I have a 4 year old!

We celebrated Elizabeth's 4th birthday last week. It was low key but fun. It's been so warm lately that we were able to go to the park. I didn't remember to take pictures until it was almost dark.

The birthday girl running around with her stick.

Daddy decided to climb one of the big oak trees.

See him up there?

I liked this picture with the moon and the sunset.

Natalie, happy to be outside

This picture is saved as a landscape and for some reason keeps uploading this way. After 4 attempts, I've given up. Here is Elizabeth's cake:

She wanted a Sister Bear (from the Berenstain Bears) cake so I did the best I could. Not too pretty, but recognizable at least.

Here she is opening presents:

We got her a little window sill garden kit. For awhile, she has been proclaiming gardening as one of her favorite things to do (I think this also originated with the Berenstain Bears). She proves it, too, by weeding for us when she's outside (we have an abundance). Just today in fact we were all outside and she was trying to get lazy me to do something with her and she said, "Mom, what..if..we...pick the weeds!" She said it so enthusiastically that I had to laugh and weed with her.

Anyway, she was so excited to get her own garden. We planted some parsley, basil, cilantro and rosemary. We'll give some updates on the progress of our little plants. Hopefully, I can keep them alive....

Here's a picture of her with a little wallet she got from Grandma Marsha:

Grandma also gave her a necklace, purse and earrings which Natalie loved to put on.

She also got a lot of games this year. She is a game fanatic lately so it's good to have more to choose from. She got Guess Who, Don't Spill the Beans, and a set of Go Fish, Old Maid, and Crazy Eights cards. We've been playing games non-stop. She got some new art things too, like markers, crayons and paint, which we've been enjoying.

Unfortunately, we don't have anymore pictures because the battery died. It was a fun night and we were impressed when Elizabeth later said to Natalie, "Look at all the presents we got!" She has been doing a great job sharing. It's nice that she's not in the demanding stage yet, either, in regards to presents she wanted.

I can't believe she is 4. Well, in some ways I can and in some ways I can't. I can't believe she is no longer that baby that I remember holding in the hospital 4 years ago. Still, since she is the oldest, I think I am always expecting her to be older than she is. I really need to just stop and remember more that she is only 4. I need to be more patient with her.

She is such a good girl. She helps me so much and she is such a good example to Natalie. I am so proud of her and how hard she tries to be good. She is very sweet and sensitive. Her personality is different, in some ways, than I thought it would be when she was younger. She's like I was as kid, in a lot of ways. She doesn't really like attention and she can be emotional when she's gets too much of it or negative attention. I have often thought of my own sensitivity as a weakness and sometimes I find myself trying to get Elizabeth to toughen up. I want to recognize more what a strength this is, too, and praise her for it.

She is learning every day. I got her the first series of BOB Books (they are great!) awhile back and she can now read all of them. She loves to read things all by herself. She can recognize some words without sounding them out, too, like "and", "the", and other simple ones. She can also count up to a 100 with some hints as to what 10 comes next (30, 40, etc). She loves to count out on her fingers and figure out simple addition and subtraction problems.

Most of all, we are just so grateful that she is in our family. She brings so much joy into our home with her contagious giggles, beautiful smiles, and big hugs. We love you, Lizzie!

At about 9 months:

Happiness itself.