Where does the time, and my brain, go?

If a few mere hours, my baby will be 4 years old. No longer a baby I guess, not even a toddler. She is a child, a little girl with a mind and opinions of her own.

Some days I am amazed by the clarity of thought with which she can tell a story, or remember some event that I'd never have thought important, or with how much love and caring she can show to us and especially to her little brother. And then, not a full 5 minutes later, I am amazed at the teenage attitude and stubborn streak that never fail to have me gritting my teeth and saying things like; "Because I said so" or the all time favorite "Just Because!"

Tonight after an especially trying trip to K-mart, I decided that I needed a quiet moment with her. I didn't want either of us to start her birthday in the morning by being irritated with each other. We pulled out her baby book. We looked at pictures and I told her some of my favorite little stories from when she was a newborn. We compared her foot now, to the little footprint the hospital made for us the day she was born. We measured how tall she was now, and then I showed her how big she was when she was born. I was a little choked up and surprised to find that I had forgotten some of the details of her birth... when did I start feeling pains, when did we get to the hospital, what exact time was she born. Those are crucial statistics and I already need a book to remind me after 4 short years.

She was only interested in turning the pages by herself and getting the tape measure off the counter. BY HERSELF, NO, I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO HELP! She didn't care that I couldn't remember that she was born at 9:58am. She only wanted to stay up 5 more minutes and practice sticking out her tongue like her 3 month picture.

I miss my baby, I'm a little unsure about this little girl, but I can't wait to see my daughter grow more each year. Happy Birthday Brianna, I love you!