Where has that baby gone?

Our favorite 3 year-old girl just turned 4. It just reminds you how fast they grow up and how much they can change — and develop — during their early years. Child development experts say 4 is a year for sharpening old skills and picking up new ones at breakneck speed. It’s another jump-start year for one of our little ones. So I’m taking stock of what to look forward to… and what I need to keep doing.

From the shy, slow-to-warm toddler my daughter has turned social butterfly on the run-up to turning 4. Babycenter experts tell us “Even more reserved 4-year-olds tend to enjoy the company of adults and children of all ages, from the smallest babies to the oldest great-grandparents. Everybody seems fascinating now, from the mail carrier to cousins to random new faces on the playground.”

I was a bit concerned, as when compared to her brother, it took her longer to establish friendships . But see, sometimes we just need to let them develop in their own time. She’s definitely come out of her shell at age 4!

According to the National Network for Childcare, “Energetic and imaginative best describe the 4-year-old. Often impatient, they discover humor and spend a great deal of time being silly and telling you jokes.
Imagination suddenly becomes greater than life for the 4-year-old, who often confuses reality and make-believe. Wild stories and exaggerations are common. 

Four-year-olds feel good about the things they can do, show self-confidence, and are willing to try new adventures. They race up and down stairs or around corners, dash on tricycles or scooters, and pull wagons at full tilt. You still need to watch them closely as they cannot estimate their own abilities accurately and are capable of trying some outlandish and dangerous tricks.”

Yup, they seem to be talking about my daughter there.

Our life with our 4-year-old.

I have to give my budding reader more books and story time. Answer more of the chatty girl’s a-million-and-one hows and whys. Hand her more markers, pencils and paper to use her busy little fingers — not to mention those beads she loves to string together and the collages from scraps she likes to do.

And as with any birthday, comes a deluge of new toys and trinkets. Time to clean out the closets. Toys she hasn’t played-with in 6 months will be given to charity to make space for the new ones. I read somewhere that children who have too many toys around can develop a hard time focusing for very long. Makes perfect sense to me.

Lesser play things also means easier organization in the life of a mom with two preschoolers. It’s a life of happy chaos, and we try to put some order where we can.

For our favorite little girl… we hope she has fun being four and enjoys the new discoveries that lay ahead!

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