Magoo’s Fourth Birthday

To my Magoo on your fourth birthday,

I cannot believe that you are four years old today.  I think back to the day you were born, and it seems like yesterday, and yet I look at pictures of you when you were a baby and I can’t believe how grown up you are becoming.

I remember when you were a little baby; I would get so excited with each new milestone.  We were new parents, so every first for you was also a first for us.  I anxiously awaited each new step you took and each new word you spoke.  And now I have seen you take so many steps, and I am sad at how much time has already passed.

Three was a wonderful age.  You have had a strong personality from the beginning, but once you hit three and became even more verbal, your personality just began to shine.  I remember sitting on the floor of your room one morning as you choreographed an entire princess ballet for me.  You were insistent many days this year on having “adventures,” and you were adamant about knowing where we were going in the car at all times.  You didn’t really trust my sense of direction, and so you always felt like you needed to pay attention in the backseat.

You’ve been in dance class for just over a year now, and you love it.  It’s really fun to watch you interact with the other girls in class and with your teacher.  It’s so much fun to watch you carry on conversations with other people.  For the last four years, you have kind of lived in our little cocoon, and now you are starting to spread your wings, and it is a joy to watch you fly.

The biggest thing I will remember from this year is your imagination.  Each day, you make us call you by a different princess name, and you gave us all new princess names each day.  There wasn’t a single day this year when you weren’t wearing a “ball gown” or tutu.  Once, we went to Jewel, and you were dressed, head to toe, in your Little Bo Peep costume.  You even brought your staff.  It’s a bit hard to blend in places when you come along.

But your originality isn’t just in your dress, it’s also in the way you speak.  You have kept me laughing nonstop this year as I hear your explanation of how things work.  And you have quite the way with words.  Sometimes you just can’t seem to find the right word, and in these times, you just make up your own.  Today, you sang an entire song in words you just made up.

And you are quite intelligent.  You started reading this year.  Just before you turned three and a half, you started sounding out words.  You had fun with it off and on but didn’t have a huge interest in reading on your own until recently, and now that’s all you want to do.  You like to write words and read your BOB books and your Care Bear books.  Then you run around and tell everyone that you were able to read the book all on your own.  The excitement in your eyes sets my heart on fire.  I have spent the last four years trying to help you find a love of reading, and I am seeing that you indeed have this passion for books and the written word.

Yes, you are imaginative and you are smart, but what I am most proud of is how polite and kind you are.  We have had complete strangers stop us and tell us how polite you are.  And how you treat babies (Goose included) is a testament to just how kind you are.  You are always very gentle with them.  And you always make sure to say “please,” and “thank you.”

This year was filled with so many firsts, and I can’t wait to find out what four holds.  This year you will be starting preschool and some new extracurricular activities, and your reach will start to spread much farther than your family and your home.  I hope we have prepared you for this next leg of your journey through life.

I’m quite excited for four because the older you get, the more you can communicate, and the more I can understand what is going through your head.  But it’s also definitely bittersweet because somewhere in the fourth year, little kids seem to drop the little and just become kids.  I fear the excitement and passion and wonder you find in life might be tempered by a newfound maturity.  This will be a great accomplishment for you and will be a joy to watch, but always a part of me will hold on to these memories of you when you were just ours, and your world revolved around us, and your world was filled with wonder, joy, and excitement.

And so this year, as you start to spread your wings, please know that you are loved to the mountains and back, forever and always, stronger than the sun.  I hope you are brave enough to let your legs take you out the front door and into the world, but I hope you feel love in your heart strong enough to always look forward to coming back at the end of the day.

And yes, I know this makes it sound more like you are going away to college than just turning four, but you are growing up before my eyes, and that’s hard for a mama.