Four and a Half!

I can't believe it, but today she is four and a half!

One of The Girl's best friends is exactly fifty-one weeks older than her.  It's fun to see what lies ahead by watching him, and I remember very clearly this time last year that his mother found the time bittersweet.  I couldn't really understand it.  Those crucial first two thousand days were quickly coming to a close for them, and now they are for us.  As the time has drawn closer, I got it.

The same sweet friends invited us to be a part of their annual school pictures, and the timing was perfect.  It would be five days after JayBird's second birthday, and just one month before The Girl turned four and a half.  We almost missed picture day because I was certain it was scheduled for Easter Monday.  Mixing up dates is not something that happens to me often so I was completely befuddled when my friend said, "...you ready for picture day tomorrow?"  Clearly, I was not ready.  I was focused on organizing our first camping trip later in the week.  My friends and I were out at a planning meeting.  Planning for camping.  Not for pictures.  As far as I knew, the children were home asleep in the room with their clothes.  So not only was I not ready, I knew that getting ready would risk waking the children.  Not a good feeling.

Thankfully, The Girl was awake when I got home.  (Did I just say that?)  I said to her, "You're not going to believe this, but picture day is not next week.  Picture day is TOMORROW!  What in the world are you going to wear?"  I kind of had an idea because The Nana had just bought two new dresses that touched the ground, and I was sure it would be one of those.  What I was really wondering was what in the world would  JayBird wear that would, you know, look good with one of those dresses.

The Girl, of course, knew exactly what she would wear.  "The blue and white dress, Mama!"  Me:  "Hmmm.  Not what I had in mind.  I thought you might choose one of your new dresses."  Her:  "No, Mama.  I'm going to be an Azalea Queen."  Me:  "Hmmm.  Whatever you say."

And then, The Papa:  "You're not going to let her wear that, are you?  At least take a change of clothes so you can get some different shots."  (You would think by now he would know that dressing children is not a battle I'm willing to fight.)  The two peas in a pod had a bit of a discussion about which dress she would wear, and here's the result:

The blue and white dress.  :)

The blue and white dress is one of The Girl's favorites.  Hardly a day goes by that she doesn't wear it.  She's especially proud that it belonged to her mother some thirty years ago.

Little Miss Bladen County, 1981

In the age of "Toddlers and Tiaras", the thought of her understanding how I "earned" that crown terrifies me.  She told me just today that her hair was "crazy" and that people would think she is rude and mean and ugly because of it.  :(  She was particularly worried that Joe Joe might see her and not be pleased because her hair was crazy.  :)  She spends a lot of time in the bathroom filling the sink with water so she can wet her hair and brush it down so much that not a single hair has a chance of sticking up.  Last week, however, her hair got too wet, and that, too, proved to be a problem.

Now that I think about it, I should have taken a video.  ;)

Anyway, all that to share that the dress used to be mine.  And now it's hers, and she loves it.  That makes me happy.  I honestly didn't fight her about wearing it because I knew she'd be smiling so big that no one would notice if she was even wearing clothes.  I only love pictures when they capture our lives.

When it was her turn, the photographer moved her toward the sitting area, and The Girl decided where she would sit.  In an effort to "break the ice", I suppose, the photographer said, "Ok, make a scary face!"  The Girl cocked her head, smiled, and replied, "I'm not interested to scary faces.  I'm an Azalea Queen."

An effort was made to get a shot of the children together in this setting, but apparently they didn't turn out very well.  The children had their own ideas of how they should pose, and it wasn't exactly congruent with the photographer's idea.  She got some good shots of them solo though.

Scraped knees and bruises:  real life.

And then, The Girl's favorite, and mine, too:

So there they are:  officially a toddler and a preschooler.  It's so hard to believe my baby is two, and the (tiny) baby I pulled out of the water onto my chest is now closer to five than to four.  A few years ago, I read The Red Tent, and one particular phrase was seared into my memory.  "I would have stayed forever within the garden of Re-mose's childhood, but time is a mother's enemy.  My baby was gone before I knew it, and the hand-holding toddler was replaced by a running boy."  When I first saw these images from the arboretum gardens, I nearly lost my breath because they perfectly illustrated that bittersweet metaphor.

Honestly, though, I have to say now while the memories are still fresh, that I'm not sure I would stay in this garden forever.  I think each stage of development lasts just exactly the right amount of time, and just as the trees have beauty in every season so do we as people.  I love the people my children are and are growing to be, and I look forward to the changing seasons!