But many people think she is already three even though she is awfully short. She speaks clearly and in complete sentences and has to hold her own among three other kids so I figure that is why she appears wise beyond her years already.
Debbie, her day care provider, thinks it’s because she doesn’t take crap from anyone. She is probably right.
Isla loves to read, too. She will bring you a book, and ask “What’s that?” even though she also has the answer, “strawberry” or “apple” or “rainbow.”
She also loves Moana and Coco and The Grinch. She will start yelling, “Where you are,” out of nowhere and “you’re welcome,” and it is her rendition of the popular Moana song. She will not say,”I want Moana,” until you figure out she is singing the songs. It is hilarious when you hear this game she plays with guests who don’t know her schtick yet.
Isla also loves food which is a good thing in my book. She eats non-stop. Any berry, cracker, bread, but her favorite thing has to be cheese. She yells at the fridge for it while I am cooking dinner. “Cheeeeez, cheeeeez.” She begs me for it. She asks anyone walking by the fridge for it. She is such a fan of delicious goodness.
Isla really enjoys playing outside, too. In any weather you can find her staring out the window, asking, “Outside? Outside?” She loves going for walks on the nature trail in For Mar and enjoys playing ball with her siblings. Eating snow has become one of her latest passions.
Isla loves to give love, too. She does not share well, but every night we must kiss every family member good night and if someone is not home, she will say his/her name until I tell her I’ll kiss them for her.
Recently Isla has discovered the potty and enjoys the Potty Time app. She will take my phone and find the potty time app so she can sing along to the theme song, or call “Rachel” and get a pep talk (accident) or compliment (success). It really is adorable even though there is no going the potty yet-it is all about the app.
And Isla misses Sue. She goes to the patio door every so often looking for her. Pearl tells her straight up that Sue is dead while the rest of us cry or redirect her attention to the cat. Poor Boo.
We like to joke around that Claire is Isla’s favorite, but it really is true. She will go to her before anyone. Claire literally tiptoes around the house to avoid her if she is trying to get something done or leave for ballet.
A few weeks ago we were all in the kitchen listening to music and cleaning up after dinner and Claire was dancing with Isla. Claire began to cry softly. No one noticed but Paul. He nodded for me to look closer at them. Then I noticed. It was beautiful. A fleeting moment of tenderness. Then Claire said, “I can’t go too far away to college now. I can’t leave her.”
And this is why Isla is so special. We knew our family had a lot of love to give when we decided to have more children.
And when naysayers comment on such a large family, or how far apart in age the siblings are, they are clueless when it comes to the amazing experience that we were gifted. Happy birthday Isla Rose. May your gifts be as plentiful as you’ve made the Mattern Crew.
