There She Goes!: Ava: On Her Fifth Birthday

It's always surprises me when Ava turns a year older. I think it's always the firstborn thing because it's also your first experience: when your firstborn turns five, it's the first time you have a 5-year-old. So it's a new experience and sometimes that surprises you.

We held a party for her on a beautiful spring afternoon in a gazebo at a nearby park on the seaside. The gazebo is located right next to a playground so after eating cake and ice cream, the kids ran off to play while the adults talked. Thirty people came, including kids. I don't think I ever threw a party for that many people but it was a simple cake and ice cream with sandwiches and chips affair. There was no theme, no party favors, no games, no cleaning up the house and cleaning up again afterward. The stinky part about it was the I suddenly came down with a cold the night before the party so I was sick while playing hostess, still in first trimester fatigue (a post to follow about the baby!), and exhausted afterward.

The interesting thing about the party is that we invited two of Ava's Turkish friends as well as her American friends. I was a bit apprehensive and most of the American kids could speak Turkish so I thought it would be okay. I was also curious to see what Ava would do. Two of her Turkish friends didn't know each other; Ava was the only person they knew so they stuck by her side playing. Ava's American friends all knew each other and mainly played with each other. I know they played with Ava some but for the most part, Ava spent the party playing with her Turkish friends. I don't remembering seeing her Turkish friends interacting with Ava's American friends much. Anyway, Ava spends a great deal of time with her Turkish friends at school and sees some American friends only once a week and sometimes not at all for weeks. I think for the most part, right now, she prefers her Turkish friends and enjoys her American friends when she sees them.

Just an interesting observation.

Ava's preschool class was very sweet celebrating her birthday. She came home with a crown handmade by her teacher, a cardboard box wrapped with birthday paper which was filled with drawings from her classmates all rolled up and tied in bows.

A week before Ava's birthday, she tripped and fell on the sidewalk on the way to preschool and split her chin open, requiring four stitches. She was such a trooper about it. Seriously, she was so brave when it came down to the wire.

Ava, at 5 years old, loves watching My Little Pony and playing with Little Pony toys, love Polly Pockets, loves to draw, build, create, bake, decorate, do crafts, etc. She's definitely the creative child in the family. Her artist skills are very good for a 5-year-old and when I give her drawing lessons every now and then, she catches on very quick and then puts her own flair on it. She's eager to learn to read and I've let her pick up some reading on a Phonics app on my phone but I would rather she learned to read later and focus on playing now.

Ava is also signing with me a lot more. She has really grown with her Turkish language skills. When she was first picking up Turkish, she didn't like when people switched between English and Turkish; only Turks could speak Turkish and English speakers stick with English. In the last year, she's been able to code switch while talking to one person. She can code switch with me and keep signing even if I switch to speaking verbally. It's been really interesting to see how, since she was 2 years old, she has picked up language, compartmentalize the languages, grew to easily translate (at 2, she understood and spoke Turkish but couldn't translate), process and ask questions in Turkish, and code switches easily.

Anyway, Ava is a great kid, great sister, seasoned traveler, creative, funny, friendly, extroverted, smart, versatile, and playful. We love you, Ava!

The handmade crown from her teacher

"I'm FIVE!"

From her preschool classmates

Chin bandage (before her birthday) I think in America, people would freak out at the sight of a lollipop in her mouth in a moving car. Sorry. It's hard to drive more than 35 mph in the city anyway.