Loopy Lou,
Four years old and still everyone's little baby girl. You are the cherry on top of the ice cream of our family. Anyone who sees you, smiles because you are all of our love and joy and cuteness aggression rolled up into our girly-pop.
You love to pretend that life is a musical and you sing, dance, twirl, and make hilarious facial expressions acting through all the little moments of our days. The youngest of six, a Coach for a Dad, and a teacher mom who loves to read...you should hear the vocabulary you throw around all in correct context. People all the time are double checking your age - because the way you speak and make commentary is disorientating for a four year old. But you have so many people that you are parroting all day.
You like playing babydolls which mostly means putting a million random things in mini backpacks and making huge messes all over the house (just like your big sisters used to do!) Speaking of making messes - you are a little sneaky thing getting into everyone's everything: Grey's fly fishing stuff, Gemma's make up, Violet's art supplies, Rusty's legos, and Reddy's stuff (literally anything Reddy has, you want). You sneak in, play and mess around with it, and then incriminate yourself by leaving it all in a mess - not even hiding your tracks! Little sisters need to be more sly, Loopy girl; you better get it together so you can blame someone else - but you aren't fooling anyone right now!
When I went into your preschool classroom this year for you parent-teacher conference I giggled the entire time like a lunatic at hearing your teachers talk about you. They went on and on about how you follow rules and raise your hand and help classmates. How you do your worksheets and clean up the toys, gently encouraging classmates and being patient with friends who need extra help or time. I sat there mesmerized and giggling because who even is that? You are so much the baby at our house that it is so hard to imagine you being your own little person out in the world. You're an independent good girl out here in the world?! What an incredible gift it was to hear your teachers talk about you in this version of you that I don't know (yet). I am so proud of the girl you are when you are free to be you without the triple safety net of baby of the family that we force on you! Apparently you are totally fine and cool despite the smothering we provide!
You know how to play the baby of the family card (literally saying, "but I'm the baby of the family!" if we ask you to do a chore). We are doing a lot of work on acting like a big girl and using words to talk about what we want and how we feel instead of just whining and crying. It will be a long road, but we persist and continue to try to give you opportunities to be a big girl and we are all trying very hard to avoid giving in when you baby girl it up.
You are Grey's 'best girl' and love when he dotes on you telling you are the 'prettiest baby girl' but he also is astounded at your sassiness telling me regularly that I would have never let him and Gemma get away with the stuff that you do. Gemma is your 'girly pop' which is what you call each other and you two girly-girls are peas in a pod. You love going through her make up and talking like her and all her friends. Violet and you are learning how to play together and are enjoying each other's company more and more. You like learning all her cheers (you cannot wait to be a cheerleader some day!) and she is patient with you while you play babydolls and Barbies. She recently made Barbie clothes out of old socks for you which you both loved doing together. You are so lucky to have a big brother like Rusty who is so patient and generous with you. He always includes you in his imaginative play and secedes to your hopes and wishes on how the game goes. Reddy is your right hand man - you two bopping around like twins but you are the one in charge. He watches you with mostly an amused look on his face like 'get a load of this girl' while he follows your whims and hopes. You baby him if he feels sad or hurt and will stand up to anyone in our house in his honor.
You love your cousins so much and can slip seamlessly in the world of pretend with them; deep in imagination with Wells and Heath. You love to mother baby Blairy, even wanting to carry him around and take care of him (although he is nearly as big as you). You are initially shy around new people but once comfortable you are eager to include them among your friends and be your full on sassy pants self. The best friends of your older siblings are all your friends too now that you're comfortable with them and you will jump into their arms for a spinning hug when you see them - they all say, "Loopy!" when they see you.
The hardest part of being your momma, Olive, is letting you grow up. That's true for all my babies, but especially for you. Because as my baby, all of your firsts are all my lasts.
There are some things I am looking forward to growing out of like car seats and a hamper full of tiny clothes since little kids change their outfits several times a day. I'm ready to say hello to all kids who can shower independently and reaching the minimum age of children's over the counter medicine.
But I am not ready to say goodbye to many more things. You still hug around the neck and want to snuggle on the couch. You like to hold hands and prefer to sit on laps than in your own seat. You still speak creatively while learning language, saying things like "yesterday's yesterday" (the day before yesterday), and "I think it is 52 o'clock." Your delight reminds all of us that the world is magical and beautiful as long as you're willing to pay attention to it. You point out flowers and the moon. You tell everyone they look fancy and giggle fiercely if we even act like we are going to chase you. Resetting your whole mood is as simple as a twirl and a hug.
I will try my best to give you the space you need (and deserve) to turn into the incredible YOU that I know you are. There's a lot of hopes and wishes we all have for you - what a gift to be the baby of the family; all of us out here (parents and siblings) trying to give you the best of what we all have because we've been through it before and we think we know anything about anything. But it can be a lot of pressure, I imagine; carrying all those hopes and dreams and wishes. My baby girl, I am so grateful for that sassiness inside of you that gives you the strength to look us all in the face and give us a piece of your mind - we are going to need it occasionally. Although you are the tiniest of us, it appears that you are the mightiest.
I love you forever and ever
even if you get to be the sassiest Boss girl this side of the Mississippi
and even when you aren't a little squishy baby girl
you'll still be MY baby girl
no matter how grown you get
forever
I'll always be loving you,
Momma.
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