It’s been a big year for our girl! She is officially SIX! This has been a year of resilience, FUN, time with mama, learning so many new things and really coming out of her shell.
Hannah’s six year stats:
- Weight: 45 pounds
- Height: 45 inches
- Clothing size: 6/7
- Shoe size: toddler size 11… not for long!
- Favorite foods: watermelon, ice cream, blackberries, strawberries, basically anything sweet, Dad’s fettuccini Alfredo
- Least favorite foods: beef, chicken, most vegetables, anything I serve for dinner
- Favorite things/activities: playing with her dolls, playing with her brother, playing with her friends, bouncing on the trampoline, doing math problems, ballet, reading books, playing outside, running, riding her bike, painting, baking, fun sunglasses!
- Least favorite things/activities: waiting, stopping doing something fun, not getting what she wants
Hannah started her sixth year in the middle of the summer last year. She turned into quite the little fishy and that has yet to change! She can do a mean cannonball, has a wildly graceful crawl stroke and loves to flip underwater and dive for toys. She’s still working on endurance and is making great strides in swimming lessons this summer.
Just before the end of summer last year Hannah broke her leg. She showed tremendous resilience as she dealt with the pain, the adjustment and the complete life pivot that provided. It was really tough and she persevered!
With a late summer birthday we opted to wait a year to put Hannah in Kindergarten. She had such a fun “gap” school year in an outdoor nature-based school. This was her third year of outdoor school and dang this girl is tough! Not only did she start the school year with a broken leg, but she weathered the rain, wind, snow, sun and everything in between.
School for Hannah was filled with mud, an education in nature, cultivating really deep friendships, learning leadership skills, more mud, endurance and resilience, all mixed in with math and reading skills in a very non-traditional way.
This winter, despite it being a low snow year, Hannah crushed it on skis, both Nordic and alpine. She participated in our local Nordic ski team for the first time and was such a champ! After spending six hours outside at school, she transitioned right into a two-hour ski practice. Her foundation in both Nordic and alpine skiing is so solid. She has a clear preference for alpine skiing, though by late-January she seems to be over them both.
Ballet is another love of Hannah’s. This year she was able to participate in two performances – The Nutcracker at Christmastime and her studio’s spring performance. As a five-year old, she participated fully and knew just what to do – she was so brave, confident and poised on stage. She absolutely loves ballet and, even in July, still loves to listen to The Nutcracker music.
One very special part of this last year has been the hour of time that Hannah and I have between when we bring Ben to school and when Hannah can be dropped off. Because we live 30 minutes from their respective schools, it doesn’t make sense for us to go back home in between, so we made use of our time by having a coffee date most mornings at our local cafe. Hannah had more hot chocolates this school year than I ever imagined giving my kids in a lifetime, and we played so many fun card games and had incredibly special time together. I’ll treasure that time forever.
Hannah is quite a kid. She has an innate nurturing ability and from a very early age has loved to care for her toys, typically turning them into families. She’s the first to offer to help, particularly in the kitchen or with building projects. Lately Hannah has fallen absolutely in love with math and is working so hard to begin the process of learning to read. It is such a fun and special age.
Hannah is a pretty special kiddo and we’re quite crazy about her! It’s going to be another big year for her and we’re so excited to see what SIX brings.