A letter to the birthday girl

 Dear Reina:  Today, you are four.  Going on sixteen, eighteen, twenty-seven.  You are full of surprises and energy and spirit.  You march around the house, usually carrying a few stuffed animals and a collection of little pieces of plastic, barking out orders to anyone/anything in your path.  But you are also kind and sweet and already have a wicked sense of humor. 

Reina, I say this every year, but you are changing so much.  You recognize your name when it is written down and you are furiously trying to write it yourself.  You love to color and fill pages and pages with drawings - most of them are giant, swirling vortexes but they mean something to you.  You pretend to read and have a great memory for remembering the stories we read to you.  You then read them to Tootsie or anybody else who will listen.  You recite the title and then take a stab at the author's name, you come up with some creative words.... "I Don't Like Gloria by Jama Yokupooki." (not the author's real name)

Reina had a sick day earlier in the week and found a rapt audience in Tootsie.

Hang in there Tootsie! 

Reina, I can't list your favorite toy because there are so many and it changes daily.  You still love horses and kitties and you go through stages where you play with your dolls.  Your favorite thing right now is to serve up tea and dinner and other snacks and then watch while we pretend to be sick.  You laugh and laugh and then tell us to do it again.

You love to dance, Reina girl, and you have some moves.  Your teacher at Montessori tell us to sign you up for gymnastics because you have great balance and love your gymnastics time each week.  When I hear this, I doubt your parentage, because you come from a long line of folks with balance but maybe it's a genetic mutation or something.  You are playing soccer right now and we need to get you some swimming lessons before too long. 

Dancing with Daddy

You had a lovely birthday.  You were showered with presents from family far and wide.  You came racing into our room at 2:00 a.m., shouting, "is it my birthday yet?" 

We had a collection of friends over for your party.  You ate lunch, played games and raced around this house.  We wrapped up the festivities with a pinata. It was too cold to go outside so Daddy bravely hung on to one end of a broom handle while everybody whacked at the pinata on the other end.  Your brother was determined to be the one to crack it open. 

I think he's pretending he's holding a lightsaber and the pinata is Darth Vader.  Look at that serious face - and the adults running for cover!

Reina, you wrapped up the day with a visit to Aunt Vicky and Uncle Matt's house where you showered with more presents and your very own First Tattoo.  I posted this on Facebook but I'm pretty sure Aunt Vicky will be present when you get your First Real Tattoo.  She and I both hope it doesn't involve a purple unicorn. 

 

Reina, you are a delightful, exhausting little fireball.  And we wouldn't want it any other way.  Happy birthday sweet girl!