Birthday Girl

Our girl celebrated birthday number four last week. She requested her usual two layer chocolate cake (In her words, "It's like a sandwich.") with cream cheese frosting and "MNO's" on top. Two things were different this year, however: 1.) She asked for a snowman to accompany the M&M's, and 2.) she skipped her nap to help make both cake and frosting.

She asked her best buddy to help her open every gift, and he shared in her great enthusiasm over each one. Reactions ranged from "Yes! A card with money!" to "Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!" to "It's just what I've always been wanting!"

This year, she was old enough to understand (and explain to anyone who asked about her birthday) that her party did not occur on her actual date of birth. We marked that day with our traditional breakfast in bed.

If you ask our four-year-old girl about her birthday now, you'll probably hear this: "Yes, I'm going to be five on my next birthday. My bones are getting bigger."