Celebrating Savanna X 100

Wednesday was Savanna's 10th birthday. I must admit that preparing this blog has left me in quite a stupor of nostalgia. I had chosen to celebrate Savanna with 100 things describing her life thus far. Ten things for each year. While searching through photos and journals to mark each year of her growth, I fell precipitously into a meloncholic dimension from which I still have yet to disembark. I wonder if all mothers feel like this the moment they realize that their daughters are growing up. It is impossible to believe that the laundry I once folded for her was doll-sized. I can still see her dancing in spirited pirouettes along the lip of the Manito fountain. Wasn’t it yesterday that her hand was only as big as the rocks she collected in the shallows of the river? That same hand, wasn’t it just holding mine, tugging so that I might stop and see the spider web, the budding tulip, any of a thousand moments I wish that I could have frozen. Time is an optical illusion and painfully slippery. I have launched a mourning for each year of Savanna's life now gone. Seeing pictures of her was a strange juxtaposition of aching and ecstasy, relishing in the gift of her happy childhood and simultaneously recognizing that this little girl has vanished and an older, more adult-erated and more independent version has taken her place. I realize that my role and influence as a mother is slowly taking second string to her friends, the media, and other less annoying people in her life. Hopefully I can use this lament to remind myself to savor the slippery time I have left with these children of mine. So back to the list:1. Savanna was born in St. Screw us, Misery, (I mean St. Louis, Missouri) at 2:27 pm weighing 8 lbs 8 oz and measuring 22 inches long
2. Her name was chosen the day we found out she was to be a girl. Other names previously considered and rejected were Moraine, Somerset, Henry, Saffron, Hannah, Oliver (please don't judge)

3. She cried for the first three months of life.

4. Her first and only trip to the hospital was at 6 months old, after falling off the bed (overreactive paranoid parenting).

5. She was born with a lot of blonde and semi-curly hair. She still more hair than our whole family combined.

6. It took me and Corey almost an hour to dress Savanna for the first time.

7. She was a ladybug for Halloween and went trick-or-treating at 9 months. (What were we thinking?)

8. Started walking at 11 months....officially January 15, 1999.

9. At 9 months, her favorite music was Real Big Fish and Lucious Jackson

10. Grabbed her lit candle and burned her hand on her first birthday
11. Her first sentence was ,"This is disgusting!" referring, of course, to my dinner.

12. When her stomach growled, she called it "tummy thunder".

13. I told her the moon was full and she said, "Why, what did he eat?"

14. She is obsessed with Teletubbies this year.

15. Loves to make huge messes and then confesses, "I am rotten. I am rotten. I am rotten."

16. She was a rabbit for Halloween.

17. She was really scared of the Grinch for a while.

18. She has taken several 4 hour baths

19. Her nickname is Schmoopie

20. Once prayed that we wouldn't get lost, unless it was in the house.

21. Savanna gained her lifelong best friend and sister on December 18, 1999.

22. She is obsessed with the Madeline series this year.

23. Could sing Twinkle Twinkle little Star, Never Smile at a Crocodile, and Hephalumps and Woosels before she was two.

24. Was a clown for Halloween.

25. Rode on a llama.

26. She loves spaghetti, pizza, and artichokes.

27. She loves to sneak sugar packets from restaurants.

28. She hates quiche, cucumbers, and meatloaf.

29. She loves to pick flowers

30. She picks way too many flowers, but she gives them all to me and it is so hard to stop her.

31. Savanna had a tea party with Mary Poppins for her 3rd birthday.

32. She once saw tiny little bananas playing baseball on her arm. It was difficult to convince her that it was probably not real.

33. One day she noticed one of Corey's socks and asked, "Is Daddy a giant?"

34. After she was scolded for hitting Emmy, she compromised by saying, "If I do hit Emmy, I will hit her more carefully."

35. When we asked her if she wanted to take a soccer class she replied that she wouldn't take a soccer class, but would like to take a tic tac toe class.

36. She is obsessed with Aladdin this year.

37. Said her favorite things were Cheetos, Diamonds, and Dust.

38. Told her Primary teacher that she wished she didn't have parents so that she could jump in a dirty lake with all her clothes on. Honestly, we never said she couldn't.

39. She was Jesse from Toy Story II for Halloween

40. When asked whether or not she liked dinosaurs, she replied "I don't know. I've never tasted one."

41. Savanna goes through a treasure phase and considers anything small to be priceless. I find little stashes of popcorn kernels, screws, and shiny gum wrappers. She knows each one by name

42. Gave herself and Emmy a thorough haircut while eating dinner.

43. Her eyes are blue or green, depending on the day or her mood or the lunar cycle. I'm not quite sure yet.

44. She once tied Emmy to a chair to make her listen to a story.

45. Loves to dig up and then bepet worms.

46. She momentarily lost all sanity and told me she wanted to start putting bows in her hair

47. She was Snow White for Halloween

48. She once hid in her closet and gave me a near-heart-attack experience

49. She can talk really really fast.

50. Tasted her first alcoholic beverage at 5 years. Accidentally, of course.

51. Savanna has written many letters to fairies, conveniently locating them in bushes and tulips where they would most likely be found.

52. She has drawn thousands of fairies

53. She loves NERDS candy

54. She has been stung by a bee 8 times

55. She can draw a very impressive flower. Probably because she has picked so many.

56. She once spent an hour drawing an eyeball

57. She has started a journal about 20 different time in 20 different places.

58. She saved her lunch water bottle tops for an entire school year

59. She doesn't like Math or Science

60. She is a fantastic speller

61.She is not a morning person.

62. She took a climbing class.

63. She often forgets very important details and events (usually relating to school).

64. She has more than once changed her Christmas wish list on Christmas Eve.

65. She is really good with clay

66. She has stayed up all night during a sleepover (I mean playover).

67. She was a witch for Halloween

68. She dislikes the telephone and will never answer it.

69. She doesn't like getting attention. She probably won't like this blog.

70. She doesn't like rollercoasters.......yet.

71. Savanna's favorite outdoor activity is swimming.

72. Her least favorite outdoor activity is skiing.

73. She has never been bored in her entire life.

74. She was a peacock fairy for Halloween

75. She has frequent nightmares.

76. Said that living in Portland was the worst year in her life.

77. She likes to make lists.

78. She hates to have her picture taken

79. She wishes her name was Luna

80. She is a member of a Secret Girls Club . I am not invited.

81. Savanna has read the Harry Potter series almost 3 times.

82. She taught herself the Harry Potter theme song on the recorder. She has a great ear for music.

83. She knows over 35 spells to cast with a magic wand

84. She loves whipped cream and cream puffs as much as I do.

85. She was a good witch for Halloween

86. She hates to have her hair brushed.

87. She has written many lyrics to songs.

88. She likes to stay home.

89. She has 22.5 cousins

90. Savanna is often the last one in the family to fall asleep. She has read entire books in one night.

91. Sometimes Savanna sleeps on top of her bed so that she won't have to make it in the morning.

92. She hates to put on socks.

93. She lost a tooth without telling us just to see if the Tooth Fairy was real. Too bad she never put it under her pillow. I found it in her backpack.

94. She is currently writing a medieval novel.

95. She wants to be an artist when she grows up, although when she was 3 she stated that she wanted to be a peddlar woman. I say that she already is an artist.

96. She was a fairy for Halloween

97. She started piano lessons this year

98. She can write extremely small.

99. She has become a computer freak and is learning to type 60 wpm.

100. Savanna is growing up way too fast