Here's to the Number 6.

I'm feeling a little sentimental this week.  And sniffle-y.  And sad.  My baby turns 6 on Tuesday.  6 people.  Where has the time gone??  I still feel like if I go into her bedroom I'll see the chubby little girl with blonde curls trying to eat the lotion.  But instead... I walk into a bedroom that has been "decorated" by little hands.  And she's no longer eating the lotion- she has her own scents and she chooses daily which one she's going to use.  Gone are the binkies and lulla-bye music.  They too have been replaced by an American Girl and a country radio station.  What gives??

In the fall, she heads off to kindergarten.  I begged her to go back to preschool again next year.  She just shook her head at me and said, "Mama- I've already had my shots.  I get to go this year."  And she's right.  She is so excited- and her best friends are all going too.  I know she's ready.  I've watched her (more closely than I think she realizes) for the last three years in preschool- and I know that she knows her shapes and numbers.  She knows her colors and quite frankly can read better than most 1st graders in Ryan's class this year.  I've listened to her as her R's actually morph into something that actually sounds like an R now.  She has an extensive vocabulary- far from the tiny sentences she started with.  Her little pigeon toed walk isn't slow... Kate's long legs now stretch out into full out sprints as she chases her friends up and down the playground.  So many milestones...  I'm just not ready for this next one.  

I know I'll get over it and probably wax nostalgic at the same time next year about Kate leaving Kindergarten.  She and I will form new habits and traditions throughout the next year that I will cherish as much as I have all these preschool ones.  But it's just another tiny reminder that my baby is no longer a baby.  She is growing and changing into a little girl that I love more than I ever thought possible.  Love you Kate.  Here's to the number 6.