D1 Turns Four

We celebrated D1's birthday yesterday with a rather low-key celebration, just in case it had to be postponed. We missed our chance to have four children under the age of four, though. (Not that I had that as a goal.)

Alas, I forgot to make the birthday crown. But she had a snowman cake. (No, I don't know why. It was what she wanted.) She opened presents. She played with friends. In short, it was all that a birthday required.

As she has since infancy, D1 loves people. No need to prompt her to say "thank you" for her presents--she's ready to call up all absent family members on the spot. (In fact, the only time in recent memory she threw a tantrum was when I refused to let her take part in a phone conversation with my doula. She still has not learned that not *everybody* in the world wants to talk to her, or that we cannot randomly invite ourselves over to strangers' homes.)

She likes to read books with plots of her own composition, to write long words nobody else can read, and to sing songs never heard before. She knows what needs to be done, and she's happy to tell you how to do it. She can do practically anything around the house accessible to people under four feet tall, including folding and organizing her laundry more neatly than I can. She is baby-crazy and very eager to see her big sisterly role expand.