Caroline is Four!

Caroline turned 4 on March 18. I almost missed it, because I was in California with my dad who was very ill. Luckily, he pulled through, and I came home the day before Caroline and Mike's birthdays. We decided to postpone her big birthday party for a week, but we had a great family celebration.

Caroline is an absolutely precious four year old. I cannot get enough of her. She loves to snuggle. She'll say, anytime she wants attention, "Mama, I need a snuggle" and will just come snug right into me. Oh, I just love it.

She's very active and very bright. She LOVES school so much! She runs around, is a great dancer, loves playing games, draws all the time- and pretty well, I'd say. She's just started telling jokes, but doesn't seem to get it really. She'll say "Who put the potato in the shoe?" and just start cracking up. No punchline. But she laughs so hard it is impossible not to laugh with her.

She writes well- mostly just her name, but she'll try other things when we help show her. She knows all her letters and can figure them out if she sounds things out. She is just starting to try to read. She'll sound out words with help, and knows a handful of sight words. She's really excited about her new froggy phonics books.

And then, there are the things that drive me nuts. She can be so immensely whiny sometimes. She is way too attached to me and can be mean rejecting Mike for me. She never wants to go to bed (and is now getting irritated about nap time). She seems to have forgotten all about please and thank yous. She has moments where she is really not nice to her friends, and only wants to do what *she* wants to do. But that's all OK, because it is totally normal for a 4 year old, and well, we all have our moments, don't we?! And the vast majority of the time she is just truly precious and adorable.

I just love watching her grow and do more things. Can't wait for the next year!