Finally her turn!

Her birthday finally came! It is so hard for this child to wait through all the February birthdays to make it to hers in March. And then it was maybe a tad overshadowed by the move but she didn't complain bc she got cake and ice cream and got to turn 4! 

What she wanted most was a soft bathrobe like mommy's:

Nana has to make one bc we just couldn't find one her size anywhere.

Little bit about G at this age:

-she's hysterical. She currently dominates the funny kid quotes I write down for this blog.

-when she grows up, she's "going to be jenelle and then mommy and then nana!"

-she isn't quite as naughty as she was last birthday but she is so dang strong-willed that if she doesn't want to go it's like trying to get a rhinoceros to budge. 

-she loves cuddles and having her back rubbed. She "would like you to rub my back like that all night long please."

-her psyche is a delicate balance of severe independence (don't you dare help her when she says no), and total incompetence ("I can't do it unless you do it for me", despite having done it perfectly well seconds beforehand)

-loves her siblings and those buttons of theirs that are so easily pushed. Except L pushes back. That she hates.

-she wants to pick every dandelion, collect every acorn or pine cone, test every rock, and investigate every bug that moves when we go on walks, which thanks to her, should really be called stops.

-if it goes up, she is going to climb it. If it goes down, she's going to slide on it. If it's wet, she's going to jump in it. If it's food, she's going to eat it (resorting to theft if necessary).

-she loves with her whole heart. 

And our life wouldn't be nearly as exciting without her. 

Big week

We finally moved into our new house and it's like a dream!

Coop: Not a bird... Do you know what other kind of animal it could be G? It looks like it has fins. 

G: I know! A waffle!

Coop: uh, what?

G: you know, that swims like this.

Coop: walrus?

G: oh yeah. That's what I meant.

I come in the kitchen and G is pretending to mop. She says, "I'm trying to clean so you can be happy." Aw sweet.

M's undefeated basketball season came to an end. They celebrated with some of the players from the pac-12 women's champion OSU players!

And of course she earned the defensive player award. This girl is a beast. Her shyness is just a ruse. If you have the ball... She. Will. Find. You.

L decided to help out at the last game by distracting the opponents with her pants-down act. I don't know what to do with this girl but I can tell you were never wearing those loose, elastic-waist pants in public again!

G: ok I'll put my coat on but not my lid.

I think she meant hood.

Bopa left early and didn't finish his ice cream. Guess who was only too happy to oblige? And of course if you have two bowls you need to eat with two spoons, right?

I asked L if she loves me. She's now repeating, "I love me," again and again.

We took a picture here on the day we moved into our rental in Corvallis and now on the day we moved out!

G: "how bout I call them honey butts cereal?"

She's a little confused about how to wear sunglasses:

I was getting out a turkey to roast when dude walked up, looked at it and went, "eeeeew that looks like a dead pig!" He was fascinated/horrified and informed G that food had blood in it. G walked up and said, "yuuuuum. That's gonna be good but I'm not going to eat it yet." She was especially excited to help stuff some celery down its neck hole. As I tried to dry it off its wings kept plopping out and I asked dude why. He didn't know except to point out that it was dead. I asked if he thought maybe he didn't think he was dead and was trying to fly away. He replied that he couldn't think because he was dead but he also couldn't try or fly for the same reason. Always logic with that one.

Random crazies

L was running too fast and didn't make it around a corner - she ran right into the wall. She turned around to catch my eye, laughed and said, "wall."

Dude randomly says to me, "I wish I could go back in time so I could punch Benedict Arnold in the face." 

Grammy came to town for doughnuts with the kiddos. Why are they called doughnuts anyway? Why aren't they called dough circles? 

M is in heaven with her b-day money purchase (she's had a thing with giraffes since she was about six months old!):

G knocks pistachios on the side of her head before eating them to "check if they're a bad nut."

G asked, "do you know what no is in Spanish?" What? "It means malabababababa." And she giggled.

Tea party time (dude is sporting Darth Vader helmet, cowboy vest, tinker bell skirt, yoda hands and dragon legs)

Watching the end of the sixth Star Wars. G starts crying (and keeps at it for 15 minutes!) because she "loves Darth Vader."

Me: Maybe next week we'll do your hair for church G. 

G: Why? It's perfect.

L has entered the awkward kiss phase. She takes your face in both her hands and super slowly pulls you in for a prolonged, tender kiss. And then wants to repeat again and again. But who wouldn't want to kiss this face: