Ada: Four

Dear Ada,

Where do I start? You had your fourth birthday yesterday, and today will be your fourth birthday party.  We hired a real live princess to come to your party because that was the best way we could think of to make you feel special on your birthday.  You love princesses.  Your favorite thing about princesses is the beautiful dresses they wear, because you love dresses.  And fairies, dancing, and singing.  I never expected that my daughter would be such a GIRL, because I was never into these things.  You are teaching all of us.

You love to play by yourself, and you will "play princesses" for hours.  Ama gave you a group of princess dolls with interchangeable dresses for Christmas, and they are an unending source of fascination.  You will line them up to watch a show, or take them to swim lessons in their bathing suits, or cover them up with a blanket for a nap.  You also love to cook in your kitchen, or work on puzzles, or build with your Legos.  For your birthday, we gave you a game which includes ten different cupcakes which can be taken apart and put back together in endless combinations.  You were in heaven.

You have been taking weekly ballet classes for the past few terms, and it is the highlight of your week.  You love dressing up in your tights, leotard, ballet slippers, and pink flowy skirt.  You spend hours standing in front of the mirror in your room practicing your moves.  First position, second position, first position, second position.  You are going to be in a dance recital in June, and I'm sure you will be the cutest lion ever.  You also love to dance to more contemporary music.  We have dance parties all the time, and you are definitely the best dancer in the family.

Ada, you are becoming so brave.  In the past year, you have learned to ride a scooter, climb halfway up the rock wall, swim across the pool, and ride a balance bike.  You are still somewhat apprehensive of new people and situations, but after you warm up you are the life of the party.  You are always listening to the conversations around you, and you'll often interject with a hilarious comment or question.

You like to sleep late (like your mom) and you are very grumpy in the morning if you are woken up before you are ready (like your mom).  Some days, you'll sleep in until after 10am.  It's nice for mom to have someone else in the family who is not a morning person!  You still love your milk, and I think you would drink it all day long if we let you.  Other favorite foods are bacon, carrots, nuts, and cheese.  You are tall for your age, and you're wearing mostly 4T and 5T clothes at this point.  Your torso is very narrow, so you can still fit into your favorite 3T dresses - they are just short dresses instead of knee-length.  You have beautiful blond hair that is a complete bear to comb.  Every morning you wake up with a head full of tangles.  We've started cutting it very short in the back to avoid the 30 minutes of screaming every morning, and it looks adorable.

You have been trying really hard to be potty trained, but it is difficult for you.  Most days are accident-free at this point, but we still have a long way to go before we can stop buying diapers.  As my childhood pediatrician Dr. Pagano used to say, "I've never seen anyone walk down the aisle in a diaper."  You'll get there.

Ada, you are full of joy and laughter and sunshine.  We are so happy to have you in our family.

Love,
Mama