I woke up to these notes pushed under my door. The top one reads, “Hope is awake,” then the next one shows me a booboo she got on her leg and the bottom one expresses her desire for a lofted bed. I love to watch her experiment with writing and begin to decode words. It’s gonna be a whole new world when she can read a book by herself. #ourlittlewriter

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Coldest person on earth

"I'm the coldest person on earth. It's like I'm standing on an iceberg. I mean an ice booger. It's like I'm standing on frozen snot." My daughter, as she steps out of the bathtub. #dramaqueen #herimaginationthough On December 10, 2017 at 07:51PM

Magic show

H: "Tomorrow at weekend school we're going to do a magic show. I'm going to be the star and you can be the ... moon."

Kindergarten photo. This feels real all of a sudden. #wheredidmybabygo #seriouslycouldnoonecombherhairfirst #proudmama

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true friendship

When I asked H why she and Katie are best friends, she pointed to their shared love of cheese sticks.

What? Doesn't your 5-year old have a favorite bridge that they've been asking to walk across for almost two years straight? #lifegoals #todaysreward #shewasterrifiedbutgotoverit

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Cultural Heritage Night

M: Tomorrow we're going to Cultural Heritage Night at your school.
H: What's that?
M: It's when people are dressed up from different countries and share their food and their dances and traditions. It'll be all the different cultures that are represented at your school, like there might be people from India or China or wherever.
H: But mommy, I already know lots of people from Chinese.

These two. Today they each wanted to go a different way (E to the train station and H to the "Trippy house") and were yelling to get their way. I stood at the crossroads and said, "You guys need to work it out." They kept yelling for a while, and then H said, "What if we go this way for a bit and then we go your way?" E looked back and forth and then said, "OK!" and took off running in H's direction. We never got to go his way, but he didn't seem to mind. The rest of the evening was pretty much a disaster, but I'm gonna remember that moment. #ducttapeparenting #nuggetunited

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My new favorite, this is E sliding down the slide into our baby pool + H with a bucket of water + me watching from a chair. The kicker is the heart with the arrows pointed at each of us. 😻 #myartist #proudmama

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H started collecting pairs of leaves with the same color pattern. Then she leaves them in the most random places in our house. #lifewithanartist #fiveyearoldsareweird #tellmethisforeshadowsgreatness

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This is what I found when I went to work on my puzzle tonight.... look carefully. I think my daughter punked me, but she blamed it on a "fief" who snuck into our house. #iwillhavemyrevenge #creativescapegoating

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Control freak

M: Let him pick whatever he wants, you don't have to control everything. H: Yes I do. #atleastsheshonest #bornleader #heavenhelpus On September 16, 2017 at 05:30PM

Architecturally correct diagram of MELC.

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My new favorite work of art. #siblinglove #miniartist

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H had a great first day of kindergarten. That smile says it all. The teacher had to blow the harmonica 6 TIMES for the boys to get quiet, but she reports having been a great listener all day. Another parent told Tommy that she was comforting a crying girl this morning, but H has no memory of this. You blink and they're grown up.

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She's been planning this "art show" for weeks. I love how you can see the paintings by her great-grandfather in the background. #proudmama #growingartist

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"Want some leftover pizza from last night? It has mushrooms and tomatoes and black Olafs and green peppers." #nevergrowup #ilovesaturdaymorningswithmygirl

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Something uplifting for a change: my 5-year old daughter's representation of (spoiler alert) Te Ka turned to Te Fiti holding Moana and Maui, everyone happy at the end of the movie. #littleartist #moreloveisalwaysinorder #proudmama

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As a reward for meeting her goal of trying new things at swim lessons this week, H got to rock out to her favorite band tonight in the crazy Philly heat. Even better--she got to meet them after the show! The Not Its are for real--check them out! #motorcyclemom #punkrockkid

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What a perfect bookend to this momentous week--notice anything missing?!

