four years old

Shboogoo eating breakfast -- and dancing to James Taylor's Covers album -- on her birthday! She said the ribbon was a worm.

We celebrated Shboogoo's fourth birthday at home, just us. She and I made birthday oatmeal-chocolate chip-Craisin cookies. Her dad had just enough time at home between school and work for us to sing "Happy Birthday" and watch her blow out the candles and open "presnents."

 

Shboogoo's grandparents and some extended family gave her presents when we saw them Thanksgiving Day. 

 (a red dress, Tinkerbell blanket, and a Slinky)

 This picture, also at my mom's on Thanksgiving, represents Shboogoo perfectly! She is always creating a bed and having a baby sleep on it, and she likes to line things up.

(Tangled book/cd)

Then a couple of weeks later -- I procrastinated inviting but I also didn't want to bother people close to the holiday -- we had five of her friends over for a party. They played Candy Land, danced to some "kid music," played musical chairs, and ate vegan cupcakes (which Shboogoo had helped me make) with chocolate frosting. Her friends brought such cute gifts and everyone had fun. We let them each take a balloon home. Next time we could prepare better to have more of a theme, party favors, etc. but my husband was a big help to me. 

When we went to borrow some vanilla, the coconut oil hardened, so I put the pan on the stove to melt the oil again.

This friend got to help blow out the candles because she had won Candy Land.

Our "big girl" is really lovable.  She's constantly learning -- here are a few examples I had written down. 

• One day as we walked toward our car after a doctor appointment she said, "Hey, 'car' has the same word as 'shopping cart!'" She recognizes words that have a common letter in them, and says that "__ and __ rhyme!" (Sometimes she's right that they rhyme, and other times they just start with the same sound.)
• In June we saw a TV commercial for Magic Button. In September she told me, "Daddy should get the Magic Button."  I was amazed that she remembered.
• She and her daddy watched some of the Star Wars movies (episodes IV, V, VI and part of I) and she told me a lot about the plots: ". . . And Luke cried about it. Yeah, because he doesn't want a bad guy for his father."
• Now whenever we have four of anything she says, "Like I'm four years old!"