The Final Fall Birthday

This week marked the end of our annual run of fall birthdays.  Eileen is officially eight.  She is feeling a variety of feelings --excited and yet pragmatic at the same time.

I asked Eileen what she wanted for her birthday.  The conversation went like this:

Me: "Hey Eileen, what do you want for your birthday?"

Eileen:  "Besides a pet?  Oh, whatever someone thinks I might like."

See what what I mean?  She's practically a grownup.

Eileen had a great birthday.  She requested breakfast in bed, specifically cereal, strawberries, and bacon.  The night before I made cocoa rice krispy treats with mini m&ms for her class (gluten free/dairy free!).  Grandma joined her as a lunch guest.

She is looking more like a Dimock every day.

We attempted to go out to dinner at the new pub by our house, but timed it wrong.  Eileen, ever flexible, was equally excited for her back up choice -- McDonalds.  The rest of us were less enthused.

Back home, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law joined us for cake and presents.  My parents got her switcher skates (can be either quads or inline).  Eileen has asked for roller skates for a year now.  Sally and Gino know Eileen well.  In addition to a gift card to add books to her Kindle, they got her glowing cat ear headphones.  Dave and I got her a LEGO set, a cat chasing butterfly shaped bulletin board, and a nail salon set.  

Cake was brought to us by Dairy Queen, hot cocoa oreo blizzard cake. Oh. My. God!!!!!!  I may or may not have drunk the cake remains as it melted. I now know that hot cocoa should always be an ice cream flavor.  

Eileen finished the evening giving her new head phones a test run with a little screen time.  

 After school the next day, Eileen took her new skates for a spin.  Luckily, we keep a clean garage so she has a nice place to practice.

At 8, Eileen is still her own person.  She is joy and happiness and light.  She is a natural caretaker and enjoys doing small acts of kindness for others.  Eileen loves animals.  Eileen can often be found reading a book or creating a fantasy world in her room.  She enjoys art and loves school. Eileen also likes to play computer games and has recently gotten into coding and Tinkercad.  Eileen is a free spirit and does her own thing, sometimes to my chagrin.  Although I do admire her ability to ignore the complexity of social structures already forming around her.   I feel lucky to have an Eileen in my life.  She makes me sit back and breathe and take in the moment.  Other times, I have to breathe simply to survive her. 

The day before her birthday, her class went to the Woodland Park Zoo.  Another mom sent me this picture.  It completely captures the essence of Eileen.  Happy Birthday Eileen!