We have a FOUR year old!?!

Groundhogs Day, 2012

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadown and Clara Natalie turned FOUR!!  Our sweetie is far from a toddler or small child and now a amazingly kind, smart and sweet young lady.  Some days our conversations with her leave us feeling that she is far closer to an adulthood than we are prepared for, but every day we feel so proud of our darling Clara! 

At four years old Clara is still tall for her age, but no longer the tallest child in her preschool.  She has long thin legs balanced with a long torso, with an adorable poochy tummy.  She still loves to eat, especially all fruits and snacks.  On her birthday, Daddy stayed home from work and we all served Clara breakfast in bed!  To Clara this seems to be an association she makes with being a "big girl."

For the most part, Clara is very cooperative and easy going.  She is working on being more independent and recently has learned some new skills that she is proud of.  They include, opening the child safety cupboard locks and baby gate, unwrapping packaged snacks or yogurt independently, getting strapped into and out of her own car seat, buttoning her own sweaters and peeling her own mandarin oranges.  Unlike the toddler "Do it my self" stage, Clara is now somewhat coach-able and seems to love the process of learning something new. 

Clara is still in the midst of her princess phase but she has strayed a little from having to dress up every single day.  On the days she does dress up, there is a lot more variation in what she selects and imagines playing.  She also continues to declare pink as her favorite color but now is open to experimentation with other colors.  For example, both with her plastic kid plates and the scarves we use at playgroup, she would insist on using pink, or red when pink was not an option.  The last few times she has actually selected yellow or orange - Mommy has definitely taken notice.  It is like before she used Snow White and pink as tools of self definition and now that she is a little more mature understands that she is still the same person even if she has a yellow plate or green hair bow! 

Our Scout continues to enjoy school and after recently having her first parent conference, we have the sense that her teachers really enjoy having her in class.   Her birthday happened to be a school day so together we made cupcakes the night before and she got to share them with her class.  They all sang to her and made her a lovely birthday hat and balloon card!  She was so proud of them!

Clara's next request was to go to a McDonald's for lunch and play in the play area.  In true Clara form she enjoyed all of her chocolate milk first, apple slices and a few fries and bites of hamburger.  Then she was ready to play.  After a few minutes of playing, she comes running back over to us announcing that she is done because a girl "made a dragon voice at her."  Okay...

Our next stop was the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett.  It was our first time visiting and it really is a great place for kids.  Both girls (and their parents) had a wonderful time exploring the museum. 

The weather was beautiful for February and so we got to enjoy some sun and outside play on the museum's roof top playground!  Daddy tried to get Clara to try some really cool looking slides but our cautious Clara stayed low to the ground and preferred a small look out where she pretended to be Rapunzel.  Janie, on the other hand was absolutely fearless on some smaller slides and something tells me that had she figured out how to, she have gone down those larger slides that Clara wouldn't without a hint of hesitation. 

After a fun day at the museum we all enjoyed the sunny drive back home.  Fulfilling another one of Clara's requests, we hit up Red Robin fora "fancy" dinner.  Not the healthiest day, I know, but even after 4 years, I still feel entitled to treat myself to not having to cook on the 2nd of February for the crazy long labor I endured to give birth to my 10 lb. baby girl! 

 
Clara acted shy when the sang to her, but loved getting the ice cream sundae with all that whipped cream! 

At home, we surprised her with a few fun gifts, including some new clothes, a Playmobile set, some Leapster games and Ducktails on DVD (Daddy picked that one out)! 

We sang to her over a cupcake and her neat new birthday plate from Brooke and then let her enjoy her new toys a little before bed.  And amazingly she took two small bites of the cupcake and seemed to be sugared out for the day!  In Clara's world, that has to be the sign of a great day!

We still can't believe that four years have passed already!  What an amazing adventure it has been!

Getting to know our sweet Clara has been and will continue to be one of the most fulfilling experiences of our lives.  Of course we have some days with silly behavior, but for the most part, having a four year old daughter is an incredible amount of fun.  When we get to have one on one time with her, it really is a treat.  With Daddy, she likes to play with her little figurines like Calico Critters, Smurfs or Dollhouse Dolls and together they come up with the most imaginative scenarios and dialog.  With Mommy, she likes to snuggle, read books and even has started initiating a little "girl talk" with lots of sweet questions. 

Clara has turned into an even better big sister than we could have hoped for.  She really loves Janie and becomes concerned at the thought of leaving her out of something we do.  She loves to run down stairs to greet her when Janie wakes from her naps and is getting more and more tolerant every day of Janie barging in on her play.  More and more the two girls really play together!

While this past year may have forced Clara to face some tough situations a little sooner than we had hoped, she remains so amazingly innocent and genuine.  She is honest about her opinions and linear in her thinking, therefore she comes across as very wise for a four year old.  Her sweet, gentle nature,  acceptance of change, and developing humor have provided both Kevin and I with a lot of comfort.  She frequently talks to her "Papa in Heaven" in a lighthearted way.  As tough as it is to hear sometimes, this is helping us to keep a smile on our face even though there may be tears in our eyes. 
Clara Natalie "Scout" Michael, you are a dream come true for Mommy & Daddy!  We both love you so very and feel grateful getting to be your parents!