I don’t know how we got here so fast…but here we are (insert cry emoji). Happy 11th birthday to my first baby, and the one who officially made me a momma! I couldn’t be more proud.

For your birthday this year you did your usual pre bday spa treatment and we took a special little momma and sissy day to head to the mall. I am so thankful for that alone time and to see quietly (w/o a baby and a little sister around) how beautifully you’ve grown. I mean i see it everyday but it was more amplified w/o the outside distractions for a change. Your personality, style, ideas, confidence, mannerisms, all of it, just make me so proud.

In the past 3 days I have watched you help out 3 different strangers without any fear. You didn’t know I could see you because I am typically busy entertaining Toobs, but I saw you.

You walked up to man in the water and ask him if he needed help with this board, stopped playing with friends to ask an older lady if she wanted some help getting her kayak out of the water, and then with all confidence hung with a group of teenagers, and practiced with one trying to teach her to swim. This was 3 different days in the past week. I mean, you are representing 11 yrs pretty damn well.

I heard you talking with the teenager in the canal and I thought wow…if I was a teenager and just met you, I would think you were one cool kid. I could see that she thought so too. She hung out with you nearly the whole time, curious about your life and asking you all sorts of interesting questions. You are so mature- but not in a serious way- in the most fun-loving, adventure seeking spirited way! That is what makes you so epic!

You are now speaking 2 languages almost fluently, and soon to begin on your third this year. You are open to all sorts of people, all ages, all races, all walks of life, and have the greatest good egg/bad egg instinct that I have seen. I hope you always follow your intuition b/c I know that it will lead you to the right places.

You are a genuinely curious person and love to learn. I am so grateful that we never put you into a school system b/c i truly think your personality flourishes with the freedom to navigate your learning journey. You still despise math and that’s ok b/c thankfully nowadays we have phones with calculators and google and all that fun stuff.

What we don’t have is a phone that will tell you to go help someone, go speak to someone new, have confidence, be kind, take the jump, make someone smile, be silly, be adventurous, step outside your comfort zone, follow your own path, lead by example and live your life to the fullest…nope there isn’t an app for that. This is the key. You are this app.

You are the most powerful combo of two very important qualities. You are kind and strong. Lots of people can be kind. Lots of people can be strong. But to be both kind and strong…that is your superpower. Hold on to it. Keep being you and shining your light all over this world.

Happy 11th birthday Sissy! I love you and am so very proud of you!