Happy, Happy Birthday!

For the first time, Lexi knew it was coming. They had been reviewing it for months at preschool. We had been teaching her that "it's after Daddy's, after Papa's, and right around Spring." When the actual day came, she was READY!

She was super excited since her birthday fell on a preschool day. So, we made red cupcakes with red sprinkles to take in for everyone. She also loved her "ballerina" outfit that was saved special for her birthday.

After preschool, she chose to have chicken nuggets and fries for her birthday lunch. We then waited patiently for Daddy to come home so we could open presents. Ok, that's not totally true. At one point, we were looking at her gifts:

and I asked her what she thought she might get for her birthday. She told me, "Mom! They are surprises.We can't know what's inside!" So I asked her if she wanted to just guess what those surprises might be. "MOM! Then they wouldn't be surprises." I promptly emailed Allen asking him to come home early because the suspense was just killing me

her.

As soon as he walked through the door, we got right to it. We told her we had a very special present for her that wasn't out with the rest and that Dad was going to get it. When I looked over, I saw her doing this:

And then he came around the corner:

YAY! Her very first bike!

As we were getting ready to take advantage of the little daylight we had left, Lexi received a birthday phone call. Of course, she needed to take the call before we could proceed.

After conducting her business, we made our way outside so Lexi could speed off into the sunset on her new wheels.

My favorite part: the dress socks with sports sandals. Now, we just need a fanny pack and we're ready for Disneyland. 

So, the racing part didn't ever really happen. Lexi kept applying the brakes instead of going forward so it was kind of like watching someone learning to drive a manual transmission for the first time: start. stop. start. stop. start. stop. I'm sure with a little practice, she'll be riding all over the block while the rest of us try to keep up.

After biking, we head in to open the rest of the gifts and have cake.

Lexi says she had a great birthday and loved all of her presents. She said she felt very special and really like putting candles on the cake and putting fire on them and blowing it out. 

Here's some other tidbits about Lexi as a 4 year old:

- She can read simple words.

- She is really good at memory and puzzles.

- She likes Barbies and dolls and playdoh.

- She takes a magnadoodle to bed every night and colors on it until she is tired enough to fall asleep.

- Naps have officially gone the way of all the Earth.

- She is a compassionate, caring and extremely patient big sister.

- She loves to help me prepare every meal in the kitchen.

- She clears her own plate, throwing away what should be and putting her dishes in the sink after every meal.

- She can do almost anything (if you ask her) all. by. herself. 

- She absolutely loves to cuddle. A hug goes much farther than a harsh word with Lexi.

- If you do deal her some harsh words, she will likely try and deal them back to you. 

- She is a total Daddy's girl. 

- She is completely adored by us and we couldn't be more proud of the person she is becoming! 

Happy Birthday, Lexi!