BB is four years old. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will tell you quite plainly: princess. I don’t think she’s joking or naive about this either. If any little girl were going to grow up to be a princess, it would be my daughter. If any little girl could achieve her wildest dreams, it would be her. She is stubborn, determined, charming, funny, intelligent and frankly, beautiful.

When she’s not loving all things pink and princess, she is a free spirited wild child who is never afraid to get her hands dirty. She loves karate classes and making fairy gardens out of sticks, stones, leaves and acorns. She loves to dance ballet but has her own opinions about what that means exactly.

She can spell her name but likes to put the letters in random order to make it more interesting. She loves to read books but cannot read, but doesn’t seem to realize this fact at all. She flips through the pages of her favorite books and makes up her own stories, telling them with enough conviction that an onlooker might think she actually knows the words.

Her drawings range from rough sketches that almost resemble something to a free form scribble that makes perfect sense in her mind but mostly looks like PINK or squiggle. She will tell you about the drawing at great length if you ask.

One of her favorite things to do is repeat her brother verbatim. She wants to do everything he is doing and loves to mimic him. If he asks to have a cookie, she will ask to have a cookie even if I just told her brother no. If he asks what is for dinner, she will ask what is for dinner, even if I just answered him right in front of her. If his favorite color is blue, her favorite color is blue, except that it’s really pink.

She pretty much has given up naps but I don’t think she’s really ready to which means that most days she is exhausted and often pretty cranky, too. Sometimes she falls asleep on the floor an hour before dinner time because ohmygodisshetired.

She loves pretty skirts and accessories and head bands and new bags. She always notices if I am wearing a new outfit or got my hair cut and her favorite thing to wear is whatever is the most new. She is not afraid to mix patterns and loves colorful outfits. She says things like “Mommy, you look marvelous!” and gives the biggest hugs and kisses, whether you want them or not. But usually we do!

BB is precocious, unpredictable, silly, sweet, stubborn, determined and fantastic. She is undefinable and fiercely independent. She makes her own rules and breaks them, too, just because she can.