Turning Five

At this point five years ago I was in early labour, eating pizza (had to keep my strength up) and watching Peter Kay (to distract myself from painful contractions). Laughter is the best medicine, after all.

In many ways it feels like Isabel was born far more than five years ago. Having a child who regularly spouts phrases like "begone, you foul creature" will do that to you. However, she also still seems so young sometimes, particularly since starting school and being the youngest in her year. We were invited round to the neighbours on Saturday for a curry, with the offer that Isabel could sleep over in their daughter's room (the two of them are in the same class at school). She was not keen on this at all, but accepted the idea of half a sleepover, meaning that we picked her up and took her back home when we left. As it turned out, it was a good job we did, since she fell asleep in the parental bed, rather than in her own blow up bed!

Tomorrow we're taking the new five year old and her baby sister to Legoland and then to McDonald's for tea (the one with the balloons, she demands, but since Legoland is in Windsor and the McD's with the balloons is in Hemel Hempstead she's going to be disappointed). We've already done the annual birthday visit to the Disney Store where she spends some of her birthday money, and on Saturday we're having a birthday lunch. And that, thank goodness, will be that! She's so desperate to be five that I'm quite glad it's here at last. Shows how things change - when I was around her age I was desperate not to get any older. How wise I was...!