Four, going on...

Oh my lord, she's FOUR. I can't believe it. I feel like I don't even remember her being one, or two (I still remember three because that was just three days ago. Give me another month and my swiss-cheese memory will surely erase that year, too.)

Of course, she's four going on... Thirteen? Yeah, that's about right. What a different experience the fourth time around, with tweens and teens in the house! For better or for worse...

When Ethan was Mira's age, he:

• Had never tried gum
• Had mostly only seen Barney, Caillou and Sesame Street on TV
• Had never had even a sip of soda
• Was not allowed to wear a t-shirt he got for his birthday with a certain Nickelodeon character on it, because I disapproved of said character's inane TV show
• Had a CD collection that consisted of Raffi, Wee Sing and {shudder} Veggie Tales. The coolest thing he listened to was They Might Be Giants "Here Come the ABCs," and that's only because a friend gave it to us

I remember a parent discussion in my Early Childhood class when Ethan was four. Most of the parents were younger, like me, but there were a handful of "veteran" parents attending the program - moms who were older, and had two or three school-age kids in addition to the pre-schooler doing the Early Childhood gig. (One of those moms, I recall, shared that she was starting an exercise program called "Fit by Forty." I was shocked that she was so old - it may as well have been "Fit by Seventy" to my twenty-something-year-old ears. Now when I think back to that, I mentally smack the younger Jules upside the head, chastising, "Forty's not old. You're just ridiculously young and stupid!" But I digress...)

We were talking about children's music that day in the parent discussion group, and what our kids liked to listen to. Many of us shared similar, tame tunes that our little ones enjoyed. But one woman, Ann, mom to three girls including a (gasp) teenager, smiled sheepishly and said, "Mikayla will only listen to Britney Spears." (Britney Spears? Well I never!... ) Like many untested parents, I was quick to judge (silently, at least). It was beyond me why a seemingly competent parent would allow her innocent babe to belt out lyrics like "When I'm not with you I lose my mind/Give me a sign, hit me baby one more time."

Oh, how little I knew!

I am now mom to a darling, spunky pre-schooler who thrives at school, plays with gusto, finds her own jokes the funniest thing in the world, gives kisses and hugs and "I love you"s without abandon... and walks around here belting out "Baby you light up my world like nobody else/The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed/But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell/Oh oh, you don't know you're beautiful.."

Now I get it. You cannot keep your youngest in a bubble, especially when the older siblings adore her so much (and she them). For better or worse, Mira is exposed to way more than the older three were (they were close enough in age that Gracie's sophistication at two wasn't much different than Ethan's at six).

I'll never know if Mira's spark (precociousness) comes from birth order and her obsession to keep up with the older sibs, or if it's simply plain old personality, but she is amazing. It feels like everyone knows her, and everyone loves her. I am forever shaking my head - in amazement (she can dribble a basketball like a third-grader and throw herself into a perfect cartwheel with ease); in embarrassment ("What makes You Beautiful" isn't the only pop tune she knows the words to); in exasperation (she loves to say things like, "Ha ha, I'm gonna say a bad word! You're POOP!" and laugh uncontrollably; and in wonder because even after three and a half years, I still can't believe how lucky I am to have her as my daughter.

Since she just celebrated her birthday, I will share some Mira Facts:

• Her speech has greatly improved. In fact, if she were evaluated now she probably wouldn't qualify for services. That said, she still confuses personal pronouns and regularly refers to Abby and Gracie as "he" or "him" (as in, "Gracie won't let me have that doll but I tell him it's mine but he don't give it to me. He won't share!" I should be correcting her but I find it so cute that I hardly ever remind her that we actually refer to girls as "her."
• She is a daredevil, but bugs make her nervous.
• When she can't remember something, or doesn't want to answer, she says, "I can't know that."
• I am pretty sure she could probably run a mile without stopping.
• She is comfortable sidling up to any person who is snacking and asking, "Whatcha eating?" and then exclaiming longingly, "Ooo, I LOVE that!" (I do intervene when this happens.)
• Her favorite birthday present was kid makeup. She loves to put it on herself, and wow is that a look! Kind of clown-meets-geisha-meets-Al Jolson's "Mammy." (I know, I know.)
• She will pull off her swimsuit in the middle of the yard, but gets mad if Gracie sees her changing clothes in their bedroom.
• She has a wonderful sense of humor and laughs so hard, even at four, that she sighs a big, happy, "Ahhh..!" once she catches her breath.

Birthday girl

Makeup!

You see that gleam in her eye? Oh, lord.