4 Years Old!

Kirsten is 4!!!
{Yes, she's been 4 since May, but I realized I never did an official blog post about it. I also still need to blog about the girls' pony birthday party. Watch for that soon too!}

Some days I never thought we'd make it through the 3's alive... but we did! 3 was about a million times worse than 2, at least for Kirsten. And now, 4 is SO much better! Here are a bunch of fun facts about my cute little 4 year-old:

*She LOVES to dance! Her ballet/tap class is pretty much her favorite thing ever. She wants to wear her leotard and skirt all around the house every day so she can dance, and she was completely adorable in her dance recital in June {yep, also need to blog about that}.

*Her other favorite thing in the world is swimming! Kirsten would go swimming every single day if I let her. She also loves to wear her swimsuit around the house. She's still afraid to put her face in the water, but she adores splashing around and playing in the water.

*She's finally not in the 90'th percentile for height. But she's still in the 80's and a very tall girl. She grows out of all her clothes way too fast. She wears 5T clothes already and most of her size 9 shoes are now getting too small.

*She's suddenly VERY inquisitive. She's reached the age of asking "Why?" about absolutely everything. "Why do I have a mouth?" "Why do I have a Mommy and a Daddy?"

*Her imagination is also starting to take off. She loves to pretend she's an animal or something else. The other day she put two balls under a blanket, sat on it, and told us it was her nest and she's laying her eggs. When Natalie got close to her "babies", she acted like she was pecking her. It was hilarious!

*I crack up often at all the random, funny "Kirstenisms" that she says. Example. . .
Kirsten: "Can you tie this balloon around me so that I can fly?"
Me: "I don't think it will really make you fly."
Kirsten: "It's okay, I can pretend!"
Then I tied the balloon around her, and she was really disappointed when she jumped off the couch and didn't fly.

*Kirsten is such a great big sister to baby Brooke! Ever since she was born, Kirsten has just been enamored with her. She loves to hold her, play with her, and make her laugh!

*She alternates between playing and having a great time with Natalie, to fighting and crying and stealing toys from each other. Another Kirstenism. . .
Me: "Natalie smells like. . . Febreze???"
Kirsten: "I sprayed her!"

*She loves to get out and explore! She's not a girl who's content to sit at home and quietly read books or color. Not at ALL. She loves to play outside, run around playgrounds, go down slides, explore new things.

*Ohhhhh, the drama! Everything just always has to be a big deal, and she's always been a very sensitive child. If other kids are too loud, she cries. If another kid starts crying, she cries. She's getting better, but still very sensitive. She's slow to warm up to new situations and new people. When she's waiting for something (like a snack) and hasn't gotten it yet, she'll sigh and say, "I'll never get a snack!"

*She's much more polite now than she was at 3. She often says please and thank you without being reminded.

*Another Kirstenism:
"I want to be a princess. But I don't have a princess face. . . I just have a Kirsten face."

Some of her favorites. . .
*Color: Yellow! It changes pretty often but has been yellow for quite awhile now.
*Food: She loves tacos, cheese, burgers and fries, hot dogs, popsicles, ice cream, and chicken enchiladas. She's very picky and would rather snack all day than eat meals.
*Beverage: She's a juice fiend. She's nuts over juice and also chocolate milk. It's tough to get her to drink water, she acts like I'm trying to poison her! So I do half-juice, half-water and often buy the V8 Fusion juices that include fruits and veggies.
*Animal: She's a dog person. Just was born that way! I'll never forget when she held the adorable Cavlier King Charles puppy at the mall at Christmastime and asked, "Can we take her home with us?" I was ready to say of course! {Stephen said no}
*TV Shows: She loves Little Bear, Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, and So You Think You Can Dance.
*Movies: {She loves movies, and enjoys seeing them in the theater too} Tangled, Toy Story 3, Tinkerbell movies, Aladdin, Rio, Cinderella, Enchanted, Mama Mia, Little Mermaid, and Up. Naps are a long gone thing of the past, so she usually just has "quiet time" although it's not very quiet, and watches a movie.

*It's probably rare to have a 4 year-old who doesn't insist on wearing certain outfits and refuse to wear other things, but Kirsten doesn't! Other than wanting to wear her leotard and swimsuit a lot, she never complains about the clothes or shoes I pick out for her. She does love rocking the sunglasses whenever we're outside!

*She has a thing for dandelions, and making wishes. Her wishes are pretty funny. One day she said, "I wish I could have some cake!" Then another day it was, "I wish I could get married soon... when I'm bigger!" That one was my favorite. :)

*Kirsten loves her sisters (well, especially Brooke), her friends, grandma and grandpa, and all the special people in her life. She prays for them all and gets very sad when she goes a long time without seeing them. Our friend Chance is another one of her favorite people.
Kirsten: "I think I will get married."
Me: "Kirsten, who do you want to marry?"
Kirsten: "Daddy!"
Me: "Then who will I marry?"
Kirsten: "You can marry Chance!"
Problem solved. :)

*Another of my favorite Kirstenisms. . .
Me: "Wow, I have a huge bug bite on my arm!"
Kirsten: "Maybe I bit you when I was a bug."
Haha!!! She also says other funny things, like "When I was a grandma I used to sew" and "When grandma was a little girl I used to her push her on the swings."

We love our sweet, smart, adorable girl! Sometimes I can't believe she's already 4 years old! She lights up my life and I love to make her smile and laugh. Thank you for blessing our lives so much, Kirsten!