Typing that out seems so foreign. Like I’ve spelled a word wrong in the sentence. There’s no way she’s seven, right?! But here we are. It’s so cliché, but where has the time gone? I have so much I can say about her, yet I find myself at a loss of words.

I take solace in the fact that she still has those knuckle dimples in her hands like in the picture above, though I know our days are numbered with them. She also still has a hard time saying her R’s. While I know she’ll figure them out someday, I still love hearing them omitted from her vocabulary and hope it stays that way until she reaches high school.

We rang in lucky number seven last week with spaghetti for dinner, ice cream cake for dessert and a new bike. We spent the day of her birthday having lunch at the fire station, playing pickle ball and exploring the zoo. Our zoo tickets were for 2:00pm, so I thought for sure the animals would be hot and sleeping. Lucky for us though, they were more active than we’ve ever seen!

She’s sensitive. When she’s extra tired, she’ll often get really weepy at bedtime and say how much she misses Grandpa Cap and Idara. Grandpa Cap passed away about a year and a half ago and Josie was with him most of the day that he passed, which has most definitely left a lifelong impression on her. Her cousin Idara resides in Azerbaijan during the school year (it’s ok, I didn’t know where it was when they first moved there either, click the link to see the map). Josie and Idara are 8 weeks apart and are the best of friends. But lucky for us, Idara and fam home for the summer so we’ve gotten to spend lots of time with them.

She’s creative. She loves drawing and painting. She got some chalk for her birthday and has decorated our back patio with some lovely drawings. She also took her bag of chalk over to Redmond, and colored a pizza box in the car on the way there. She also loves coloring pictures for us and hanging them up above our bed.

She’s outgoing. She isn’t shy and doesn’t hesitate to tell you exactly how she feels. About anything. Whenever we’re out in public and pass someone with a dog, she always says “I like your dog.” Over the course of the last school year, Josie befriended a girl in the senior class, referring to her as her best friend. This girl helped in Josie’s P.E. class and Josie was quickly a fan. Last winter, I had taken the kids to a high school basketball game, the girls played first and then the boys. During the boys game, Josie asked to go sit with her ‘best friend’ and all the high schoolers across the gym. They all (seem to) enjoy her and welcome her with open arms. I appreciate these older girls so much for being great role models for her. I hope that when she’s in high school, she has that kind of affect on younger girls in the community.

She’s sneaky. Just last week, I found the name ‘Henry’ written in Sharpie on our quartz countertop in the laundry room. But the name wasn’t written in Henry’s handwriting, it was in Josie’s. When questioned about it, she first denied it and then she replied “look, I can get it out!” as she pulled a Magic Eraser out of the cupboard. Lesson learned, Magic Eraser doesn’t remove every stain… She also has a habit of just heading over to the neighbors house to play. We have lots of kids in the neighborhood, so she’ll just try every house until she finds someone to play with. Santa brought her a Smart Watch last year (which she has since lost) to help us keep track of her. Time to turn the house upside down to find it and keep better track of her!

She’s funny. Her laugh is one of the most contagious ones I’ve ever heard. And once you get her going, it can be hard to get her to stop. When her and Henry are sitting next to each other in the car, they will laugh and giggle the entire way.

She’s a vibe. A total vibe. And by vibe I mean she marches to her own beat. She does what she wants, when she wants. She wears what she wants no matter the situation. And while sometimes those characteristics make me want to rip my hair out, I also hope she carries them into adulthood and has them the rest of her life.

She’s a joy. She has completed our family in ways we didn’t know needed completing. She gets along (usually!) so well with each of her siblings. I didn’t grow up with a sister, so I love watching her and Claudia grow closer as well.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Josie. We love you more than you’ll ever know!