{six years} Look at this big SIX year old!
Somehow Daphne has turned six and I sort of can’t even believe it. In some ways there is no way she is only six, but in so many others there’s just no way she’s already six. After you spend time with Daphne, she feels like such an old soul mixed with the most curious and sweet little kid. She also is a mini-Misha – I can’t tell you how many people tell me that!
Daphne is (and really always has been) super sentimental. We see this mostly in the fact that she gets super attached to things, animate or inanimate, and gets really sad about having to say good-bye to anything. When she’s really, really sad, she will tell us how much she misses Sadie (the dog). Daph was just 2 when we said good-bye to Sadie, so I think all of her memories of the dog are actually from photos or videos or stories that we’ve told her. But for whatever reason, Daph is super attached to her. Daphne also gets super sad when I leave the house. It’s not very often that I leave (like maybe twice per month?), but she cries whenever it happens.
Daphne is such a good big sister to Fitz. They play really well together and she’s really in tune with how he’s feeling and what he wants to do. She’s really this way with most people (she can read them well) and adjusts as needed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid who is so thoughtful with others and is always willing to help someone with whatever they need.
Daphne lost her first tooth on August 19, 2022. It was the bottom middle (right) which is generally one of the first ones you lose. It was wiggly and she was trying to get the toothpaste cap open with her teeth. She pulled on that camp and her loose tooth fell out into the sink. Thankfully the tooth didn’t go down the drain! She’s lost another tooth since then too.
In September, Daphne started Kindergarten. It was a bit of a transition since this is the first time she’s been in full-day school, but it’s been going so well. She has the most amazing group of little friends (they do everything together, like recess, play dates, birthday parties) and at her parent-teacher conferences, her teacher mentioned that Daphne is a student who everyone in the class wants to be friends with. Academically, Daphne is doing really well too. She’s learning how to read and is really good at blending sounds together (she is in the phase where she is sounding out a lot of words). And math is her new favorite thing. It took a few months, but since the return in the New Year, Daphne has become a math machine! Her teacher even commented to me that Daphne has really taken a liking to math, is doing SO well, and that she can’t make math packets fast enough for Daphne to finish! The days are definitely long for her and she usually runs home and crawls into bed for a nap, but she’s done so well in school!
In the summer and fall Daphne started playing soccer. We sort of assumed that she would like it because it involved running (which she enjoys and is good at) and we were right. It also helped that so many of her old pre-k buddies and new Kinder friends were in the same soccer league. She is still learning about the rules of soccer, like that one team is trying to score on one end of the field and has to defend the other end of the field, but she has so much fun. She’ll play again this spring and is pretty excited!
Three years ago, when the world shut down, Daphne was supposed to be starting swim lessons. My best laid plans completely failed (in that I was going to have her swimming at the age of 3) and I’ve been trying to make it up ever since. Last spring I started Daphne in swim lessons at another swim school, but after three months of weekly lessons, she barely progressed. She didn’t like putting her face under the water and, mostly, her teacher didn’t make her. So there were basically zero water skills learned. Cool.
Fast-forward to early January and I signed up Daphne (and Eloise) for swim lessons at yet another swim school. (But one that had come highly recommended!) It was/is expensive and required twice per week lessons, but I am not even kidding that in the first 15 minute lesson, Daphne learned how to swim. Like head in the water and arms and legs swimming. It was unreal! And Daphne has been in twice-per-week lessons for the past two months (and will go until the end of this month) and has learned SO much! She passed her swimming test (which required her to swim with her clothes on and do some safety drills) a few weeks ago, and is now learning how to do different strokes (like backstroke and freestyle arms). I am SO excited for her because now she can actually swim in a pool! (This summer is going to be amazing!)
I haven’t mentioned it in this space, but some of you know that at the end of last year (right before New Year’s) we brought our niece Charlotte out to Seattle to live with us for the remainder of the school year. As you can imagine, it was a big adjustment for everyone. But for Daphne, specifically, the change was mostly a good one. Daphne and Charlotte love to play together, and Daphne has been really open to sharing nearly everything with her cousin. They read together and laugh and play, it’s been fun to see them together. Not to say that everything has been perfect, and we’ve been trying to focus on giving Daphne some one-on-one time (for her and all of the kids) that she is really craving, but of the three girls, Daphne adjusted the fastest (and without so much drama – ha!).
Just this past weekend we threw Daphne a birthday party with her friends. It was at a little LEGO cafe nearby our house – basically there were tables of loose LEGO and the kids just got to build whatever they wanted. There was a mix of old pre-K friends, new Kinder friends, family friends, and neighbors. It was SO great to see Daphne with so many people who love her. It was the first time we have hosted a party in 3 years which is a little crazy, but fun!
Things Daphne Said:
Did you know there are bearded fish? They are grandpas.
She was talking about a character from a TV show: He is so fast! He can run faster than me! And faster than Fitz. And Papa. And Eloise and you! And faster than anyone in the state! Or any other state!
There were dinosaurs living on Earth. And they were really happy. (And then she proceeds to tell us how they died from a meteor.)
These chairs are for the King and Queen. And then they are going to smoochy kiss. Eww!
Daphne couldn’t hear Aaron in the car: Can you turn up your voice?
She was talking about leftover biscuits from dinner: I know what those want to be. When you put eggs and cheese inside. (She was talking about a breakfast sandwich!)
My voice is kind of getting crumbled in my mouth right now. It’s kind of dry.
I wish this book could come alive. And we could watch it.
She couldn’t unzip her jacket: Mama, I guess I’m going to have to stay in this forever. Sigh.
The doorbell rings and Daphne looks out the window: It’s a U, a P, and an S!
Daphne was upset: Mama, Papa, I have some bad news for myself. Eloise put all my papers on the floor and is going to beg me to pick them up!
Aaron was headed to his annual physical and asked Daphne if there was anything she was worried about or that he should ask his doctor about: You are stinky!
Mama, can I ask you a question? Before your name was Mama, like in high school, what was your name?
She sees a dead bumblebee on the sidewalk: It’s out of gas.
She was changing a baby doll’s diaper with Fitz: Do you want to see the exciting part? (The poop, of course!)
Here’s this year’s birthday interview:
What is your name? Daphne Lucille Lower.
How old are you? Fff-six!
What is your favorite thing to do? Play with my new toys.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor. A scientist. And an artist.
What is your favorite food? Mac N Cheese and oh! Hot dogs. And burgers.
Who do you like to spend your time with? Mama, Charlotte, and Fitz. And Papa. And Eloise. Oh, and Grammie and Paga and Yaya.
What do you do really well? Writing, puzzles, and drawing.
What makes you laugh? Papa doing silly faces and throwing me up in the air.
What is the best time of day? Night. Because Papa always rubs my back.
What are you afraid of? Monsters. And ghosts. And aliens.
Who is your best friend? Sawyer, Sophie, Eloise (her school friend), Emy, Ethan (kind of) and Ms. Tice.
What do you like to do with your family? Play games and watch movies.
What do you love to learn about? Math.
Where do you like to go? Zoo and to get dinner (pick it up to eat at home).
What is your favorite book? That’s a very hard one. I don’t know how to choose one. There are all kinds. “Nobody Hugs a Cactus.”
If you had one wish, what would it be? To turn into a fairy so I could not walk to school.
And here’s Eloise’s six year update. (This one is actually really sad for me to re-read because when Eloise was 5.5, the pandemic started. And I feel like so much of the time around when she was 6 was really scary. She missed out on so much – like friends and Kindergarten!)
Happy, Happy SIXTH Birthday, Daphne girl!
M