Evie, on the other hand, is none too thrilled with the idea of aging. She apparently is quite happy staying 3.75 forever. She has told me multiple times she doesn't want to be four and can't she stay 3.75 until she is 25 years old? She caught on to the idea of childhood going too quickly way earlier than I did. I don't think I wanted to stop being older until I was 25 either. But I didn't figure that out until I actually turned 25! She has said she is afraid to turn four. I think that is perhaps because we've explained that with age comes responsibility. And she is smart enough to know that doesn't sound like much fun at all. She sees that Cora doesn't have "real" chores yet (let's be honest, neither does she. Only on the nights we really enforce them does Evie have chores...). She also sees that Cora gets in trouble much less often. That is of course changing by the hour. Cora gets in trouble much less often because she does much less to get in trouble. But Cora is movin-on-up in that regard. Almost 18 months old and the girl KNOWS she is cute. Probably because every person she sees tells her that. But she hams it up. Making little faces and blowing kisses and waving and smiling ear to ear. It must be tough to be 3.75 or 4 and see your little sister get all the attention from strangers.
There are of course exceptions. Evie loves to watch me go to my dance class at the gym. The instructor, Missy, loves Evie and Evie ADORES Missy. At the end of each class, Evie goes running in just to say hi and Missy is so wonderful and encouraging to her. She always gives her a huge hug and tells her how awesome she is, and then tells her she should stick with ballet if she wants to dance like mommy does (hopefully better than mommy does, but that's another story). Molly, our neighbor, always is so excited to see Evie and has even apologized for not paying Cora enough attention. Evie is over the moon anytime she sees Molly, probably more so than when she sees any of her kids. I think these two women see something special in Evie and as a result she shows them her best self every.single.time. Or perhaps because she loves them so much she shows them that best self, and they therefore see something special. Not sure which it is, but I'm always so encouraged when I see her interact with either of them. She beams. And it helps me to see those best parts too, because often times she does not save those for me. Often times I'm the one she saves the worst for. And, I understand that's my role as her mom. I'm her safety net. She can be her worst and know I still love her. And I do.
Today we got to go to her school to celebrate her fourth birthday. They had an awesome ceremony where the birthday girl/boy gets to bring in a special snack, make a poster with pictures from each birthday, and bring in a book they want their parents to read to the class. Evie was so excited and proud to have us there. You could tell she was nervous about her role in the ceremony (walking around a "sun" with a globe in her hand representing the passing of each year), but she smiled so eagerly as we talked about her birthdays and read her story. Originally we thought Will had to work and told her it would only be me coming. When I said daddy had changed his work schedule to attend, she said "that would be nice. But dad, don't you have to work?" and he replied he could do it later and she said "yah, that would be good". When we arrived for her class we could see her start setting up for us, grabbing a chair for each of us at the front of the room. And when the teacher didn't understand that was what she was doing, and sat in one of the chairs, Evie didn't freak out. She got a sort of perplexed look and then explained nicely to the teacher those chairs were for her mom and dad. She was polite and gracious and absolutely adorable. Our little girl growing up before our very eyes. I just wish I could bottle up these moments and replay them over and over again. I know her teenage years will be here before I know it. I want to protect her and never let her out into the real world. I read the news of the horrific terrorist attacks and think we'll move to a deserted island. I talk to students in high school and college about the all-consuming pull of social media and I want to run. Donald Trump might actually become president of this country. I want to scream. I know that all I can do is just cherish her childhood and not wish it away. So, perhaps, I'm with her on this. As up and down the year of 3 was, maybe staying 3.75 until she is 25 is in fact the way to go. 
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