Four Feet More

Anyway, I know you wanted a pair of high-heels for your birthday, and I almost bought them for you.   Really, I did.  But then I thought about how fast you’re growing up, and how you used your allowance to buy that extremely bright red lipstick and pale blue eye-shadow, and I decided against it.  I just wanted to put off your years of dressing inappropriately a little while longer.  I’m sure you’ll make me pay for this when you’re a teenager, but for now I am relishing the fact that you still defer to my judgment on the matter of clothing and shoes.  However for you, I may wear my new pair of stilettos and dress like a girl for your birthday dinner outing.  You’ll just need to give me a few more lessons on how to walk properly in heels first.  It must be that Russian glamour gene, because you’ve been an expert at walking in high heels since toddler-hood.  You’d even give Suri Cruise a run for her money!

It’s been fun watching you grow from preschool age to preteen.  You’ve changed in so many ways, but some parts of you are still quintessentially Vika.  The way you purse your bottom lip when you are displeased about something.  The graceful way you move your hands when talking (not at all in the frantic Italian way of my family), and the superior look you lay on us when making a point you just know you are right about.  You can be stubborn as a mule, and your selective-hearing is maddening.  But you also have a generous heart and are the first one to think of making a card for someone to brighten their day.  You’re a born nurturer, taking care of your toddler cousin with patience and gentleness, even when he’s cranky.  Yet if your brother so much as looks at you, your hackles go up and you loudly tell him to “STOP!”  A study in contradictions - that’s our girl. 

Despite the tiny hole left in your heart by the loss of your Russian family, you are filled with love and embrace your relationships with family and friends.  It’s been a bit of a rough ride, and I know that sometimes you still feel insecure about your place in the world.  But these moments of sadness pass quickly and you pick yourself up, ready to face the next challenge.  You truly enjoy experiencing new things in life.  Your earlier trouble with reading is all but forgotten as you speed through books written for kids older than you.  It amuses me to see you reading encyclopedias as well – this is something I did as a child, and Babushka often teased me for it.  Perhaps you could bring an encyclopedia to her house to read next time you’re over there?  It would be nice for her to see that I’ve “passed the torch,” so to speak.    

Even though you think you’re really cool, we see evidence of your dorkiness on a daily basis.  When you look at us with those big brown eyes, mouth clamped shut and eyebrows raised to your hairline, dancing some crazy jig, the illusion of coolness flies right out the window.  But actually, the way you relish your dorkiness almost makes you cooler.  You probably won’t believe me about this until you’re 25, but it’s true.  I hope you always stay comfortable in your own skin.

You’ve got years head of you to figure that all out though.  For now, I am going to enjoy this time when you still think Mama and Papa are the holders of infinite wisdom and that time with us is the ultimate reward.   Because time with you is pretty rewarding for us too. 

Happy birthday, kiddo.  Here’s to your best year yet.