4 and a half years

On September 13, Eden Brooks turned 4 and a half years old. Wow.

We documented with a picture of E holding her two-year-old portrait. It makes me think of the Little Golden Book "Where did the baby go?" -- I can still see her in there somewhere, but my little baby has turned into a beautiful little girl.

At four-and-a-half, she is addicted to writing things, always wanting to carry around a notepad or piece of paper. She knows how to write her full name (Eden Brooks Bodie) though it is almost always written in all caps. She can sound out some words when she's in the mood and easily recognizes and writes our names.

She still loves PBS Kids (probably because we haven't allowed much else and don't have cable), but has also seen a few movies --- Cars; Mary Poppins; Peter Pan; The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Jungle Book; Shirley Temple movies; and The Wizard of Oz.

She has recently decided that she no longer likes strawberries, bananas, blueberries, yogurt, or peanut butter. We are having to find new foods that interest her.

She is getting much better at answering "Yes ma'am" before asking why she has to do something or not do it, though there is barely a full second between "yes ma'am" and "why?"  We're also working on asking questions instead of telling us to do things or simply telling us things -- this is a constant reminder throughout the day. 

She just recently quit throwing fits. Somehow at the end of the summer, full on fits returned with a vengeance. We told her this month, that at four and a half she was too old to throw a fit -- she can be sad, can cry, can stomp her feet, but no full-out body-flailing fits allowed. If she did, every single toy in her room would be put in a big bag and put away for a while. It worked.

She says she misses her sister during the day ... she is usually very sweet to her sister and is extremely perceptive when it comes to noticing what it is that Lydia wants or needs. 

She still loves to do projects with her art supplies at the dining room table and has most recently learned how to tie knots. Not surprisingly, there are ribbons and string tied to things throughout her room. This skill comes in quite handy when she wants to tie baskets to furniture and to a baby gate to create new, necessary things -- like a dog park fence for her bedroom, or the metal bracelets she tied to the metal baby gate at her bedroom doorway to make a doorbell.

She loves to have playdates with friends and is more than fine to stay at her friends' houses to play without me around. 

She still loves to be carried around, loves to wrestle with her daddy, loves to read books, and most of the time still loves to be hugged and kissed.

She asks so many questions and is so perceptive, I often have to remind myself just how little she still really is. Four and a half years, and it just keeps getting better.

We love you, Miss Eden Brooks.

- Momma