a peek inside the fishbowl

11 Apr, 2009

Sarah, you’re eight

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Misc. life

Dear Sarah,

This was you when you were a baby:

Sarah so small

… and this was you this morning:

Sarah is eight

It’s been our tradition to serve a special birthday breakfast in bed. So this morning, at your request, you had a freshly-baked croissant, breakfast sausages, yogurt, and hot chocolate.

(I hope you always remember that I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. so I could take the croissants out of the freezer and give them sufficient time to defrost and rise before I got up a second time at 7:00 to bake them and make your breakfast.)

You’ve already opened your new Junior Scientist-style microscope and we’ve all looked at strands of our hair, the exoskeleton of an ant, and compared grains of table salt and sea salt. Your father is about to prick himself with a sewing needle so he can look at his own blood.

You and your sister are playing with the Playmobil guinea pigs she gave you. (The joke here is that you’re highly allergic to guinea pigs in real life and it makes you a bit sad knowing you’ll never be able to hold a guinea pig without breaking out in itchy hives.)

Sarah, you are a great girl. You have a wonderful sense of humour and you are a true friend of friends. You have a big big heart. You love to kiss and cuddle (although not so much with your sister) which is great because you are highly huggable. You don’t like to get out of bed in the morning. (In fact, I am your personal alarm clock. It takes a lot of hugging and kissing and prodding to get you out from under the covers.) You love to sing. You love to read, and you’re immensely proud of your goal to read every Beverly Cleary book at home and at school. Your creativity is a constant source of delight and amazement. Yesterday you made yourself an Easter basket out of an orange juice carton and some felt, and this year you achieved your lifelong dream of having a piece of your artwork displayed at the National Gallery. And if early results are any indication it looks like you’re going to be good in math too (you must get that from your GrandPapa). 

Sarah, I wanted you to know that our lives are miles better simply because you are in it, and I hope you always know that. Thank you for being such a honey of a girl.

p.s. Daddy was slightly sorry that you were born on Masters weekend, but I think you’ve made up for it in spades.

Tags:

12 Responses to "Sarah, you’re eight"

1 | LO

April 11th, 2009 at 9:57 am

Avatar

Just lovely!

2 | DaniGirl

April 11th, 2009 at 10:33 am

Avatar

Happy Birthday Sarah, from all of us! The boys still ask occasionally when you and your sister will come back to play.

3 | BeachMama

April 11th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Avatar

Happy Birthday Sarah! Hope you have another fantastic party day to add to the ones you have already had. And what a wonderful Mom you have who got up and made you a special breakfast in bed. Have a great day!

4 | porter

April 11th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Avatar

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!

5 | Jen

April 11th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

Avatar

What a wonderful words, for an obviously wonderful girl! Happy birthday Sarah!

6 | Ginger

April 11th, 2009 at 6:42 pm

Avatar

Happy Birthday Sarah!

7 | Rebecca

April 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

Avatar

Beautiful post. Happy Birthday!

8 | Rebecca

April 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

Avatar

Beautiful post. Happy Birthday!

9 | Loukia

April 11th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Avatar

Lovely post! Happy birthday to your lovely daughter. She is beautiful. And congrats on having her art work on display!!

10 | mrsgryphon

April 11th, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Avatar

What a lovely description of your girl… I’m sure she’ll treasure those words!

Happy Birthday, Sarah! (from one Sarah, to another!)

11 | zoom

April 12th, 2009 at 10:54 am

Avatar

Happy Birthday Sarah. You sound like such a lovely and well-loved person. I hope you enjoy your year of being eight.

12 | Tales of life with a girl on the go » Blog Archive » Happy birthday happenings

August 3rd, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Avatar

[…] was a celebration from start to finish. I brought her breakfast in bed as I read about a Andrea at A Peak Inside the Fishbowl doing for her children. I’m particularly proud of myself for remembering the idea over the last couple of months. […]

comment form:

Archives

Me and my pet projects

Ottawa Bucket list

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


  • Gretchen Humphrey: I had a beautiful bee& birdbath filled with a solar fountain and dozens of antique marbles that were suddenly disappearing. At first I thought my
  • Jinjer: I am sobbing reading this post. And you're right, companion is not enough. Little furry treasured gifts that they are. Thanks for sharing cutie-pi
  • Karen: Dear Andrea, Mark and your daughters I am so very sad for your family xxx Piper was/is my favourite Instagram post. You shared with us so intimately
  • Christina Banuelos: Thank you for sharing Pipers life with us. Your posts of Piper brought me joy. Every time I see your post and see what kind of mischief Piper was gett
  • Carla Slocum: I am sitting here yet again crying at your loss. We have known that loss with Asta the WFT our first pup but now have the enormous gift of Stryker the
  • Janelle Brown: Dear Andrea Thank you for sharing Piper’s story with her followers. I empathise with your grief and emptiness as I lost my 14 year old Westie last
  • Natasha McReynolds-Nicholl: My god reading this is heartbreaking. December 1st was the as you describe longest day of my life, we lost out beautiful WFT hazel. Pipers final momen

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you'd like to contact me, please use this form. If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here. Thank you for visiting!

 


Connect with me at these places too!

Still calling it Twitter