For a nearly 5 year old

Last night as a 4 year old. Sparklers on the front lawn.

By the time you are 5 you will have lived in two houses and be 6 months into pre-school. You have, while in my stomach been to university and listened to lectures on Health, Education, Legal Studies, Sociology and Physical Education. You heard my ramblings to customers as I managed Sanity Music stores, hence I believe this is where you love of pop music has come from. Your favourite music artist is the Black Eyed Peas however, anything played loudly in the car is good enough for you. By the time you are 5 you will have discovered that your favourite foods include olives and avocado and you are happier sitting down to a fruit salad than anything much more tempting to a child. Your favourite movies will include Lilo and Stich, Pirates of the Carribean, Spirit and Shrek 2. Although Sinbad, Atlantis, The Princess Diaries and Mary Poppins are never far away.

It will be well established, by the time you are 5 that your favourite colours are all shades of pink. You will have an obsession that your underwear and hair bands will have to match the colour you are wearing. This is fairly simple if we keep everything pink. By the time you are 5 you will have been called an 'old soul' by countless people, some familiar to you and some not. You will have visited the buddist temple and the card you pull out of a deck, for you, will be a 'deep soul' card. You will also have been to Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, both the Sunshine and Gold Coasts, Hervey Bay and several little day trips in between. By the time you are 5 your mum would've liked to have taken you to Bali and Fiji to explore the cultures of another country however, this was not to be.

By the time you are 5 you will like to 'kick it' with the boys and accessorise with the girls. You will be an outside girl and have a deep respect and understanding for animals and all things nature. You will be most at peace in the sunshine particulary on the beach or in a lush green park. Time of year is irrelevent. Your favourite animals are horses and when you get up every morning and come home every afternoon you go straight outside to the dogs and sit with them. By the time you are 5 you will have daily conversations with your 'friends'; the one's your dad and I like to call 'imaginary' but you insist on chatting to, arguing with, hiding from, playing with and reading to.

Particular likes and dislikes will form a very important part of your nature. You like having people or animals around you at all times, you dislike wearing socks, you like sleeping on the couch, in Joshua's room, in our bed and dislike sleeping in yours. You also dislike having your feet and arms covered by a blanket. You like being able to sing and chatter freely and dislike being told it is "quiet time". When you turn 5 your parents are so despereatley hoping that you may go to sleep earlier and stay in your own bed.

By the time you are 5 you will have developed into a confident, happy and intelligent girl. You will draw people to you with your smile and your charisma. You will have a deep, loving and fiercly loyal nature. You will have a family who loves you very much and a future bright in front of you.

Happy Birthday for tomorrow Jillian Grace Cuskelly.

Love Mum xxx