Today, Fiona turns 4. This feels like the first birthday we’ve had where the age wasn’t such a big deal. For instance: “You’re 1 year old!”, “Uh-oh, now you’re 2.”, “Phew! You’re 3! Goodbye to the terrible 2s!” But 4? Not a huge milestone. What I would say about this age is that, recently, Fiona seems to have passed through the developmental sturm and drang of the past couple years and emerged as a fairly mature little girl. Someone with her own opinions, capable of sustaining a conversation. It’s now much easier to see who she is, what she’ll love, and what hurdles she’ll face in the future.

So here, in no particular order, are 5 fun facts about Fiona on her birthday:

1. Fiona is dramatic. This will come as no particular surprise to anybody who knows her: Fiona loves drama in every sense. She has always had a vivid imagination; by age 2, she had no fewer than 5 imaginary friends (4 cows: Pak, Pook, Lolo, and Orange, plus one lion named…Lion). Today, whenever left to her own devices she will play make-believe, and reenact any situation: the library, the doctor’s office, preschool, Sunday School, and just about any fairy/princess tale there is. (There is of course a flip side to this drama, when Fiona chooses to bring her drama into everyday life. But we all have things to work on!).

2. Fiona is an all-star big sister. We could not ask for a more loving, thoughtful oldest child when it comes to her two little sisters. If she had her way, she’d carry Georgia around the house all day. And she’s been amazingly generous and patient with Campbell, who is now going through the terrible 2s with a vengeance. All three girls are now sharing a bedroom, and they love it — and it’s so fun to hear them talking and singing on both ends of bedtime. As the oldest, I give a lot of credit to Fiona for helping create a sweet sister culture.

3. Fiona has her own style. Ever since she was old enough to dress herself, Fiona had a very strong sense of what she wanted to wear. She continues to choose outfits that are kind of amazing in the way they mix bizarre elements and yet somehow still work. (Her latest thing is to wear printed t-shirts backwards). And she really loves clothes; given a choice of how to spend her money, she’d choose clothes. Which is just incredible as someone who is the offspring of Erick and me, arguably two of the least fashionable people out there. We don’t value clothes in our house, and have certainly done nothing to encourage this tendency in Fiona. She was truly just born this way.

4. Fiona always surprises us by her kindness. She can still throw a great fit on occasion, but this is also a girl who will always check in on everyone else’s aches and pains. She will suggest taking food to or making a card for somebody in need. She will volunteer to give away toys or clothes that she doesn’t need. With Boom still recuperating at our house, she will go check in on him regularly (overheard yesterday: “Boom, would you like to come out for breakfast or would you like breakfast in bed?”).

5. Fiona likes music. Loud music. At the moment, her criteria for whether a song is good is two-pronged: 1. Is it loud? 2. Is it dramatic? Favorite songs at the moment include “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s Pocahontas, and “On My Own” from Les Miserables. Needless to say, anything sung by Snow White gets a big thumbs-down.

We can’t imagine our family without Fiona. We love all of her — the good and the challenging — and we hope that she will keep being herself.