beach baby birthday

my little harper turned 4 last week!  isn't it just crazy how fast time flies?  the night before, we dined picnic style in the dining room with our 5th annual blueberry pancake feast.  the morning of her birthday, we decorated the house with streamers and balloons so she would wake up to a celebration.  michael went in late to work so he could eat a breakfast of chocolate chip waffles (as requested) with us.  after breakfast, we quickly packed and changed and headed out to the beach, where we planned to spend most of the day, despite the predicted close to 100 degree temps.  the day was perfect.  by the water, it felt 20 degrees cooler, and we so we swam and swam and swam some more.  we took a break to eat lunch and ice cream, and went back into the lake for more swimming and dock jumping.  what a difference in her confidence and abilities over last summer.  we returned to nana and papa's house for a spaghetti dinner (another request) as we had a house showing and couldn't be at home.  she fell asleep on the 10 minute drive home, so her presents waited until the next morning, although her biggest gift, her new bike, was given to her over the weekend previous.

we had a fantastic time.  here's the video to show it.

Harper's 4th Birthday from Emily Petrous on Vimeo.

harper at age 4...
-she has the comfortability to go sans clothes when we're home by ourselves

-she does not prefer the constriction of underwear

-she has learned lately to cross her arms, scowl her face and stomp off when she doesn't like something or doesn't get her way or isn't happy

-her favorite foods are pb&j, mac and cheese, pizza and spaghetti.  she is hesitant to try new meals, but can be coerced sometimes

-to get our attention, she says "i have to tell you a question" or "excuse me"

-she loves stories before bed, and to delay bedtime by asking for a snack right when we say its time to brush teeth

-she still has her soft taggie, and has to "feed her" before we leave her in the car.  we can't go anywhere without her, and have almost lost her several times.  we're learning to avoid taking her into places with us.

-she has recently only preferred to wear dresses and skirts

-she just asked to take dance class, and loves to dance and sing and make up her own songs

-she has a killer memory for the little things, so be careful what you say
-she is a fish in the water, and has preferred swimming over everything else this summer

i found an idea on pinterest where you ask a set of questions to your child each year on her birthday, so i started this year.  i found it interesting that the answers to most of her questions were related to recent events within the last few days or so.  she needed some help expanding her answers to what i really knew were the answers, but allowed her to respond whichever way she preferred...

How old are you?  4
What makes you happy?  when eeenee and gippin give clover a toy
What is your favorite animal?  monkey
What is your favorite thing to eat?  mac and cheese
What is your least favorite thing to eat?  tomatoes and green pepper
What is your favorite thing to do?  reading berenstain bears books
What is your favorite TV show?  backyardigans
What are you really good at?  swimming and going biking and doing tennis
What is your favorite movie?  shrek 1
What is your favorite color?  lots- purple, pink, blue, yellow, black, brown, red, green
What is your favorite song?  5 little monkeys, lights (ellie goulding)
Who is your best friend?  anna, bryce, hunter, and henry and hazel
What do you and your mom do together?  play outside and watch movies
What do you and your dad do together?  i help with his work and we watch cool movies
What is your favorite sport?  bowling
Where is your favorite place to go?  grandma and grandpa's
What is your favorite book?  berenstain bears
What do you want to be when you grow up? one of those mermaids like tasha and uniqua