My baby is 10

My youngest child turns 10 today. My oldest is 20. I'm not one to be overly emotional about changes in life. I like the adventure of seeing what comes next. Still, my youngest is now in double digits. Hormones are starting to flow and full on puberty is not far away. Seems a bit weird that she would be this old and wanting Taylor Swift cd's instead of Barbies for her birthday. Little kids are so easy to shop for. I'm going to miss that stage.

Bessie

Is named after my grandmother who died a month before I became pregnant with her.

Looks very much like her brother Teddy, but has more in common with Tommy's personality.

She's devoted to her big sister. Her big sister is equally devoted to her.

I suspect she's the most musically talented of the 4. All play an instrument and Teddy is very gifted with his trumpet, but Bessie seems to pick up on things very fast. Faster than the others.

She's won an award for a film she wrote. At 6 she wrote a script to enter into the balloon film competition. At 7 she won "most inspiring film". Granted it was an award created for her by the competition's producers, but they also admitted she was in the top 3 of entrants. Everyone else who entered was at least 23.

She likes clothes, makeup and shoes way more that I ever did. Well, except for that point in the 80's where I dressed a lot like Boy George.

She NEVER forgets a birthday or other holiday. She's Dan's little reminder system.

She's so many things that the list could go on for pages. Mostly she's my little girl. For now. And she's the rest of the family's little girl too. Because her siblings are so much older than her, she's grown up with several 'parents'. There's always someone to tell her what to do. Got to be frustrating at times, but I guess the added security of always having a family member around is a good trade off for that frustration.

Happy Birthday Bessie. I love you.