one, two, three, four, FIVE!

this is the song we sang in preschool chapel last wednesday:

susanna is five!  susanna is five!
happy birthday, susanna is five!
clap your hands, clap your hands,
happy birthday, susanna is five!
one, two, three, four, FIVE!

it's funny how my emotions hit me at the most unexpected times.  sitting in the back of chapel that morning, watching susanna process in holding the church flag as she beamed from ear to ear with pride, i just beamed back.  i shared in her excitement, knowing how she'd waited all year long for this moment.  you'd think that i might have become teary, especially since i realized that this was the final preschool birthday celebration the mann family would ever be a part of.

but it wasn't until later that afternoon that my emotions surfaced.  and it wasn't at church, or home, or some other special place.  it was at the nail salon.

on a whim, i had picked her up at preschool and decided to take her out for mommy/daughter pedicure.  this is something i hardly ever do for myself, and had never done with her.  but it was a special occasion, and knowing my girly girl so well, i knew she'd love it.   

we began by perusing the nail polish selection.  so many choices, from deep purples to shimmery golds.  but my decisive daughter immediately honed in on a cotton candy pink (is it any surprise?) and brought the little vial to the nail technician, while clambering up into the massaging chair.  i sat in my own chair beside her, and we shared a smile as we soaked our feet into the warm bubbles in the basins below.

other women were nearby, all reading books or flipping through magazines or chatting on their cell phones.  but i needed no entertainment.  instead, i looked over at my daughter, proudly wearing a birthday pin and informing anyone within earshot that she was turning a whole hand that day, and marveled at the person she has become.

how do i sum up our youngest child? 

she is ultra-feminine: a lover of all things princess, all things pink, all things frilly and flowery and beautiful.

for some strange reason,
 she loved my gold sequined
 prom dress unearthed from the attic

she is artistic.  both in the obvious sense, when we marvel at the projects she brings home from school with such color and attention to detail; but also in the less-expected sense, when we marvel at her freehand sketches that we recognize instantly, or her inventive arrangement of furniture and accessories in her dollhouse, or her spot-on choices of hairbows or jewelry that perfectly accompany her outfits. 

she is musical.  she can hum a tune after hearing it only once, and has a knack for determining voices even with unfamiliar songs.  "this sounds like michael jackson," she'll state.  or, "i think this must be the beatles."  she carries around her personal mp3 player (pink, of course) all over the house, rocking out to tunes that her daddy loads, who knows how she appreciates the classics.  and her favorite movie?  hands-down, "the sound of music."  she knows every song by heart.

she is shockingly helpful.  ask her to clean up her mess once, and within ten minutes she'll call you back to show off a pristine room with everything in its place.  if she sees me get out the broom, she immediately offers to sweep the porch or the deck or even, a little less successfully, the driveway.  if i'm cooking, i know she will soon appear by my side with her little red apron in hand, eager to stir or measure or pour. 

she is a lover of family.  she adores her brother just as she always has, but it's been interesting to watch their dynamic change in this past year.  no longer his disciple, she's become his partner, suggesting things to do and certainly holding her own.  she has a special relationship with each of her four grandparents, always requesting to spend time with them.  and chris -- well, there's just nothing like a father/daughter bond.

she's still a little shy, taking time to warm-up to new situations and people ... but once she's comfortable, she's as happy as she can be.  she's apparently a very good friend, since she has a busier social calendar than the rest of our family combined. 

celebrating her birthday dinner
at red robin with liam
and her best friend polly

all of this filled my mind as i sat in my chair in the nail salon, sneaking glances at my daughter a few feet away from me, who was intently watching as a little white flower was painted on her toes.  tears sprang to my eyes as my mind traveled back to the delivery room five years ago -- as it always does on my children's birthdays -- realizing what a real person she is now.  and i thought of so many more ways to describe her: strong-willed ... a sleepyhead ...  creative ... a ballerina ... a star wars fan ... motherly ... a cuddler ... a master puzzle solver. 

but most of all, she's ours.  she's our amazing, wonderful,perfect susanna.  and she's five!