As I have alluded to in a couple recent posts, Emma turned five last week. It seems so hard to believe that she is already five! Five seems much older than four somehow - a significant birthday. I don’t know if it is because we traditionally associate five with the start of school or if it is just because five seems like a round number (I tried to explain that concept to Emma recently and failed miserably). She’s enjoying being five and telling people that she’s her whole hand old now. :-)

Last year I decorated the house for her birthday the night before so she would wake up and be surprised… this year I asked her if she would like to be surprised again or if she’d like to help the morning of her birthday. Like most first-borns, she replied that she would rather not be surprised (I’m a first-born too, so I can symphatize). We spent the morning making paper hearts to hang in the window and putting up our various birthday decorations that we’ve accumulated. In the afternoon we made her birthday cake and her birthday dinner (mock ravioli and a salad with lots of stuff in it) and she got to play legos with her uncle for a little while. That is one problem with having your birthday on a holiday - especially a supposedly romantic one - your unmarried aunts and uncles want to go out and do romantic things instead of spending the evening with you!

Here’s Emma decorating her cake (lemon with lemon filling and vanilla frosting, just in case you were curious)
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The finished product
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And a close-up of our beautiful little girl :-)
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