Four Years

Four years ago a long-awaited wish was about to come true.  In less than a week,  I was about to finally have that sibling for my son.  I was about to meet my only daughter.  I was so proud of how hard we had fought to get to that point.

Now...I am in total wonder at the darling little girl I see growing up in front of me.

She is full of energy and curiosity.    Her personality is developing and emerging and it is so wonderful to watch.

A glimpse at Willow on the verge of being FOUR:

• Recently the "whys" have begun.  Questions come quickly and with thought as to how the world works and why.  It is exasperating sometimes but it is rewarding to see how she is learning about her world.

• She loves to make up songs about almost anything.  

• She is a bit frustrated because she is not quite able to draw her letters, but we are working on it and her sense of accomplishment when she does it is incredible.  Her counting is a bit better--although she likes to throw in the occasional letter into the mix "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, R, 10, 11, W"    (btw, "W" is for Willow!)

• Favorite phrases: "...just joking!"; "...how about that, isn't that a great idea?"; "...oh, that is beautiful!"; "How about I play the baby and you be the mommy?"

• She has a sly grin and charming ways to get things she wants: another round of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse; some Dunkin Donuts; "just two more minutes"

• Her sense of style, with her love of shoes and tutus, dresses and barrettes.  Her love of pretty things in general.

• Our influences on her are evident in her love of zombies and monsters (especially werewolves).

• She loves her brother--has already says she wants to marry him when she grows up.

• Loves getting tickled, loves playing hide and seek and loves playing with the cats.

• She is very friendly.  She will come up to complete strangers to say "hi" and to ask where the bathroom is.  She is a little go-getter.

• She seems to have a love/hate relationship with bugs.  We recently tried to address this by letting her keep a beetle in a jar for a bit--to get her on board with the fact that bugs are a part of the outdoors life..she loved the beetle to pieces--but our cats also wanted to "love" the beetle, so we had her send it "home" in a patch of leaves outdoors.

• She loves climbing and swinging and running and dancing.  Sometimes all at once.

There is so much I wish I could capture about Willow here.  But my words are inadequate.  Spending time with her can be exhausting (I call her Whirlwind Willow).  Those times when she does slow down, I hold her in my arms, brush aside her hair from her ear.  That ear that I saw so long ago in an ultrasound...I cannot imagine our world without her.