4 years old

My sweet girl is four years old. I'm okay with it, as long as she doesn't get any older after this. Four is good. Five? Six? Seven? I can't even imagine. I might keep her like this forever if I could.

Stats: Celia is still very small for her age. She weighs just under 28 pounds, and is about 36 inches high. She wears size 3T clothes.

All About Pita:

- Celia is shy at first, but very friendly. She likes pretty much everyone she meets. Even when she doesn't really like someone, she doesn't like to say so. There are a couple boys at school who I can tell are kind of rough and crazy, and it sounds like that bothers Celia but she will still say she likes them.
- She wants to know everything about everything and everyone.
- She is, like me, an idealist. She has a vision of how people should behave with each other, and doesn't understand it when other children aren't nice or misbehave in public. Whenever we see something like that, she always asks me about it afterwards. Sometimes when she interacts with other kids, I can see she's expecting them to behave in a certain way (friendly, sharing toys, having full adult conversations like she does- ha!), and she seems a little concerned when another child doesn't reciprocate.
- Pita Girl has the sweetest little face. She just has cute little features and she's such a tiny little thing that  her face is so sweet looking.
- She is not sweet and kind all the time. She tends to give me a hard time. She gives Chris a hard time too, but I think I get the brunt of it because I spend the most time with her.
- She is very helpful. I've started having her help me clear the dinner table, and she is able to bring things over to me at the sink and put things away in the fridge. She's also great at getting things for me, especially helping take care of Henry.
- Pita is a very good big sister. She and Henry have their conflicts, of course. Usually they involve Celia climbing all over him or taking something he's playing with. But in general they have so much fun together, and she is wonderful with him. She has such a good understanding of the level he's at. She helps feed him and take care of him, and as long as they're in a safe area I can trust her to watch him if I have to go to the bathroom or run outside to start the car. She knows what kinds of things are and are not safe for him to play with, and makes sure he only has safe things. She makes him laugh. It's so cute listening to her talk to him. She talks in a high-pitched voice and talks to him like a little mommy.

Development:
- Celia knows the days of the week and their order. She knows the four seasons. She is starting to develop an understanding of months and weeks. She's also starting to develop a general sense of time, and is interested in clocks and learning about time.
- She is learning some things socially at school that make her seem too big for her britches. Perfectly normal and small things, but not necessarily things I want her to learn. I'd rather she stay more innocent for a while longer. I wonder where the other kids learn these things from. Probably older siblings? Or maybe they watch more tv and are exposed to things Celia isn't?
- She has started experimenting with calling me "Mom". I do not approve. I told her she has to call me Mommy at least until she's twelve. Ha!
- She is always asking questions. Constant, constant questions. Lately she asks a lot about what I do when I'm at work. She wants to know the names of my clients, what I do with them, what I do when I'm not with her. She's just generally really interested in what happens and what other people do when she isn't around. And she's developing her theory of mind further, always asking whether other people know things or see things. For example, for a while she would ask if her teacher knew what she was wearing when we hadn't been to school yet that day. And now she understands that someone can't have known or seen something they haven't seen yet, so she will ask if her teacher will be surprised when she sees what she's wearing.
- She talks nonstop. And by that, I mean literally nonstop. It is exhausting. And she not only talks constantly, but will ask the same question several times in a row even when it's already been answered. Drives. Me. Nuts. But is also completely normal for a preschool girl.
- She is developing all kinds of academic skills and is probably ready for kindergarten, except that she can't go for another year and a half. In fact she actually told me one day, "Mommy I'm ready to go to kindergarten, but I can't because I'm not old enough yet." I don't know how she thought of that! Next year she'll be in a pre-kindergarten class at school. I think she will love it. We had the option of keeping her in the same class next year, or moving her to the pre-kindergarten class. We love her teacher this year, but we all think she is ready to move on to new things.

Things She Likes:
- Reading books. She loves books.
- Pretending. Pita has quite an imagination and pretends different things all day long.
- Art and crafts. Painting, drawing, cutting, glueing, you name it.
- Writing. Celia is always asking how to spell things so she can write them.
- Active play. Riding her tricycle, scooter, or pillow racer all over the house, usually pretending something. Climbing, jumping, dancing, doing "tricks".
- Favorite tv shows: Daniel Tiger and Caillou. She also likes Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Cat in the Hat sometimes.
- Favorite foods: Pita is a great eater. Her favorite breakfasts are dry cereal, waffles, muffins, and berries. Her favorite lunches are nut butter sandwiches, pasta, veggie dogs, and tomato soup. For dinner, the vegetables are usually her favorite thing. Her favorite vegetables are green beans, broccoli, peas, carrots and sweet potato. She's sometimes picky about trying new things at dinner, but usually she ends up liking them.

This picture gets me. I don't know if I like it or not. There's something about her features and her expression that give a glimpse of what she will look like when she's older. 

A 4-Year-Old Interview with Celia:

What is your favorite color? "Pink and purple and red."

What is your favorite lunch? "Pasta."

Favorite dinner? "Rice and chickpeas and peas." (She said this because it's what we had last night and she liked it.)

What are your favorite fruit and vegetable? "Apple and broccoli."

What do you hope you never have to eat again? (She couldn't think of anything.)

What's your favorite thing about school? "Painting."

What makes you feel happy? "Cooking with Mumma."

What makes you excited about being four? "I'm gonna have a birthday."

What do you like to do with Mommy? "Bake."

What do you like to do with Daddy? "Play with Daddy."

What do you like to do with Henry? "Do what he's doing."

Where do you like to go? "I like to go to the grocery store. To the Shoppes. To Wegman's." (She likes grocery shopping with me every weekend. If it were summer, she would probably also say the park and playground.)

What would you like to be when you grow up? "A fire girl."