As our newest little one flip flops around inside of me (my goodness she's an active little gal), my thoughts are also with our oldest daughter. Among the many recent celebrations was her 12th birthday (am I really old enough to be her mom?). Parenting has been the wildest ride of my life and, while it has its rough spots, the most exhilarating and transformative. Over the past year or so, I have been thrilled to be in a front row seat watching and benefiting from the beautiful growth and maturation in our eldest. She's just an absolute delight about 98% of the time (her worst moments seem to be when Alida pushes her buttons, to which I can fully relate!). There are so many things I love about what I'm seeing in Kali, but I'll just name a few here that stand out to me on a daily basis (and things that sadly are in contrast to my own lived experience at the same age).
I am thrilled to watch her continued love of learning and desire to engage the world around her fully and be an active participant in our homestead (she never wants to miss anything!). This translates into all sorts of wonderful traits, not the least of which is that she is so incredibly helpful. Multiple times a day, she asks me if there is anything she can do to help. Often there is and she happily heads off with the compost to empty, with a laundry basket to bring wash in, to get a knife to snip beans, or a story to read to Alida. Only at times when I say I can't think of anything right at that moment (I clearly need to beef up my delegation skills) does she say she'll read a chapter of her book (but I should let her know if I think of anything). What a kid!
I love her active mind and active body. She is thinking constantly. She'll ask for hard spelling words to test her abilities or algebra problems to do (so there I can relate as that was the one subject I'd do problems "just for fun" and not for the grade). Regarding her active and healthy self, the other day she wanted to join me on a "nappy walk." I well remember the times when I was disinclined from her coming along because she would get tired and slow me down. My goodness how times have changed. I could hardly keep up with her. Granted I'm moving more slowly and have grown out while she has grown up; her long legs had me huffing and puffing. 
I learn a lot by watching her relationship to food and her body. She is not driven by the many external messages that plagued me from even earlier than 12. She is such a model of a healthy approach to eating - she eats when she is hungry and stops when she is full. She enjoys both the process of eating her food, but also being part of growing, harvesting and making it. Yes, I'm more than a little bit impressed and at moments even slightly envious as I still feel like I have both some learning and unlearning to do on that front. I'm grateful for her good modeling!
So now to the celebration! A few main highlights included family and some good friends for pizza pockets over the fire, watermelon seed spitting contests, a sleepover, a birthday breakfast and more game playing that we fit in most weeks let alone one day. Before her birthday when I asked what she wanted, she couldn't think of anything in particular that she needed or wanted. But she could not contain her excitement when a new sewing machine from my folks showed up. She and Mom put it to good use right away making a curtain for our bathroom sink. 
She seemed very happy for how her year of life was marked and got to enjoy a party on her actual birthday and the fun of looking forward to the yearly trip to the fair (haven't gotten to that post yet). The attention did shift on the afternoon of her birthday to getting ready for the 10th celebration the following day. Her birthday always also reminds of our transition to Fruit Farm Lane, which took place just days after her second birthday. She has grown in so many incredible ways in this place. We are still pretty much head over heels in love!
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