it is. And, sheerly for purposes of geographical translation, “pop” means “Coke” to all you Southerners. ; )

There are new things at the zoo this year…

And old things too.

We had fun playing with the fastest two year old on the planet…

And her baby brother, a bonafide member of the Two Finger Suckers Club. Just like Liv.

Happy Earth Day, and happy spring!

I walked into Livia’s room yesterday to liberate her from quiet time, and there she was, on her bed, fully clothed and now also in her robe and slippers. She was intently involved in placing important items into a little denim purse. First, the plastic Wubbzy characters, then a tiny pad of paper and two pennies. Evidence of play was scattered around her room. She had obviously done some shopping as her little red shopping cart had been pulled from the closet and it looked like the stroller had been employed as well.

This, this type of scene, I adore. While I oftentimes have no idea what Livia is thinking, I can see the effects of her active imagination. Why the robe? Why the slippers? And where did she unearth that denim purse? I don’t know, but I love witnessing it.

Jeremy bought flowers for both of his girls last night and Liv’s response was sheer joy. It was something else, we’ve never seen her so giddy. She kept talking and talking and talking—to the woman buying flowers next to us, to the cashier, to Jeremy and me. She said something to Jeremy like, “I know that you very loved me!” and gushed joyous proclamations left and right. And here we thought her love language was physical affection! It was so fun.

It’s good for me to look at happy images this evening because today has been rough. Livia has pneumonia, just a slight case, but her cough is waking her up very early in the morning and keeping her up way too late at night. Already a spirited personality, Liv becomes almost unmanageable on too little sleep. It’s hard to keep nursing your little one when you feel like you just need a break from not only the incessant coughing but also the unbelievably bad behavior. And oh my goodness, that kid got on every nerve tonight.

But finally, she’s asleep. Dear Jesus, let the medicines do their thing tonight. And, in the meantime, let me be refreshed by the beautiful gerber daisies on my dining room table. (Thanks, sweetie.)

Jeremy and Liv are either playing the Stare Game or they’re cuddling. Whatever they’re doing, I’m in favor of it.

God put a deep and powerful love for this child in my heart. At the end of a long day, even at the end of the worst day ever, I think about this little face and my heart jumps a bit. Parental love is intense and beautiful—and I praise God for letting it overcome all the crap we’ve been through by the time bedtime rolls around.

I praise him for this love, and I praise him for his love. Someday he’ll redeem even our good things, like my love for my child, and make it perfect. That day will be something to behold.

This morning Livia woke up and wanted to write a Valentine for Haiti. She told me it would say this, “I am sorry your whole family died. I hope you love me. Love, Livia.”

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[Written on another day…]
Liv has just returned from time-out for disobedience. She returns to her kitchen stool and urgently calls me. “Mama! Mom! Mom! You need to come look at this!!”

I put down the soapy dishes and walk to the stove.

Liv points to the rounded pound of ground beef I’m browning, “Is it a brain?” and then she declares, “It’s MASTY.”

I got a good chuckle out of the masty brains, that she then admitted smelled good.

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Livia’s Reminder Note to Self:

Photographers should not take pictures of people when they are naked. It is rude.

Recorded on a piece of newspaper after kid camera incident with mom in the bathroom that morning.

Bath time around here is an Event. (And when it can’t be an Event, it becomes a difficult task for everyone involved.) Sometimes there are bubbles and sometimes there is a new, special bath toy, but always there is one little girl, tons of mismatched and somewhat random toys to play with, soap and water.

And by the time the little girl gets out of the tub, she’s usually quite relaxed. She rolls up in a towel and takes a breather. All that fun in the hot water is hard work!

Challenge for the day: take your camera somewhere new. Let me know if you blog about it.

Livia’s cubby at school had a little note in it today. It read,

Livia got caught being good! Signed, [her teacher]… For helping another student!

I cheered on my daughter and she explained further that a friend’s pants were coming down and she helped her notice it. Liv has issues with falling pants, so it really was a kindness and help to her friend this afternoon.

When you are five years old and you have a hard time focusing and keeping yourself under control, it is a HUGE deal to be noticed for being good. And oh, how I love it that her teacher sees these good qualities and encourages them. I have been brought to tears more than once by the way Liv’s teachers “catch” her doing good and then praise her accordingly. There are just so many “No, don’t do thats” and “Quit touching thats” and “Move fasters” that a young child has to hear. It’s important that kids know what it is they are doing right in the midst of their days. I have to be reminded periodically to verbally rejoice and encourage my child.

In the same vein, I think it’s important that we tell our friends what it is that makes them special. Do you have a friend who listens to you drone on and on about your workday? Do you know someone who is particularly cheery when you’re not? Do you have a mom/sister/best friend who will come wash your dishes when you’re down? (Real life example with my mom last week–thank you, Mom!) Do you appreciate the way your friend sees beauty in the mundane? If so, figure out a way to send them a slip of encouragement.

There is snail mail, which I’ve particularly been craving lately. Anyone else crave a good newsy letter?

And then, there is Valentine’s Day. How cool would it be to send out notes of encouragement on a holiday that celebrates love?

I almost wrote that I’d get off my soapbox now, but ha! Who am I kidding? I’m a blogger. This is my soapbox! And I’m totally not getting off anytime soon.