Monday, October 20, 2014

One Two Three FOUR

Last week, Scarlett turned FOUR!

Can you believe it?  If you're still reading my sporadic updates, you've probably been around a while, and, like me, are completely floored that we are already at 4 years old.


This was the first time we felt like she would appreciate at least some part of it being her birthday.  She loves the "Happy Birthday" song, balloons and cake, so what more did she need?

She woke up to a room and bed filled with balloons...

At school, her friends presented her with handmade cards.  She also walked around a candle to represent her 4 trips around the sun, and shared pictures of her throughout her life.
School cupcakes
That afternoon, her cousin came to play while we put together her birthday present: a new trampoline!  We have been fighting to get her to stop jumping on the couches and beds, and thought a sanctioned, safer jumping space would help.  Then we saw this one on Amazon and we thought it would work well - and it does!


 She can jump to her heart's content in there and I won't worry as much as I do when she's on the couch.

We wrapped it up with more cake - she blew out her candles (with minor help) and dug in!


4 year old Scarlett is a delightful handful.  She is full of energy, and we jsut always hope she will use her powers for good rather than tantrums.  She loves school and her cousin Caleb.  She carries on full conversations in her own babble-speak, but also knows enough words to communicate exactly what (or who) she wants much of the time.  Her favorite word is probably "no"; my favorite of her words is "flower", which she pronounces "wow-ah".  She signs as much as she speaks, and when she puts the two together, we understand her best.  She is getting better at just imitating what she sees or hears, so we hear more from her.  She likes to count and sing.

She's a daredevil.  She climbs on everything, and wants to go as fast as she can.  If we turn our backs, it is not uncommon to find her standing on the kitchen table after climbing up the chairs, or hanging upside down on the bed looking at herself in the mirror.  She has favorites - food (cookies and cake); toys (babies and animals); clothes (pink dresses...sigh.); people (Daddy and Caleb); places (school); shows (Signing Time and Super Simple Songs); books (The Hungry Caterpillar, in which she pretends to eat every food with a little "nom nom nom" as we read).  She likes to be given a choice in what she wears or eats, which is just more of that 4 year old personality coming through.  If she agrees, it goes smoothly; if it is not her idea, we have a battle ahead.  Most of the time, she is quite the charmer.  She smiles, giggles and tickles everyone she meets (even though it sometimes feels like pinching) and loves to hold hands while she walks.

Her best buds.
 This girl amazes us day in and day out.  She surprises her specialists and therapists every time they see her, and those who have been with us since  the beginning take as much joy in her as we do.  We are proud and just plain happy to have her around.

Here's to a year of more firsts.
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A few more pictures from the last few weeks...

At our alma mater high school's cancer awareness game.



 Our fourth blood drive was smaller, but we still collected about 40 units of blood.


 Pumpkin patch with the family...which is growing by TWO come Spring when Caleb becomes a big brother to twins!

Walking in with GG

Those sassy hands on hips...watch out!