Tomorrow Millie turns 4 year old. I’m a little shocked by that. How is it possible that 4 years have gone by already?
It’s so obvious now that she is no longer a baby or a toddler, but a little girl. Physically, she is getting taller and really thinning out – no more baby fat. Her face is thinner and seems longer. She is so verbal, sometimes I think much more so than the other kids in her class. She has logic now – she can understand, to some degree, cause and effect. She has learned to lie, which is both funny and sad. She has a great imagination. She loves to sing songs. She likes to dress up in costumes. She is learning to write her name.
One of the best things she does now is say, “I love you mommy” without being prompted. Or sometimes, even better, she will say, “I like you mommy”. She will tell me she likes my necklace or shoes, and she wants me to put makeup on her. When I put her to bed at night, I’ll say, “What’s first?” and she will say, “Hugs!” and give me a big squeeze. She has memorized some of her books, and “reads” to me at night, instead of me reading to her.
I always tell her she is my favorite girl (I’m glad my second was a boy so I didn’t have to change that), and she really is. I love her, of course, but I really like her too. Yes, she can be extremely frustrating at times (she hates to go to bed and doesn’t listen to us very well), but she can be equally charming and funny too. I love listening to her explain something – she gets very serious and very expressive.
We are taking her to the children’s museum tomorrow which I know she will love because she loves to use her imagination and is very curious – two things that are key at the museum. Afterwards we are coming back to the house for pizza and cupcakes (she chose chocolate cupcakes with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles). We’ll get out our special birthday plates, one of our new traditions. She is very excited and I’m excited to see her have a good time.
I love you, Millie. Happy Birthday.
Millie Clara, 4 years old
My birthday girl
