4 Years Old.

[I actually wrote this a month and a half ago, but wanted desperately to write out so many more thoughts and Josephine-isms, in honor of her 4th birthday.  Turns out, life just isn't permitting that.  And with this blog, if I don't keep things flowing at whatever pace I can manage in the present, it just gets all backlogged and jammed up and goes nowhere at all.  So I hope I can get more of that up eventually, but here's what's been sitting drafted all this time.  Need to move on.]

We've been busy (and ill) so I don't have much to show, blogwise, but here are a couple photos from Josephine's actual birthday.  Having already had the party at my parents' house, we just spent April 2nd as a family.  

She woke up to find the dining area dolled up in pink (on the back of her chair is a "birthday princess" ribbon that she clipped on her shirt for the day).  

We let her choose what kind of food she wanted for breakfast, and then went to a cafe that had pancakes.

fittingly, this was framed above our booth.  

I think if you enlarge the photo you can read it.

Clement.

We then headed home to open up a few gifts.  She did most of her gift opening at her party, but there were a few items for the actual day.

this girl and her PINKNESS.

The day was mostly normal from that point on.  After dinner, we put some candles on a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday.  She spoke with her grandmas and then we had a family game night and some hot tea.

four + one to grow on

For her birthday, God sent Josephine rain for her tomato plants.  

This is a post-rain, post-chocolate-icing dance of exuberance,

in case you were wondering.

And so, she's FOUR.  Sean and I are totally bewildered and confused.  We can't figure out A) how she's already four, nor B) how a four year old can act so OLD.  The number 4 just seems entirely inaccurate on both counts.  In our minds, she should still be a baby.  In her mind, she is a full grown adult.  Four's an odd compromise.  A precious and adorable one, though, too.  And we are UTTERLY in love with how her creativity is getting so smart and personalized.  It's increasingly fun to watch her break out of the ruts and routine of toddlerhood into spontaneous behavior, conversations, and story lines, because those are growing ever more complex and amusing.

We had a check-up with Dr. Boes April 5th.  She dealt with the vaccinations relatively well, completed her eyesight and hearing "games" with perfect results and had her blood pressure taken for the first time, which made her SOOO nervous that her heart rate registered at 97.  :-)
She's 40 5/8 inches tall, and 40.1 lbs, which puts her at about 75th percentile for both.  In every way, totally healthy.  We're very grateful.

In a blog post forthcoming I have ooohhhh so many stories I've been cataloging, but for now, this little update on Josephine will suffice.

Love our sweet 4 year old!!