Today Chloe Turns 5.

I feel like I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: what a year.  I’ve said it many times on this blog and I’ll continue to do so:  My kids are completely different and incredibly similar.

Julianna enjoys being the center of attention.  She is happy on stage, performing in front of people.  She is generally friendly with new people who come to visit us.  She likes going out and trying new things, mostly.

Chloe, on the other hand, dislikes attention, doesn’t like performing (when someone is looking), and she needs time to warm up to all people, even the ones she knows well.  She does not like trying new things…

…until recently.

When the movie Frozen hit theaters, something changed with Chloe.  All of a sudden, she is a little less apprehensive about performing (she sings Frozen songs almost constantly).  She’s a little less apprehensive about talking to new people.  She’s a little more vocal about communicating what she wants.  She’s a little more interested in being the boss (not always easy when you have a sister who is less than 13 months older than you).

She’s a little more “present” at all times and a lot more independent.

It could be that in regards to many of her inhibitions, she decided that she should just Let It Go.  It could be that she’s just maturing a bit and has started to feel more comfortable with herself.  Its possible that she just wants to share in some of the extraverted fun Julianna enjoys.  Whatever the case may be, we’ve welcomed this “New Chloe”.  Don’t get me wrong; there was nothing wrong with “Old Chloe” but this new version is even more delightful and fun to be around.  She’s genuinely entertaining.  She’s turned into the funny one.

She’s also sneaky smart.  Julianna is more obvious about whatever her intelligence is but Chloe leads you to believe she cares a bit less about education-related things…and then she drops some sort of ridiculous bomb on you…

Just recently she started this move (at first with my wife), which is a quote-ish from Frozen spoken by the character Hans to the character Anna:

“Mommy, come here.”

[wife bends down – Chloe puts 1 hand on face of wife]

“If only someone actually loved you.”

And then she starts laughing, in a genuine “I crack myself up” sort of way.  She doesn’t really get what she’s saying but she gets it enough to know how funny it is coming from her to one of her parents.

Speaking of the “I crack myself up” sort of way, this is further proof that she’s my daughter.  You can ask my wife how often I say something and then look for a High-5.  Its sort of like the time when Chloe randomly asked me, earlier in the year, if she could karate chop me in the forehead.  When I said I didn’t think it was a good idea and that hitting was not allowed or nice and we certainly didn’t want to hurt Daddy, she responded by smiling, staring at me for a moment, smiling wider, and saying, “Ok, but just a small karate chop?”

She’s just fun.

I’m sure that in the families where there are multiple children and any are as close in age as Julianna and Chloe, its not uncommon to be concerned that the “trailer” will always be the trailer.  I feared that she would always do and have everything second.  I feared that she would always live in some sort of shadow of her older sister.  Her lack of interest in being in the spotlight only made these fears stronger.

This year was great for a number of reasons but maybe the best thing, selfishly, is that she has shown me that those fears are no longer warranted.  She’s who she is.  Chloe, in many ways, is Elsa to Julianna’s Anna.

Chloe has come out of her shell in many ways this year, or in Frozen terms, has taken off her gloves and let her hair down.  She’s loud and proud.

When I started this blog, I told myself that I wanted to cover the first 5 years of the girls’ lives.  At the time, that felt like a good goal.  With this post, in my mind, the goal has been reached.  I suppose I’m finished…

But then how would you know how Chloe’s Kindergarten transition went?