Goosie,
I am looking over at you. You are sitting on the couch with your sisters watching Star Wars while sniffing your white blanky and wearing the birthday crown you got at preschool.
To me, that sight is precisely what 4 is.
4 is you wanting to cuddle up next to me at nap time and get as cosy as possible under the covers.
4 is you getting so excited at times that the words all get mashed together while your brain and your mouth try to get on the same page.
4 is the little girl who fell asleep on my lap at mass last week and laid in my arms like a little baby for over half an hour.
4 is all the best sights and sounds and loves of the last 4 years. 4 is the baby you once were and the toddler you are growing out of.
But 4 is also the thirty minute long conversation we had this morning where you were trying to figure out what was alive so you could figure out what was growing just like you.
4 is the chapter books that you insist on looking through even though you can’t read them and there aren’t a whole lot of pictures.
4 is the conversations that we can now have as your mind grows ever and ever more complex as you learn to maneuver through this world.
After all, 4 is all you are becoming. All the promise you hold. All the mountains you will climb and hearts you will hold. 4 is the young lady you are becoming.
And Goosie at 4…
Goosie at 4 is the little girl who has insisted on calling herself, “The Birthday Girl” all day.
Goosie at 4 is you crawling into my bed this morning and almost trembling with excitement when I reminded you that it is your birthday.
Goosie at 4 is the little girl who comes running at me full speed after school to jump into my arms.
And Goosie at 4 is my little princess who believes the person who wears the most clothes is the fanciest.
In other words, Goosie at 4 is pure Goose. My creative, original, passionate, caring, insightful, and empathetic little force of nature.
Four years ago, I met you for the first time. I looked into your eyes and I saw fire. Today, I know you well. I know your heart as well as mine. And when I look into your eyes I still see fire.
I have to admit that I have been a bit sad all day today. Four seems so old. It’s the precursor to big kid things.
But then I remember that with each passing year, you become more and more who you are and who you are destined to be.
I don’t know what roads this life has for you. I don’t know what challenges and joys await you. But I do know that I cannot wait to see how you tackle them with the style and sass only my Goosie can muster.
The last four years have been a whirlwind, and quite often you were at the center of it. Being your mom is one of the greatest honors of my life.
You love big just like you live big, and I count myself among the luckiest people in the world to get to be on the receiving end of that love.
So here’s to new adventures and journeys and all that this year will have in store for us.
I love you my Goosie. To the moon and back, forever and a day, big as the whole wide world.