Four Fabulous Four

Little Miss is officially 4!  And she is proud of it!  She loves to hold up 4 fingers and tell people at random that she is 4 and that she had a gymnastic cake!

Since about three days after her 3rd birthday, Little Miss had been saying she wanted a gymnastic cake for her 4th birthday.  She was persistent and detailed about what she wanted.  She talked about her gymnastic cake for a year.  So, a gymnastic cake is what she got!  I had to learn a thing or two, experiment a little, and hope for the best.  The result . . . a cake that I believe is identifiable as a gymnastic cake and that tickled my girl pink!  She was thrilled to finally have her gymnastic cake and was in a much greater rush than I to cut it and eat it!  All that work . . . cut it?  eat it?  Oh well, I guess that is the point!

Little Miss had a wonderful party at home with the fam!  She actually was lucky enough to celebrate her 4th birthday three times (party day, actual birthday - out to eat, and at school).  She loved every minute of it!

The happy is written all over her face, don't ya think?

And it's written all over mine too!  Happy 4th Birthday to you Little Miss!  I love you more than words can say!

Rounding out 3

As her 4th birthday sneaks up on us, I can't help but think about how much Little Miss has grown over the past year.   Sure she has grown taller, but that's nothing compared to the skill development and maturation that have occurred.  Those are the things that fascinate and impress you as a mother!  Those are the things that remind you just how lucky you are to have the privilege of watching your little person transform right before your very eyes into someone even cooler than she was yesterday!  A truly amazing gift that I, for one, treasure wholeheartedly!

So without further ado . . . a modest (ok, and maybe a tad self-indulgent) list of my girlie's year 3 accomplishments.  Little Miss can . . .

-independently spell and write her first name

-spell and write her last name with just a bit of prompting

-count to 20 (with the occasional omission of 16 and 17 - who needs them!)

-name all uppercase letters, most lowercase letters, and identify many letter sounds

-read/spell about 15 small, familiar, somewhat random words (mom, cat, dog, pop, stop, go, Bob, help, boots, kid, hot, Loden, no, etc.)

-independently go to the bathroom start to finish, including handwashing

-put on and zip a coat or sweatshirt

-make scrambled eggs with close supervision/guidance for the hot pan part

-go up to her room, get underpants and a shirt and a pair of pants and socks and shoes that nearly
match ("Stripes go with stripes, Mom!"), and don the entire ensemble independently

-effectively vacuum at least 75% of the visible floor space in a given room with a lightweight electric broom

-approach an unknown child at the park and ask him/her to play with her

-be incredibly empathetic to another child who is sad or hurt

-offer to share whatever she has with other kids or adults

-make all the adults in her life crack up in an instant with her comedic ideas and timing

-continue to thrill and challenge her mama beyond her wildest dreams every single day!

I love you my Little Missy Girl!  Happy almost birthday!