Four

Trinity turned four yesterday. I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that she's four. It just seems so... old. Wasn't she just a newborn? Now she's writing, sounding out words, counting to one hundred, trying *so hard* to tie her shoes, and picking up new things every day. She's so bright, and so articulate. So funny. I just want time to slow down...

Four years ago. 5 lbs. 15 oz. and 18.5 inches of perfection.

Holding up one of the preemie outfits she used to fit into.

We had a princess party. Pink balloons (plus one giant Mylar Cinderella, complete with pumpkin carriage), purple crepe paper, princess place settings, decorations, a Cinderella piñata, and a homemade "Happy Birthday" cupcake banner (which she glued together entirely by herself).

I love construction paper.

She asked for a princess castle cake. That's what it was supposed to be. It was going to be pink and purple, but some jerk switched the colors in the food coloring box I bought to dye the icing, so I had two blues instead of red to work with. Fortunately, Trinity was understanding and let me make the cake blue. With sparkly (tube) pink icing for accents. She loved it, but I thought it looked more like a snowman than a castle... Sigh. I had a lot of help icing the thing, and by the time I got it assembled, I was out of patience and decided to nix some of the more "castle-like" details. Like the extra turrets. Or the bricks.

Trinity has been so excited about her birthday this year. She's been asking me for a month if it's her birthday yet. Every day she would get up and count down the remaining days... Cute, but sooo frustrating for a kid! Fortunately, the excitement mostly overshadowed her impatience.

She got more gifts than she knew what to do with. I was so proud of her; not only did she share her new toys, but she actually let my birthmom's son Owen (who's six) and Simon help to open her presents. Gabe was having a meltdown over Josh's mom's iPad, so he spent much of the present-opening time being antisocial in his room. He's a dramatic pouter, haha. Poor boy. His third birthday is only a few weeks away, and I'd be willing to bet he'd rather sit in his room playing with his trains, cars, or the dang iPad than be the center of attention.

Excitement. Bliss. Four.

Owen really wanted in on the action.

She was as excited about this Brave card as she was any of the presents. She loves Merida (or 'Rida, as she calls her).

Apparently four is the age that Barbie becomes a "thing." I was never really into them, and I had never even thought to get her one, but she got three different ones. One is a princess, one is a fairy ballerina, and one is a cowgirl, complete with a horse. She's been having a field day. Plus a princess storytelling clock/night light, some very cute clothes, a bunch of Breyer horse stuff (of which she's a huge fan), a complete Disney princess doll set, a play ice cream set (probably her favorite gift), jewelry, lip gloss (sigh), a Cinderella costume (are you sensing a trend yet?), arts and craft supplies... She's way too spoiled! It's time to make a major donation to the free store!

One of my parents' gifts to Trin were tickets for my mom, Trinity, and myself to have a "girls date" to go see Peter Pan at the Aranoff. I have a feeling she's going to love it. Cathy Rigby is starring, which amazed me. I remember going to see the same performance when I was little, and she was Peter Pan back then!

Not excited at all...

I'm surprised she didn't ask us to sing "Happy Birthday" multiple times. I've been singing "Happy Almost-Birthday" to her for days, at her request. Maybe she got tired of it. Haha.

Owen had to help blow, too. Gabe (who was sitting right in front of the cake) surprisingly didn't want any part in the candles/singing.

And the party gods said, "Let there be cake."

And it was good.

Happy birthday, Trinity. I love you!