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FB honesty

In pursuit of FB honesty, I had to prompt H to do every task this morning and we didn't make it out the door without tears. (Not mine, thankfully.) #tomorrowisanotherday #longtermview #atleastihadcoffee On July 19, 2017 at 08:51AM

Independence training paying off

By the time my alarm went off and I struggled downstairs for my coffee, H had put on her swimsuit, brushed her teeth, emptied her portion of the dishwasher, put her ice pack in her lunch box and set it by the door so it's ready to go. #independencetrainingpayingoff #workingmyselfoutofajob #straightupbrag On July 18, 2017 at 08:21AM

First day of camp

For the record, the first day of camp was also "amazing" today. H made a best friend (whose name she doesn't know), had water ice, got to hear TWO stories, and got to color instead of playing dodgeball. Also, the tooth is still in place. #winwin On July 17, 2017 at 07:21PM

Swim lessons

M: How was your first swim lesson? H: Amazing! It was the best day of my life! Did you see me? I jumped in 6 times! Can we play pretend swim lesson at home? #onedowntwotogo #shesafan On July 17, 2017 at 09:09AM

Big changes coming

Please keep H in your thoughts this week--so many changes for one little girl. 1. Tomorrow morning, she's starting swim lessons at our pool (she's terrified despite playing happily in the water since about 8 months of age). 2. Also tomorrow morning, she's starting at a new "school" for the first time since she was 6 months old. (she's really excited about this, but I'm nervous on her behalf!) 3. She discovered tonight that she has her first loose tooth! #growingupsofast #nothingconstantbutchange #justrollwithit On July 16, 2017 at 06:23PM

H typed her first sentence today. She asked me how to spell "name." #proudmama #shellsoonbereading

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Invisible chimney

H: Hey mommy, let's build a castle with Legos! M: Ok. [constructs entire castle while H puts together one person] H: Let's make a chimney. M: Ok. [makes a chimney] H: Let's have an invisible chimney. You know how we do that? [removes chimney] On July 01, 2017 at 02:25PM

Over the past two days, my brother Dwight Stone and I have walked roughly 12 miles across two theme parks, and this amazing 5 year old has matched us step for step with no complaints. I couldn't ask for a better traveling companion. She's immune to boredom, tolerant of all kinds of discomforts (heat, fatigue, hunger, soaking wet clothing, incessant re-application of sunscreen), and a rollicking good time to be around. I'm one lucky mama. (As an aside, I can't wait to squeeze my two other greatest loves after our big return flight tomorrow!) #firsttripofmany #mysunshine

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309

As I emerge from my bedroom to make coffee this morning, H is sitting on the floor in the living room with the child dictionary Mary M Hoch-Moreton gave her, she looks up and says: "Mommy! When you came out I was just counting 309 in my book" like it's a crazy coincidence. #howlonghasshebeenawake #girllovesmath On June 23, 2017 at 07:49AM

Bad dream

Tonight H had a bad dream that she didn't have a mommy or daddy. Then she found some, but they were skeletons and they ate her.

Broke the OTHER wrist

I can't believe I'm posting this but the other wrist was broken too. Cast to come tomorrow. Nothing will get this girl down, though. She is all smiles about her pony from the doctor. Can't wait to see the colors she picks. #fourbrokenbones #heavenhelpus #pleasehealquickly On May 11, 2017 at 05:36PM

I can't believe I'm posting this but the other wrist was broken too. Cast to come tomorrow. Nothing will get this girl down, though. She is all smiles about her pony from the doctor. Can't wait to see the colors she picks. #fourbrokenbones #heavenhelpus #pleasehealquickly

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What do you want for your birthday?

