Zoe B, 1 month shy of 4 years old

Dear Zoe,

I am SO behind on this blog and DAILY you do and say things that remind me that I need to get all of this down but life is crazy with 4 kids in the house. Ya hear? CRAZY UP IN THIS BITCH.

As an almost 4 year old with a birthday one month away, you are busy planning it all out. You insist that all birthday celebrations need a piñata with candy AND toys that fall out. I'm with you, kiddo. The more Mexican celebratory events, the better. You were going to have a Totoro/Hello Kitty party but after last year's total disaster of a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I pitched you the idea of taking Gabby to the mall and doin' it up just the two of you. Luckily, you'll all over it. Score one for Mama.

You're asking for a Sit n' Spin and a Barbie Jeep. A huge ride-on Barbie Jeep. Way to aim big! I can't believe I'm actually typing this way but I'm going to try and dissuade you from the Jeep and point you toward the .... wait for it... ESCALADE. Not only because - duh - the more bling the better but because it actually looks bigger and not like a toddler toy. But we'll see.

You're also very excited about Christmas coming up. So much so that you walk around singing, "Decorate the halls with jolly" which is probably the best Christmas song ever. This Christmas is going to RULE because all of our family is coming to our house. It's going to be a lot of decorating the halls with jolly.

You're trying out a bunch of new words these days. Phrases like, "I am going to address that this bike is bigger than that bike." or "Look at my compression ball." or "Daddy, let's play Ardamendo library." Ardamendo? Huh?

Some of your pronunciations are also awesome - instead of "also" you say "oh so", so it sounds like you're adding emphasis instead of meaning in addition to. "I oh so oh so want you get orange juice at the store." I love it. You also say "last day" instead of yesterday or a few days ago. "Gabby and I did that last day." One of your new favorite things to say is "aye yai yai" (how the eff do you spell that?). Junie will spit up and you'll say, "aye yai yai, Junie, stop puking!"

You are LOVING preschool and you do a lot of pretend playing that you're at school. You even asked me if there is an iPad app where you go into the Elephant room and find your hook and have a job like counter or weather girl, etc. Your best friends at school are Carly and Abby - but ESPECIALLY Carly. You adore her.

There's a lot more to say but right now you're wanting me to play with you on the iPad and Junie is screeching like a pterodactyl because she's sleepy.

I'm having so much fun being your mom, kiddo. I love everything about you. I love that you're strong and bossy and funny and weird and awesome and sweet and sharp as a tack. I love that when you're mad sometimes you say, "I need some Zoe time" and you go into your room and slam the door. I love it even more that sometimes when you're having a hard time you say, "I think I need some Mama-Zoe time."

I love you, baby. My big almost 4 year old baby.
xx Mama