Miss Mia Turns 4!!!

Little Miss Mia:  Today you turn 4.

You have made it abundantly clear to us that, in turning 4, you are NO LONGER a baby, a toddler OR a little girl.  This transition marks the start of you being a BIG girl.  When you are 4 you will ride in a booster seat (you have been at the 40lb mark for eons it seems and desperate for this car status of maturity).  You will no longer wear diapers to bed (we will see about THAT one!) and you will go to big kid school and ride the bus with Tob-a in the fall.

Well, my dear, I have news for you.  You have been a big “little” girl already for quite some time.  Your independent style and affirmative approach to life has long heralded this impending status of maturity.  You started dressing yourself before we had a chance to teach you, and you practice this independent skill regularly with your frequent costume changes throughout the day.  You tell US when it’s time for nap and you CERTAINLY never let something like a schedule come in the way of your eating.  And one day this spring, not 4 months after your cautious brother learned to ride a 2 wheeler without training wheels, you decided to pick the bike up and ride it down the road.  Just like that.

One of the things we love most about you is your “yes please” approach to life.   I could suggest to you the most mundane of outings and your answer is always an eager affirmative.  You love life, living and just DOING.

And you ALSO love sweets.

Oh, the sweets…. I have NEVER in my LIFE met someone with a sweet tooth like yours.  I blame it on the 2 years of soy formula you were on (it’s slightly sweeter than regular milk) which very clearly honed your palate to the one-dimensional addiction of ANYTHING WITH SUGAR.  You even ate MARZIPAN the other day. WHO eats MARZIPAN?   Of COURSE you do – it’s got some sugar in it!

You do have a pretty sweet life, too, I have to admit.  You are the youngest and the bravest and are doted on by Mom and Dad AND Tob-a.    This past summer your number one girl Candice came into your life; she’s your very own Mary Poppins and the adventures and crafting you two get up to each and every day are astounding. 

This year also marks the year we moved onto Kayla crescent.  It’s a move that made life easier for us in many practical ways, but in your little world it means one very special thing: you now live 4 doors down from your BFF, future husband and true love Jack-Jack.  And NOTHING is sweeter than first true love. 

It seems silly; you’re both only 3 years old, but I don’t doubt you for a second when you tell me with your earnest enthusiasm that you love Jack-Jack with all of your heart.  I know you do.  Alex and I (who, by the way, would be QUITE willing to become in-laws, FYI) had to throw an emergency play date together one evening this Christmas holidays.  Amongst all the travel, family time and festivities it seems we neglected to schedule any time for the two of you and one day after an atrocious 7 days had elapsed without seeing each other you and Jack simultaneously and independently put your feet down and demanded of your respective mothers a play date.

I could go on forever, Mia, about your quirky nature, your eternal optimism and your zest for just about everything.  In many ways I would like to freeze you just the way you are right now, but I’m too excited to see how you are going to turn out and what this “big girl Mia” is going to be like.

But just for the record, kiddo, no matter how old or big you get…you will ALWAYS be my baby
 girl.