4 Years Old: The Best Things

Brookey's 4th birthday is tomorrow, and I realize I need to stop and take a moment to write down some of the things that are sooooo cool about Brookey at this age. Of course, every "stage" of babyhood and childhood brings so much joy (well, kind of--i have been told this "joy" ends around 6th grade), but Brookey's fourth year was definitely a AWESOME year.

1. Potty Training is a thing of the very distant past. No more accidents or that constant worry she'll have to pee at the most inopportune moment. She can hold it now :)

2. She can say her "r"'s now...she's not going to be "foy," she's going to be FOURRRRR!! She doesn't open the "doy" anymore..it's the DOOR!

3. The booster seat is a wonderful thing after the 50lbs Britax for the past 3 years!

4. It never amazes me how much she learns without me being aware of it. Even though we worked on letters and letter sounds a little this summer, I had no idea how much she was actually learning. Now she knows all but one or two letters and a lot of the sounds. She can name things that start with a certain letter. I really had no clue she knew all of this--with her I just figure things go in one ear and out the other. I guess she does really listen sometimes :-)

5. Age 3 was the princess phase. Now it's the Star Wars phase. The little "phases" are so cute and funny! I guess it's like when I went through my New Kids on the Block Phase or the Care Bears Phase...

6. They can have real "relationships" with friends. Play is moving from "parallel play" (playing alongside one another but not really WITH one another) to true playing TOGETHER. Playdates are a relaxing time to catch up with my mom friends rather than constantly having to make sure the kids aren't choking on a little toy or pulling each others hair.

7. Pretend: Age 3 started out with every sentence that came out of her mouth started with "Pretend that...." Now 99% of her play is some type of role playing or "pretending." This is especially funny when she pretends to be one of us. She'll be talking on her play cell phone and she'll say "Yeah, dude you're such a MORON." (pretending to be Daddy talking to Uncle Chris).

8. She calls me out: I have to be careful what I teach her!! She "calls me out" on things we will say. If I say "I don't want that one," she will say, "Mom, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Hmmm....wonder where she's heard that one?

9. Taking her places is easy now. It's not a hassle whatsoever. She can walk everywhere--NOOOO more stroller!! And generally she goes with the flow, can eat whatever, whenever, will pee whenever I do. It's actually pretty fun to shop with her. Of course now we have Little Buddy which just cancels all of this out... :-)

10. She makes me laugh. Everyday. No matter how crappy of a day it has been, I laugh every single day.

Happy Birthday, Baby!!!!!!