On November 18th, Maya turned 6. We celebrated by riding down sand dunes on sleds and eating cake in a park in 40-degree weather. We all had a great time, but more on that later.

They’re strategizing about how to blow out the candles without Maya smelling fire. I’m not kidding.

Because Thanksgiving was so early this year, we decided to actually celebrate Maya’s birthday a week early to avoid a bunch of kids being out of town for Thanksgiving travel. Unfortunately, about the time I managed to get the “room parent” to send email to the class list inviting everyone in her kindergarten class to the party, Maya came home with a physical invitation to one of her best friend’s birthday party for the SAME DATE.

F-bombs were dropped. Luckily, I was able to call the place we had booked and could move her party to Sunday instead of Saturday. I scurried to send Maya to school with physical invitations with the change in date and pestered her class’s room parent to send out an updated email.

Playing with her friend, Teagan.

Despite everything, quite a few of her friends showed up. The date change messed with a few and illnesses with a few more, but it was still big enough to be a celebration. I honestly think Maya was a little worn out from going to a party on Saturday and then another on Sunday, but all in all, I think she had a good time.

You know who really loved Maya’s party? Ian, that’s who. That little guy was like a pink streak tearing around the Catch Air “jumpy place” where Maya had her party. He climbed up all kinds of things he probably has no business climbing and doing it like a boss.

Ian LOVED Maya’s party.

The gifts from Maya’s classmates were really cute. Most of them made cards for the packages, nearly all of which featured octopuses. What has turned out to be one of the most interesting gifts is a very soft, light green dinosaur-type thing. Maya has decided that he is Oddipuddy’s friend, and she had dubbed him Mr Squishyhead. Mr Squishyhead sleeps with Oddipuddy and keeps him company while Maya is at school. He checks some of Oddipuddy’s more destructive impulses. He even went on vacation with Oddipuddy.

From left to right: Mr Squishyhead, Maya, Oddipuddy

Six year old Maya is going to be a force. She’s lately been writing letters to her classmates, teacher, and grandparents on neat stationery she received for her birthday. She’s been trying to read books to her brother. She builds legos like a champ and has been making interesting art for ages. As always, it will be interesting to see what this year brings.

Back in October, Maya and Ian had their school photos. We only recently received Maya’s. Man, did preschool spoil us. The company that did the photos got the kids to smile fun, natural smiles (even Maya, which is a trick) and had them do multiple poses. Not so with elementary school. It was the standard single shot, and Maya was clearly left to her own devices to figure out how to smile. Either way, the photos are cute.

Maya – Kindergarten (age 5)

Maya continues to do well in kindergarten. Her report card (how funny is that??) was great. Her teacher is convinced she behaves very well. She has friends that she refers to by name and actively looks forward to seeing and playing with. She will often tell me that she has a hard time sitting still, but that she tries to be like her friend Ruthie who behaves very well. She’s come home with stories of computer lab and PE and doing art in “center time” and caterpillars turning into chrysalises and on and on.

Ian – 3 years old

Ian is coming into his own. He often still plays the way Maya wants to play, but more and more he is asserting himself. And he has definitely found his legs physically. That kid can GO. He runs, he climbs, he throws, he rides. It is so much fun watching his confidence and enthusiasm explode. And slowly, we are figuring out his interests outside of “anything Maya loves, Ian loves too.” We can often find him giggling out loud over Peppa Pig’s antics. He’s watched a gingerbread man cartoon lately too which led him to ask me if we could bake gingerbread cookies together. He is worried they’ll run away though, so he has asked that we keep the door locked.

All in all, I think we’re doing pretty well. And I think we are even keeping up through all the crazy birthday and holiday stuff!! Okay, no we aren’t, but we’re having fun anyway.