Baby Girl #4 turns 3!

Age 2

Age 3

Baby Girl #4 turned 3 this last Friday.  She actually got to string the celebration out over a couple of days since Daddy was out of town for 3 days.  Good thing she is 3 and has no concept of when  her birthday actually is or that she could have milked it more than she did!  As it was she was just glad to be able to go out to dinner Friday night with Mommy and her sisters and open a couple of gifts.  Saturday we waited until Daddy got home and then had cake and opened the rest of her gifts.  I was reminded once again that it was just as exciting for her to get a sleeve of stickers as it was for her to get her brand new tricycle.  Everything is so simple and black and white when you're 3!  And I love that.  It's possible that by this time next year she won't be as excited about the stickers, so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts! 

Stickers!

Not crazy about the sombrero!

She really was happy!

No Peeking!

Big girls lift the whole cake up!

 This last year has seen a lot of changes for #4.  We moved towards the end of the year which meant learning to adjust to a new home, new faces at church, and trying to understand where her friends where that she used to see all the time.  She has adapted very well to these changes. 

So well in fact, that she is now going to sleep in her bed without Hubby or I having to sit in the room with her.  We've been trying to break her of that for at least a year and a half.  Did I mention that she is the youngest of four and one of the most stubborn children I know?  But she has apparently decided that now it is OK to just lay in there with her big sister to go to sleep instead of having to have Mommy or Daddy.  I am extremely happy about this! 

About a week before she decided to go to sleep on her own she also started sleeping all night in her own bed.  Around the time she turned 2 and started coming in and getting in bed with us without either of us noticing, we stopped trying to put her back in her own bed multiple times each night.  As a result, each night between 1 and 3 a.m. she would come in, tap one of us on the arm and then fall right back to sleep when we stuck her between us.  Neither Hubby or I were crazy about this, but neither of us was willing to actually get out of bed and sit with her for 30 minutes while she went back to sleep in her own bed, so we dealt with it.  I have no idea why she started staying in her room all night.  It just kind of happened all of a sudden.  My sleep and my back pain have both improved dramatically as a result!

One more big thing is that #4 is completely potty trained!  She has gone several weeks without a single accident and is very proud to be wearing her big girl panties all the time.  Once again, it was like a switch just turned on in her head and she decided that she wanted to go in the potty.  She stopped having accidents after just a couple of days.  This aspect of her personality is something I'm going to have to remember when she starts school!

So I'm breathing a small sigh of relief with her turning 3.  This last year as been one where she has tested her limits and pushed her boundaries.  But as much as she has frustrated us, she is also full of joy.  She has a smile that lights up a room and a laugh that is absolutely contagious.  She gives the best hugs and kisses you'll ever get.  She loves to play with her sisters, usually without fussing at them, but she also plays really well on her own.  She walks a fine line between wanting to be grown up like her sisters and wanting to be a little girl cuddling with her Daddy.  I love each new stage that she comes to and watching her go flying by it and on to the next one.  If this next year is anything like the last year, it's going to be a blast!