My Baby Is Four

My little sweat pea is four today! In some ways it feels like just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms at the hospital, learning her cries, smelling her sweet baby smell and waking up several times a night to soothe her.  In other ways it feels like it's been ages since she was little enough to fit in the crook of my arm.  

Four is still so little.  Little enough that I can carry her often.  Little enough I am still her super hero.  Little enough that she prefers baths over showers.  Little enough that the entire world is viewed through the lens of imagination.  Little enough that she could never get enough kisses or hugs. Little enough that she still loves to snuggle in my arms on the couch. 

But, four is so big!  Big enough that she can go potty almost all by herself.  Big enough to go to school and do SO well.  Big enough to get dressed, put on shoes and brush her teeth on her own.   Big enough to sing and dance along to her favorite songs.  Big enough to ride her scooter and her bike.  So big and so little all at once. 

I never thought that I would have only one child for as long as I have but, I can tell you that these four years one on one with my daughter, Daisy Love, have been an absolute treasure.  She is a priceless give from God.  My arrow.  {Psalm 127:4}

 "I'll love you forever.  I'll love you for always.  As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." 

(roger knapp)

Happy Happy fourth Birthday my darling brown-eyed girl! 

Capturing Her Essence

When I grew up, video cameras were the size of a small car and people would have to lug those suckers around for hours at the cost of severe shoulder cramps and stiff muscles for days just to capture special events.  Now we all have tiny, light weight cameras right at our fingertips (in our phones) and I have not captured even half as much as my family did before me.  I have no excuse.

 I got the urge this week to document through video and I carved out a little extra time to capture the essence of my kiddo who is almost four.  I wanted to capture her mannerisms and facial expressions, her conversational style, her vocabulary, her interests, her sweetness and silliness all at the same time.  She is changing so much every day it seems and this age really is so much fun.

Daisy is not great about carrying on as usual if she knows that I am recording her.  I have to make it appear as though the camera is sitting on the table away from me which is why she is off screen a bit in one of the videos.  

We had fun making coleslaw together or as she calls it Kholz.  I think she enjoyed making this "show" so much that we will be doing more of them in the future and maybe someday she will do a show all on her own:).  I hear that there happens to be another Daisy Martinez and she is a celebrity chef!  Maybe it has something to do with the name?  You never know...;)

 I am impressed that I am managing to pass on an interest in cooking in spite of the fact that I dislike it so much.  Maybe someday Daisy will love cooking so much that she will want to cook dinner for me every night.  Nah.  It never works out that way but, I'll keep telling myself that in the hope of keeping some wind in these sails of mine.  lol

  Oh and please excuse the ant that rudely video bombed us.  I noticed him after watching this video a handful of times and realized how gross it is to see a bug in a video revolving around food.  Sigh.  We have had a few of them marching around this winter but, I promise our house is not overrun with bugs and this food was eaten by our family...not guests. lol

 Daisy really wants to be "married."  She obviously has little to no idea what it means to be married but, she thinks it has something to do with wearing a white princess dress and that is enough to get her excited.  The boy she wants to marry is Vincent.  He is a sweet neighbor friend:).  

Daisy is such a mega girly girl but, she can also be wild and rough at times.  I'd say she's a good balance:).   I think this video captures so much of her personality.  Love my little peanut.

and here is a super short video of Daisy at her first ballet class. She loves ballet. The short 45 minute class can really wear her out because she strains so hard to do exactly what the teacher says and it doesn't always come easily for her.  She loves wearing her tutu and she loves wearing all pink.  It can be a challenge to get any color other than pink on her some days.  Little pink princess.

Her Big Girl Bed

I took a kajillion pictures of Daisy the first night that we set up her big girl bed...which was ages ago now but, I've been wanting to share them because they are so cute.  She was so happy to have her own pillows, her own comforter and her own step stool to get in and out of bed as she pleased.  She was being so silly and chatting up a storm.  I'm happy to report that she transitioned into her big girl bed like a champ...which was such a relief considering how exhausting potty training has been going with her.  Though I do have to give her credit, because she is a champ about holding her potty all night long.   

She goes to bed around 8 and chats until close to 9:30 every night.  I have a monitor that allows me to chat with her so I will occasionally tell her to settle down but, otherwise I let her talk and play to her heart's content.  I figure it wears her out and helps her to sleep better.  She usually sleeps until about 7 and hasn't yet wanted to get out of bed on her own.  I know that won't last for much longer but, for now she likes me to go in to get her and snuggle with her in bed for a little while before she gets up.  It's so stinking cute.  Anyhoo, enjoy the pictures of Daisy enjoying her new bed and please forgive the white patches on the wall.  We were filling the holes from a shelf that we had to remove from her wall. Hope everyone had a great New Year's Celebration! 

and more silliness..hiding under her blankets, calling Daddy in to see her bed and pretending to sleep.

oh the faces that this kid can make...