Dear Avery -- 4 years old

Dear Avery – 4 years old

Hard to believe you are four. Some days it seems as though you are 14. You have the sassiness and mood swings of a teenager, and your favorite two songs at the moment are “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Call me Maybe”. You insisted on getting your ears pierced for your 4^th birthday and did so without a single tear or flinch, but you absolutely refuse to let me pull back (or even brush) your hair . So your sparkling ears remain hidden. You are stubborn and strong-willed. You are a mini-me.

Still, though, you are my baby doll and always will be. You need reassurance every night that there are no fires, monsters or bugs in your room, and even after that, you spend most of your nights on the cot next to our bed where Mommy and Daddy are close. You request multiple kisses and hugs at drop-off at the gym and at school, and you know that a mother’s kiss cures all boo-boos. I am in no rush for you to grow up.

In spite of that, you are doing it a little bit day by day. You make this little thinking face when your wheels are turning. And they are turning all the time now. You have big ideas and are never shy to follow through. You started planning your birthday party back in July. We couldn’t take a trip to Target without carefully searching the party aisle for princess plates, pink napkins and favors for the goody bags. Never mind that we already had a stack of princess plates and pink napkins at home, and we were bursting with puzzles, pencils and notebooks, you wanted everything to be perfect…and well…you just wanted everything. You had pages and pages of guest lists – a boy page, a girl page, an adult page, etc. You originally had at least 35 kids on the list and every single one of them was truly and honestly your friend. What can I say? You are my sunshiney little social butterfly. 

You and I worked hard to plan the party. We were partners. We created,  printed, stuffed and stamped invitations, browsed and ordered the princess castle bouncy house and drew out the layout for your backyard bash. To say you were excited was an understatement.

In the end we had about 23 kids crammed into our playroom while our backyard soaked up all the rain. Yes, after all that planning and dreaming of a beautiful, colorful, crisp fall day, it rained and poured all over your parade. And do you know what you did? You LOVED it. There was never even one moment of disappointment. We completely pinked up our dining room and living room with tablecloths, balloons and streamers and we went with the flow. We set up the big wet bouncy house right outside the playroom door and Daddy helped pass kids back and forth. Some of the kids even enjoyed the big bubble table that you were so adamant about having. It was an ultimate lesson in being easy-going (something we focus on daily with you) and you passed with flying colors. I am so proud of you. You had the time of your life.

You are growing into such a big, beautiful, smart little girl. You can write your name, identify letters and sounds, count to 100 and add simple numbers. You read your first book recently and were so proud to read it again…and again…and again. You are passionate about books and love going to story hour at the library every week and picking out a whole pile to bring home with us. You even sleep with a whole basket of books in your bed. You love gymnastics and dance and you love to play soccer (especially with Daddy as your coach!) 

You absolutely love school, and I was so honored to accompany you as the parent volunteer last week. You are the mother hen of the class. I see how already at age 4 you are a leader -- marching to your own drum in your dress-up wedding gown. You marched and you sang until every other little girl in the class had on a princess dress and was marching along right behind you. You were the star of the show and you loved every second of it. You are such a pleasure to watch.

 People look up to you and I think they always will. You just have that quality about you. It is your gift. My wish for you (and my responsibility as your mother) is to make sure you always use that gift for the good. Do good and others will follow.  Be an up-stander, not a by-stander. Treat others kindly. Stay true to yourself. 

And always stay my baby doll.

Love,

Mommy