M: What do you want for your birthday? H: (Without missing a beat, no time to think) Everything in the whole wide world. #neverhurtstoask #girlknowshermind On May 01, 2017 at 05:51PM

I feel amazing

H: How do you feel? M: Good, little one. H: I feel amazing because I'm sitting next to you. #heartmelted #loveofakid On April 22, 2017 at 07:02PM

The only number

A gem from H today: "10 isn't even a number. 20 is the only number. This is how you count: 20, 20, 20, 20." On April 15, 2017 at 09:20PM

Her new computer

H and the "computer" she made while we were sleeping this morning. She was doing some work on it and emailing her doctor and watching a show where the PJ Masks rescued the My Little Ponies. #imaginationfordays #whoneedstv
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Rating my coloring

So, I was coloring with my daughter today and she said it was her job to rate my pages. The one on the left started at a 12 but I worked hard to improve it to a "20 with a heart" which is apparently better than just a regular 20. Also, for the record, she had colored almost everything before she let me adorn her masterpiece. #getwhatyoudeserve #standardsbasedgrading #toughcritic
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She knows her bedtime

H, after glancing at our digital clock: "It's after my bedtime so after I color in this heart I'll go brush my teeth." #lovethiskid #toogoodtobetrue #takesaftermoi On March 23, 2017 at 07:05PM

I'm trying to get her to put her pants on but she's running away. Also she took half of my lipstick.

Awesome but sometimes terrifying

Since I picked H up today, she's been on an eagle kick. I'm mommy eagle, she's sister eagle, then of course we have daddy and baby brother eagle. We flew our eagle plane home from school (since eagle kids can't fly yet) and then she trapped us some foxes to eat, carefully removing their eyes and claws and sharp teeth and adding "ingredients" to make them into dinner. She told me about the closet full of dead foxes she has in her room so that we'll never starve. Her imagination is awesome but sometimes terrifying. 🦊🦅🤷🏾‍♀️ #wildamerica #kindergardenisntreadyforthisone On March 15, 2017 at 06:35PM

Scientist-teacher

H the other day in the car: "When I grow up, I want to be a scientist-teacher so I can tell kids things they never heard in their lives." #thisgirlisthebest #futureprofessorsofamerica On March 07, 2017 at 06:09PM

Do you think daddy is?

H: "Mommy, are you old enough to use a ladder?" M: "Yes." H: "Well, do you think daddy is?" #illjustleavethishere On March 07, 2017 at 06:08PM

AKA

H has started referring to herself as "the queen of everything except for apples." #wheredoesshegetthisstuff On March 05, 2017 at 08:04AM

How many years until spring?

H at breakfast: Mommy, how many years until spring? #outofthemouthsofbabes #justwannaplayoutside On March 05, 2017 at 07:30AM

Magic

H: "Tonight I'm not going to sleep because I need to do magic so that when my Elsies grow up they can be magicians." M: .... #howcaniarguewiththatlogic #justgotheefftosleep On February 21, 2017 at 07:11PM

Transportation

H: "Do you know why a shark is kinda like transportation?" M: "No...." H: "Because when it eats you and then swims somewhere, it's like you're moving!" #whataretheydoingatschool #shesgotapoint On February 19, 2017 at 07:00PM

Smarter.

H: [At dinner] Julian's smart but I'm smarter.
M: What makes you say that?
H: Today at school he said that butts are vaginas. But I said that butts are butts.

Reading "Mustache Boy"

Question after question after question...
H: Why are they not wearing shirts?
H: Why are they wearing masks?
H: What is pro-wrestling?
H: What does 'in-crime' mean?
H: What does mischievous mean?
[In the middle of a long-winded answer from a parent]
H: Let's just turn the page.

Reading your daughter a book she wrote for her bedtime story=priceless. Our kiddo is so freakin' cool. #givesmehopeeveryday #herimaginationthough #futurewriterofamerica

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Future writer of america

Reading your daughter a book she wrote for her bedtime story=priceless. Our kiddo is so freakin' cool. #givesmehopeeveryday #herimaginationthough #futurewriterofamerica On January 21, 2017 at 08:04PM