On Friday, she brought rice crispy treats to her classroom, then baked a cake with Aunt Stacy in the afternoon.
Saturday's party was for friends and her choice theme was science. Do you like her shirt? Addisyn had helped plan her own party. She picked images for the invitation, glued it together, and handed them out at school (I feel so old-fashioned that I still prefer paper invitations over evite or email). Then she and I worked together to pick out several demonstrations that were fun and interesting. There were SO many fun ideas, it was hard to narrow it down to what we could get done in our time frame, so we included some of the other fun ones in a take home book which was a party favor, along with a white lab coat, safety glasses, and a syringe looking ballpoint pen.
We started with a free play station with balloon race cars & popsicle stick catapults as girls arrived. The first group station was art themed--Walking water, Density Layers, Swirly Milk, and a DIY Lava Lamp. Station 2 involved candy as we dropped Pop-rocks in various sodas to see which balloon would fill the fastest/biggest. Station 3 was supposed to be "instant" slushies using rock salt over bottled drinks in ice, but they weren't so instant, so we drank them later. Station 4 was biology and we made model lungs with cups, balloons, and straws (thank you Papa Dave for helping with those balloons!). And we saved the messiest for the end... Elephant Toothpaste was quite a hit!
There was a lot of planning and materials to organize for this party. Perhaps I have a tendency to over-complicate things (I could have done many fewer experiments), but Addisyn was a big help counting and sorting materials for each station, and my organization helped everything run smoothly and on time. We did make it clear that next year we are definitely doing something simpler!
After the party, it was fun having Alli G stay with us for dinner out and a sleepover.
Is Addisyn getting too old for birthday spankings? Nah! She didn't want them, but daddy has too much fun with it and we think she secretly loves the attention, so 9 spankings she got!
Addisyn woke up on Sunday, her actual birthday, to streamers in her doorway and over her bed. She had a long fun day. After driving daddy to the airport first thing, we came home and made pancakes before heading to 9:30am children's choir at church. At Kids Connect, the girls all got candy for bringing a friend, so that was an exciting treat. We came home for lunch with family, she decorated the cake she made with Aunt Stacy, and did more science fun with her sisters and cousins. Then, Grammy Susan took Addisyn and Alli to the science museum (Addisyn's choice) and didn't get home till 5pm! Reading time today was reading the directions for her new microscope--very cool.
Birthday STATS and GROWTH this year:
Height-- 52 1/8" (4'4 1/8) (2.125" growth)
Weight-- 66.5 lbs (4.5 lbs gain)
WHAT WAS ADDISYN LIKE THIS YEAR?
Addisyn has more responsibility as the first born. It is like she is being tested. There are times she really impresses us with her ability to take care of herself and help out around the house or help with her sisters, but other times I wonder what she's daydreaming about. She is very good around little kids, especially her younger cousins Jacob and Megan, making them laugh and helping them out. I am so thankful as mom for her help with Marissa in the evening too.
The hardest time for her taking care of herself is early morning and getting ready for bed. Addisyn is a night owl and has trouble falling asleep, which means she doesn't hurry at evening bath time and will use her late evenings to procrastinate homework, and then she doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning either (I only wish *she* understood that connection).
Her personality is maturing but is still her conscientious self, preferring low-risk and double checking answers when getting permission from me. We are still trying to understand her tics and help her identify her feelings so she can self-manage any anxiety or allergies that are affecting her. We don't know if she is more sensitive to stressors, or if there is a mixed up neurological output, or how much coaching she needs to manage her symptoms. And is it the chicken or the egg? Bad habit at this age: biting fingernails.
Addisyn really enjoys cuddling with her bunny (it seems to soothe her), and she is taking care of her Beta fish that she bought with her own money. After her birthday, she still wants a personal sewing machine and a digital camera of her own.
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