Nine.

Yep.  This little girl is nine today.

I'm in complete denial.  It is not possible for my tiny baby Adi Nae to be this old. 

She keeps telling me, "Only seven more years till I drive", and "Nine more years till I move out", and my favorite, "Twelve more years till you can't tell me what to do".  Apparently I get that privilege until she's 21.  Sweet.  Can I get that in writing, please and thank you?

Adi is going to be a teacher when she grows.  She will also play the guitar and the drums.  Also be a cheerleader.  And be a mom to 22 kids (11 boys, 11 girls- we'll see how long this idea lasts).  Adi wants to direct movies (she even asked for a video camera for her birthday and was hinting at a green screen), design dresses, and learn to shuffle a deck of cards like a rainbow.

She loves Taylor Swift and her best friend Savanna.  They get together often and discuss Taylor Swift and they both wrote their Biography Book Report on her. 

Adi is a creative soul.  She is a friendship bracelet making machine and often raids my fabric supply to make a dress for Pipes (using staples and tape- awesome craftsmanship). 

She may be holding  Diary of a Wimpy Kid here, but her favorite kind of books are mysteries and ones about scary things, like Bailey School Kids. 

Miss Ad has what we call around these parts "Adi-tude".  She has her own, very opinionated, mind and has no problem arguing her thoughts.  Or screaming them, whichever one gets her the most attention at the time.   Adi likes having the last word.

My Adi is such an artistic soul.  She sees the beauty in the simple things, like a leaf that is crumpled and mushed, a landscape rock, or a crushed cracker on the floor in the shape of a flower.  She sees their potential and likes to share her treasures with her family. 

She creates stories and drawings, likes to write scripts for movies for Piper and her friends, designs costumes, loves to make cards, and draws designs on her homework incessantly.

Adi also is constantly evolving her tastes. Her favorite color once was pink.  Then it was blue. She flirted with green for a bit, but has now settled on purple.  This week.

On Monday her most favorite show is H20, Wednesday it's Good Luck Charlie, and by Friday they have all been usurped by Once Upon a Time.

She loves her iPod touch.

She likes swinging on the tree swing, puling Wyatt around in the wagon, shoving random things into random spots around the house, playing pranks, running on Mom's treadmill, jumping off the bed, putting her hair in ponytails, looking at the Oriental Trading Company catalogues, writing lists, controlling the remote, playing card games, drawing on cardstock, eating clementine oranges, shopping for free apps on her touch, wearing her Toms, playing school,checking the mail, planning parties, making cookies, and, best of all, she still likes to snuggle up to her old parents and telling them all about her day.

This little girl is bursting with life and is so eager to grow up and be able to live it.

But I just want to take her in my arms and hold her oh-so-smotheringly-close and preserve her innocence.  I don't want her to learn about the evils in this world.  Right now everything is black and white to her.  Right now people are good and bad guys just belong in stories and cartoons and are easily conquered. 

But, oh, I cannot explain the joy that I feel when I notice her maturing.  It's the little things like her taking a deep (albeit sarcastic) breath and counting instead of instantly blowing up at her siblings.  Or fixing her own plate of nachos.  Or even just watching her curled up on the couch reading a book that I had once enjoyed at her age.

My oh my, it is so difficult being a mom to this little girl.  Not because of her attitude, but because it is so hard for me to let go.  To trust that she can do new things.  To allow her to fall and pick herself back up, brush herself off and get back on the metaphorical horse.  She wants to be independent so badly and I just want her to be a good little dolly and sit in the corner and not move until I say it's ok. 

*sigh*

But she's growing and changing and becoming more beautiful, intelligent, radiant, and charismatic by the day.  I love her.  I love her.

I love her.

Happy birthday, Adi Baby.