Happy 4th birthday, Emily.

Southern Belle

That is one of my favorite photos. Ever.

Watching Emily sleep in her bed tonight makes me feel all at once proud of the independent little girl who has accomplished so much, and scared to death of the big girl who is growing up so damn fast. She’s a delightfully stubborn and cheeky little girl who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to tell you what that is.

Bathing Bonkers

Here’s a short set of four-year-old bullet points to give you a glimpse into some of the things our little girl is up to these days:

• Emily is getting much better at adapting to different situations. Whether it’s going to a new class, meeting new people, eating in different restaurants, or sleeping in hotels, she’s much more able to just roll with the punches than she was just six months ago.
• Sebastian will throw toys at Emily. He will wake her up by smacking her head. He will calmly walk up to her, look her in the eyes, and then shove her with all his might. Emily is very patient with Sebastian’s violent tendencies. She’s very good at telling us when Sebastian goes rogue. She’s not so good at actually getting herself out of these dangerous situations.
• As I mentioned in my Mallorca live blogging, Emily is finally getting her head around the whole swimming concept. The fear is diminishing as the confidence and enjoyment increase. She is very proud of herself now that she can swim through the deep end on her own (with a swim belt) and we are very proud of her. She still doesn’t want to get her face wet, though. One step at a time.
• While waiting for the bus the other day, Emily started swinging around a pole – as she does. And then she started counting. To a hundred! Well, she actually gave up at 91 but I’m pretty sure she knew the next few numbers. I had never heard her count past 25 on her own before. That was awesome.
• Emily is eloquent. I forget how well she expresses herself until I see her around other kids her age doing the whole kid-talk thing: poor vocabulary accompanied by lisping and stuttering. I guess I just forget how young she is in general.
• Emily can whistle. She just showed me for the first time while I was writing this. I have no idea how or when that started.
• Taking a shameful page out of her daddy’s book, Emily still isn’t into reading. Sure, she very much looks forward to her bedtime story every night, but that’s probably more of a sleepy routine now. Very rarely will she ever ask to hear a story during the day and I can’t remember the last time she picked up a book to flip through by herself.
• Emily was sooooo eager to be four. For the past few months (a third of her being three), she has been asking us (over and over again) “When will I be four?” “When is my birthday?” “When is September?” “When is the summer going to be over?” She tells us that she’s gonna be a big girl now. Kinda like she was when she turned three. Except now she won’t be the youngest at school. Being big to her means sleeping in a bunk bed and losing some teeth. We told her she can have a bunk bed when Sebastian is old enough to sleep on the bottom bunk. I don’t have the heart to tell her that losing teeth might be a six-year-old thing.

My Bronze Girl

We’ve got a big year ahead of us. Emily will probably be taking swim classes at school. She might begin ballet classes after school. She’ll probably start sharing a bedroom with Sebastian (which means a bunk bed!). She’ll be riding bikes and, if she has her way, rollerblading. She’ll be traveling to Florida, England, New York, and who-knows-where-else. We hope she doesn’t start losing any teeth for another couple of years.

Blushing Bride

Wanna see a couple dozen beautiful photos of our little carrot-top taken over the course of this past year? Well you’re in luck! I just so happen to have a link all prepared to show you just that. Quick, click here:
**Fancy-shmancy full-screen slideshow**

And finally, here’s a video of Emily rocking out to some Beatles while Sebastian joins in on percussion – and wears boots.