4 Year Old Firecracker

Every year it's the same, we cannot believe that our baby girl is another year older. Four. I remember when a four year old was a "big kid", and I still feel like she is very little. She has grown up so much in the last year, consistently amazing us with her abilities. She remembers the most incredible details; the wall color in the doctor's office, the last song playing on the radio in the car yesterday, the name of every cat or dog that her grandparents have (or had in the past). She is silly and funny and kind. Her energy knows no bounds. Every day she makes us laugh, surprises us with sweetness, walks the line between personal strength and defiance and shocks us with her abilities.

She loves her routine. Eats "brown oatmeal" for breakfast everyday. Reads two books before bed every night with a bathroom break in between. Sleeps with her pink giraffe. And loves, loves, loves

her birthday.

This year we had a gymnastics party. It was a great decision. For a little girl that has never actually taken a gymnastics class, she had an absolute riot.

Maximum Gymnastics was a hit for the everyone involved. Gretchen's friends, classmates and their siblings (big and small) all had something to do, space to play and it seemed as though everyone had a great time.

Alex was a natural. He was on the balance beams, pummel horse, and was seen even hanging from the uneven bars:

Gretchen spent the majority of her time in the more active parts of the gym. The trampolines, the mats, the springy floors, it was virtually impossible to catch her being still. Just what we wanted for our little ball of energy.

Miraculously, the party coordinators were able to corral this group of rambunctious kiddos together for a group photo.

And my favorite shot of Gretchen just exuding happiness:

Last but not least, we had a delicious chocolate/chocolate/chocolate cake for our favorite chocolate lover. She was really excited for the Lego candles, talked about them all week, but nothing beat her excitement to eat cake. I'm not gonna lie, it was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. And I ate a LOT of it.

Happy Birthday Little Lady! I hope this coming year is as fun, genuine, exciting and happy as the ones that came before. We love you more than you know.