Birthday Girl

Our Sweet Caroline turned 4 years old today. It’s hard to believe how much she’s changed and grown!

She is still so full of spunk and energy, but I do believe she has calmed down just a little bit, ha! She has such a tender, caring heart and I love how she will play with just about anyone and never meets a stranger! She’s always telling me who all were her best friends at school that day and how much she loves her teachers and going to school. It makes me a little sad that tomorrow is her last day for this year, and most likely at that school, but I know she will make new friends and love her new school.

She’s always watching out for Luke and trying to teach him things. At school they look for each other and sit together during specials and she’s always telling me she gave him hugs. She often mothers him and tells me when he’s doing something wrong, but I love to see her tell him in a loving way not to scream or to share, etc. Such a good big sister!

It’s so fun to see her little mind growing too in the things she says and the questions she asks. My friend did a little questionnaire with her daughter on her birthday that she’ll do every year so she could look back and see what her preferences were, etc. So I decided it would be a fun tradition to start. Here are the questions and her answers:

1.  How old are you?  4

2. What makes you happy?  Toys and presents

3.  What is your favorite animal? Lions, elephants, turtles, giraffes, butterflies, and “frogries” but when I asked her to narrow it down she said, “Butterflies… no, giraffes!”

4.  What is your favorite thing to eat?  Candy and chicken nuggets with dressing

5.  What is your favorite things to do? Open presents (I’m seeing a trend here!)

6.  What is your favorite TV show? Dora

7.  What are you really good at? Playing with Allie (aww!)

8.  What is your favorite movie?  Aladdin

9.  What is your favorite song?  Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

10.  What is your favorite color?  PinkandPurple

11.  Who is your best friend?  Allie, Anna Beth, and Scarlett

12.  What do you and your mom do together?  Play

13.  What do you and your dad do together?  Go on walks

14.  What is your favorite sport?  Gymnastics

15.  What is your favorite place to go?  School

16.  What is your favorite book? New Dora book

17.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  Doctor

It was so fun to see what her answers were and some of them I knew, and some were out of the blue!

We had a fun day planned with just the 4 of us since family isn’t coming until her party next week. This morning, I sang to her as I got her up and dressed, and we had a special treat for breakfast: chocolate covered donuts with sprinkles, of course! I had balloons on her chair and put a candle in the donut hole and we sang again:

Then it was off to school for the kids and off to run errands for me! Luke had a parent lunch today at school, so my time was cut a little short, but it was fun to eat with him and visit with his teachers. Here he is with his main teacher, Ms. Allison, and her son Jason:

After lunch got the birthday girl and headed home for naps! Caroline was tired and went right to sleep, but Luke was up & down. We recently took the front off his crib so he could get in and out by himself (and so I wouldn’t have to lift him), so he was up getting into trouble! Anyway, I got him back to sleep just a little bit before it was time to get up. Chris came home early and we went to wake up sleeping beauty to open her presents:

She was a little groggy, but excited about her gifts!!

Then we had one last big surprise for her. She opened this helmet and we told her to come outside for her last gift:

A princess bike! She loved it and wanted to ride it right away, of course, so we took a long walk around the neighborhood and she did great!

We came back home and got ready to somewhere for dinner that she’s been wanting to go to for a while: McDonalds! Just for the playground, of course! We ate first, then the kids had a great time playing together – Caroline was helping Luke up the stairs and tunnels and then got him to sit on her lap to go down the slide. It was so sweet! When we came home, we had a few phone calls and then baths and bed. It was a fun day celebrating our sweetest baby girl who’s growing up too fast!!

We love you, Caroline!!