Four is Fabulous
Sweet girl turned 4 on Tuesday. We celebrated Monday as Lewis had to travel. So Sunday night the balloons appeared.
They drive me crazy.
But you can't argue with the happiness they bring.
She is four. She is still my baby but she isn't. She is very capable and my most independently minded child. "I'll do it!" "Mom! I can do it myself!"
She is sassy and can be mean. She has been heard to say "I don't like these people." "I don't care." "Mom, I don't like you very much."
She has also started criticizing my singing. Of all the nerve.
She also says "I love you so much, mommy." "I hope my boys love this." "Are you okay?" "Do you need a hug?"
Among other nice things. She loves her family. She is so sweet to her daddy and me. She routinely says, "I'm thankful for my mommies and daddies." Thank you November at pre-k.
She still says she's not thankful for her brothers.
But she worships them. And their independence and their relationship. David, when they are alone, is a model brother. He plays Ariel and mermaids. He'll play tea party.
When his brother is home, not so much.
Grady likes to sit with her and watch her shows. Which include the Disney Jr line up and Pinkalicious. Also some show called True on Netflix. Blessedly we have moved on from My Little Pony requests.
Pinkalicious and True are ok. They are about solving problems. Pinkalicious is a great show for her to copy in real life. Because she doesn't always get her way but she comes up with solutions. I get tired of the girl shows where the heroine is always sunshine and happiness and always gets her way in the end. Life ain't like that.
Anyway - obviously limited screen time is the goal. But everyone needs downtime.
She loves her dance class (ballet/tap) and her dance teacher Miss Selena. She is learning her routine extremely well and practices her moves at home. She recently went to the Daddy/Daughter dance and had so much fun. Dancing is one of her favorite things.
And as the way of girls, she loves putting silly things on her Daddy. Making him wear the crown was much fun. She also tackles him, makes him play tea party and asks me if he's home every single morning. It's kind of deflating for me. Nope, he'll be home X date. And she's dejected. Mom is a poor daddy substitute.
To this end they all get tired of me. But that's another post.
On her birthday we did the balloon thing, got the boys to school, and then she had dance class. To which I had her wear her crown to celebrate. They all said happy birthday, which is pretty much all the budding diva wants ... happy, positive attention.
After that we rustled up Daddy for lunch (chips and queso and quesadillas!)
Now ... I had debated taking her to the American Girl store and picking out a doll. But I just don't see an interest to warrant the expenditure. And when we were driving home from dance, I asked her what she'd like to do, and I mentioned we could go shopping at the mall and she said ... "I can ride the ponies! I have my own money!"
And I realized that the activity was named. And it was $3.
She always ask to ride the carousel when we are at the mall. I always say no.
She had been sent $10 for Valentines day by her grandmother. So she wanted to use that to ride. I said I'd cover it since it's her birthday and all. ;) She loved it. We bought three tickets and rode twice. Then we went to the Disney store.
This is another favorite place. They have a table with crayons and coloring and toys and an interactive screen you can watch clips. We spend time here too. And she sometimes asks for toys but the answer is always no.
Not on your birthday though. She was amazed.
And wanted to ride the carousel again. Of course birthday girl!
And then the trains.
It was a lovely morning of fun. Home for nap after that. And I finished up her birthday cake. When the boys got home she got to pick a movie (Tangled - I picked it). Daddy came home and Uncle Brian came over and we had spaghetti and meat balls and sang and ate cake and opened presents.
Tuesday being our actual birthday we celebrated with donuts and fun at school.
And Wednesday was our playdate party. She helped me make cupcakes that morning.
It was fun. The kids liked it. It was low key and painting took approximately twenty minutes and after that they played upstairs. The girls dressed up. The boys built legos.
The Peteriffic hats.
Singing with our sweet friend.
Just a few friends.
She loves when people sing to her. About her.
So much dress up fun. For her birthday I got her a hanging rack for her dress up clothes. There are expensive options. I choose this. That and two dresses from here were her gifts from us. Plus one set of legos and a singing Ariel doll. The boys got her a cash register. Also a hit.
I wanted to give her the moon. Or the stars. Or a pony. It is easy for me to get sucked into spoiling them. It's so easy to make them happy. Give them all the stuff! But I know in my brain that's not good. And she had the best day on Monday, just getting to pick everything we did and me saying yes to things.
She is eager and funny and loves her brothers. She likes wrestling and play fighting and playing tea party and being the mommy. You be the sister, okay mommy? And then she puts me in time out. A lot. She loves baking and licking the spoons and Mexican food and playing with girls her age and older. She also loves the dog and all animals.
Ariel is our favorite. Mermaids in general and unicorns. On our way to Monster Jam (great day) she said "I hope there's a mermaid astronaut going to the moon."
She builds castles and plays army and sword fights and loves being outside and riding her tryke. She is getting better at it everyday. She's recognizing her numbers much faster than her letters. Hopefully socially she's doing okay at school but she's had some rough days. She wants to be the line leader every day. She gets demanding and bossy. To even the teacher. It will be an asset, this determination, eventually. Just gotta raise it up and coach it to also be respectful.
We love her so. Happy Birthday sweet girl!
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