Dear Olivia,

Way back in 1986 when I was 8, my primary focus was getting up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons (Voltron, Pole Position, Mighty Orbots, Muppet Babies). I read a ton of comic books, liked drawing and played little league baseball. I was relatively smart enough to be on the honor roll and yet also incredibly dumb enough to think I wouldn't fall off of the swings when I was trying to impress my crush by letting go of the chains as I was high in the air. Two broken wrists, a hot summer in misery and one very unimpressed grade school crush later, I learned my lesson: wear protective gear when trying to impress someone you like

As you turn 8, I'm fascinated by both the similarities we share at that age as well as how very different we are in comparison. You love drawing, much like I did (and still do), but you are much more crafty and artistic than I ever was. You continue to construct dolls, and rooms for them to play in, out of paper and cardboard. Sometimes you do this just because you can, while other times you're forced to because you got in trouble and we took away your regular toys. The unfortunate side effect of this is that we now have an entire Library of Congress sized assortment of books made out of post-it notes that you will not part with. You claim that they're still necessary because your toys read them, but couldn't they just read the regular sized books we own instead?

Speaking of reading, you've still yet to discover a love for books and comic books that I had, regardless of how many we purchase for you. I used to devour both on car trips or as I ate my breakfast before school. For you (and hopefully just for now), they're just things to add to your ever-cluttered bookshelf. There are some, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that seem to come close to breaking through that barrier for you. You'll ask questions about words, laugh at funny parts and act eager to get to the next part of the story. The problem is, once we hit the 30 minute mark with reading, which your teachers request of you daily, you've closed the book, logged your time, slid down the dinosaur's neck and driven away faster than you can say, "Yabba Dabba Doo!"

I don't recall much about the summers of my youth (outside of the one spent in wrist casts), but I feel like we're doing a pretty good job of making yours memorable so far. This year's was especially notable, as the three of us were in your Uncle Tim's (Tee Taw) and now Aunt Victoria's (Tor Taw) wedding. You had the very special job of being a flower girl, and after a bit of confidence building you crushed it. The glow on your face as you walked down the aisle made you shine so bright. At the reception you danced, laughed and performed a special song for the bride and groom that I'm still trying to decide whether I should be proud of or scold you for.

The rest of your summer was filled with swimming, playing, and long nights. On our last day of the visit, you deemed it necessary to try and fit in all the things you never got around to doing: trying to ride a bike, learning how to speak Dothraki, starting a Roth IRA and tubing on the lake. The last one took a bit of courage and both your mom and I riding first before you got on, but once you did it seemed like you were having a great time. I don't exactly know for sure, because we couldn't hear you over the roar of the boat engine and your hand signals still need a bit of work.

With summer officially done, it was time to move on to the 3rd grade. Co-workers and other friends I know who have kids older than you warned me about how hard it would be, and they were not wrong. Instead of just being able to spell words, you now have to know their definitions and how to use them in sentences. You have to remember to write down your homework assignments for the day, bring home the correct books without your teachers prompting you and study for tests. Then there's the math (hoo boy). Within the first 2 weeks you were thrown right into multiplication, and it wasn't until about a month or so ago that you learned times tables, which is astounding to me. Common core math continues to be the bane of both your and our existence right now, especially the word problems. For the most part you get the math behind what's being taught, but the wording of a lot of these questions just seems to purposefully try and confuse you. If Andrew has 7 baskets and 28 eggs, how many eggs can he distribute equally among the baskets if he votes Republican in the next Presidential election? I don't know either kid, so let's skip that question and definitely stay away from both Andrew and whoever he associates with.

This grade, and even this year, seems to be the one where you're transitioning from younger, childish tendencies to more big kid ones, however this doesn't mean you're willing to move on without a fight. The workload and responsibilities you have with school remain an almost daily challenge for you, however we are seeing slow signs of improvement. I know you'd rather stay at home every day and play, but unfortunately that's just not how it works. Believe me, though, I get it. I'd rather not go to work and just bang on a drum all day like Todd Rundgren famously sang, but that's just not how it's meant to be. If you could just accept that fact, focus more and maybe do a little less chitting and chatting in class, I believe life would get a bit easier for you. Or I could just be the "grown-up" that I never wanted to turn into when I was younger and I've got it all wrong. Who knows.

Getting older isn't always easy, no matter how much we sugar coat that fact, and you're already starting to notice some of that coming your way. You've pointed out that recess at school has gotten shorter this year and correctly guessed that it will eventually go away completely. Friendships you've had over the past years are suddenly breaking apart, and you're not sure why. Weekends and vacations come and go in the blink of an eye and you're left wondering why they had to end so soon. In the face of all this, the strengths and weaknesses of your personality continue to develop as you take on these challenges to try and figure things out. There are times when you respond exactly like I think you will, and others where you amaze me by completely going in a different direction. Your shyness and hesitation oftentimes keep you from trying new things, which is a little disappointing in the moment, but then I notice that those qualities can also help you understand a situation to help you get comfortable enough to make a decision. But then you'll do something bold like shaving part of your hair off (thankfully at a salon and not do-it-yourself) or asking if you could set up your desk and chair in front of our apartment building to sell slime and prank advice to people walking by. You can be a walking contradiction at times, which is both amazing and frustrating, but this is just another reason why I love who you are.

3rd grade will come and go before you know it, and so will the year ahead of you. I'm looking forward to seeing the person you are continue to grow, change and shape the person who you will come to be. Be good to your friends and family, but don't be afraid to change direction if that needs to happen. Life is going to throw a lot of good, bad and confusing things at you, but I promise I will be there along the way to give you guidance, advice or to just shut the hell up and let you figure it out on your own. While it makes me happy to see how similar we can be, I'm even more thrilled at how different you are and how far it will take you in your life. Happy birthday, baby girl. I love you.