And Now Maeve is Four

Here I am again, the Earth has made another trip around the sun since my baby girl was born. I won't retell her birth story again, but I do just like to pause and remember.

Four years ago she wasn't quite here yet, she was born at 3:30 in the afternoon. But I was more than ready to be done with labor, having just about hit the 24 hour mark of contractions, having already walked the halls for hours, had pitocin, been monitored, and worst of all had my "progress" checked by the OB (which hurt more than anything else in the entire process). But when she did get here, she looked like this.

A year later, on her first birthday, she was walking and using a few tiny words. She was already big and strong, loved to be held, and was about to take her second trip to England. She had a dinosaur themed birthday party that year, and began her lifelong love affair with balloons.

Another year later, we had just moved out of our apartment and into our first house. We were not even completely unpacked, but we threw her a birthday party with a space theme, as she was big into the planets at that time, and could name and describe them all. She had just awakened from a nap when the guests arrived and she she was pretty sleepy and cranky at first, but she soon warmed up to her party. At that age, she was speaking in short sentences, still using her pacifier, and had not yet embarked on potty training.

And last year, she had a Wonderpets party, her only character-themed birthday party so far, and it was tricky to pull off since Wonderpets hadn't been on the air for several years at that point. Maeve was old enough last year to really anticipate and get excited about her birthday, and she loved everything about it, the friends, the cake, the games. We played Pin the Feather on Ming Ming, and all the kids got to 'rescue' a stuffed animal from our yard to bring home. When she was just turning three, Maeve was dealing with enormous tantrums and big feelings, but was nearly potty trained.

And of course, this year, she had her tea party, which was a lot of fun. Having her friends all over at once was probably her favorite part, besides eating all the frosting off her cupcakes. She got lots of active kid gifts like skates, a bouncing ball, and a bike, and this year she's interested in nature, anatomy, princesses, and math. I do keep asking myself how we got here, how my kid got this big, but you know, I was there for the whole thing.