Happy Birthday, Burgh Baby

Let's all take a moment to revel in our dismay that THIS kid is now 13 years old.

I think that's about the age she was when people first started noticing this space, so it's fair to say that there are people reading right now who "internet remember" Alexis at that age. Hope you didn't blink because that baby is gone. And then some.

Looking back, there is one thing that is profoundly evident - she is exactly who she has always been. That kid was born with a fully developed personality and she has stayed true to that personality. Case in point, she's still a perfectionist. We've worked on being okay with an A- and enjoying something even if she's not good at it, but that "gotta do it perfect every time" thing still rears its ugly head from time-to-time.

Namely last week. HOOBOY did Alexis and I have a fight about it. She's going to stay a perfectionist at heart, apparently.

Alexis is also still a lover of words. She "read" as soon as she was big enough to hold a book and now she's big enough to hit me with a book if I try to take it away. Which, I won't. It definitely doesn't suck to have a kid who will happily spend her every waking hour lost in the written word. She often has three or four books going at one time and has an endless hunger to read some more.

Another thing that has grown and evolved but yet stayed the same is that thing where Alexis sees the world in black and white only. There's no grey. You're either following the rules or you're not. She has a guilt complex seven miles wide, so it's still very hard for to knowingly break a rule. She ALWAYS tells me. Eventually. Even when she thinks she's keeping something a secret, I tend to know about it and have the joy of watching from afar as she spazzes out from the guilt. If that sounds like a parent's dream come true, that's because it is. Alexis just isn't capable of being sneaky, but we're working on it.

Yes, really.

Her world continues to be TOO black and white. (And HOOBOY did Karma boomerang with Mila ...)

Alexis has always been just a wee bit too empathetic, and that's still true. Other people's feelings take a front row seat in her life. Like all things, that's both good and bad. She catches herself when she says something mean, but she catches YOU if you say something mean, too. She would do anything for anybody, which basically means she's a screaming liberal at heart. Equality and fairness reign supreme (see also, her world is black and white) and she fights to make sure people are treated as she thinks they should be treated.

But, man, she is KIND. Just plain kind.

And she's an amazing big sister.

And she's hilarious.

And she's smart. I don't check her report card (she would fall apart with guilt if there was a reason I should), but I know she hasn't broken her streak of straight A's yet. I'm not sure that she ever will.

Alexis is exactly who she has always been, which is to say she's an amazing person who is going to do great things. She already has, really.

Happy birthday, kid. Now go clean your bathroom, please. IT IS SO GROSS.