six and counting

Amidst all the end-of-school-year hoopla, the kids’ summer vacation trip to the States, and our own travels, our little girl turned six.

Just like last year, we celebrated her birthday early in San Jose to afford her the opportunity to celebrate with her friends and schoolmates while our parents planned additional festivities in the States. In Russian culture, celebrating one’s birthday before the actual date is a big no-no. What if you die and never make it to the milestone date? In Soviet days, this was more than just a philosophical question. While there are many beliefs and superstitions from his childhood to which D still clings, this is one he has relaxed — at least as far as Junebug is concerned. As she has a summer birthday and we are constantly on the move, celebrating early is a good way to ensure a measure of normalcy for her in an otherwise chaotic childhood.

Compared to previous years, Junebug’s sixth birthday party was a pretty low-key affair. We kept the guest list relative small: a few besties from her class, some friends from the Embassy and expat community, and two Tica sisters Junebug had befriended last year when we visited Tango Mar in Nicoya. A couple of years ago, S had pulled out all the stops for a Frozen-themed birthday party; four years old, but with very specific (if, at times, contradictory) ideas about what she wanted, Junebug played a leading role in organizing the decor. This year’s theme was unicorns; mercifully, Junebug was much more focused on the guest list and which of her friends she would get to see after school ended, so we kept decorations to a minimum.

From up close, seeing her day in and day out, we don’t see as much change as we had hoped for between five and six. Junebug still sucks her thumb — a habit, incidentally, she picked up exactly one year ago when D took away her binkies during last summer vacation — and she still gives S a really hard time about everything. Our parents assure us, however, that she’s grown up a ton over the last twelve months. It’ll be interesting to see how different she seems to us after more than a month of separation.