Celia Turns 6

Celia is 6 years old now, and I am reminded that I started this blog way, way back when she was only 6 months. Time flies. Or does it? It seems like hardly a handful of days have passed since she was a baby. Then again, I can't remember life without her.

This year's party was at the Plaster Funtime a couple blocks from our place. She invited a fun group--some kids from preschool, some from Kindergarten, and some friends that she has known almost her entire life. There were even a good number of boys thrown in there. Everybody got along well, and aside from the (likely) toxic fumes that we inhaled for 90 minutes, everybody left feeling really happy.

It's so interesting to watch Celia in social situations. Everybody loves her. Boys, girls, parents, the staff at Plaster Funtime. People are just taken with her smile and joie de vivre. Among her friends, she commands attention without seeking it; she leads without knowing she is doing so. Where did that come from? It's a gift that can't be taught.

(At home, it can be a different story. I feel like she has been trying on different personalities the past few months...she'll go from being clingy to bossy to fresh to whiny to mean and back to kind again all in the space of an hour. They all feel intentional--like she knows what she's doing, and she's trying to get a specific reaction out of us. Maybe I'm wrong. But more often than not, at the end of the night, she is back to being her regular, kind, sweet self again, having dismissed whatever emotional costumes she was wearing back to the wardrobe.)

The kids were all done with their masterpieces after 45 minutes, and while they got glazed (the plaster figures, not the kids), it was pizza time. I got a mixed reaction when I tried to crack jokes with some of Celia's new kindergarten friends. This didn't deter me, though it did make me realize that my days of relevance are numbered, and that soon I will be a constant embarrassment to all three of my children. Bring it on.

Cake time--cupcake time, rather--was fairly civil too. We sang happy birthday, and then the kids enjoyed pink, purple, or white cupcakes of their choice.



Everything was great. I started talking to some people, and then I turned around to see this:



A classic moment, and one that captures all three of them perfectly. Andres being goofy and leading the mischief; Lucia diving right into the madness and making it her own; and Celia, wholly appreciative of the craziness, laughing right along. And, honestly, what's a party without someone taking it to the next level?