4 years

(alaythia in a dress from hong kong that my grandparents
brought back for me when i was in elementary school.)

i find myself staring. all hints of baby-ness are gone. her last stomach bug even rid of her last bit of baby chunk. she's a girl. not a toddler, not a preschooler - but a young girl.

her life is so wrapped up in her brother's life. his friends are her friends, although most she never even talks to. so it was difficult to figure out who to invite for a party. most of her 'friends' are 6 year old boys who would never come to a princess party.

so we decided to go girl-out. grandma was in town and did it up right. we booked a hotel room for just alaythia, her grandma and me. we had a tea party, we watched movies, we went swimming. we had starbucks in bed and played hide-n-go seek. she feel asleep sandwiched between us, each singing, one playing with her hair and one tickling her back.

alaythia is nurturing and kind. she's smart and funny. she is opinionated and stubborn. perfectly comfortable in who she is and what she wants. her personality and her determination are astonishing to encounter. she's hungry to learn eagerly joining us with school. she loves to show off what she knows to anyone who will listen. she loves princesses and weapons, flowers and movies, dance and soccer.

simply put - she is her own girl. for example, today she had a beautiful floral dress on, with two pistols in their holster around her waist, polka dot rain boots on her feet and wild hair whipping in the wind. as he watched her run around the front yard, i wish you could have seen her dad's face beam.

this young girl - who is so much i'm not - brings so much living to my life. and she is much more than i could have ever imagined in a daughter. she's an amazing little girl, and celebrating her 4 years of life is such a joy.