Happy 4th Birthday, Amanda!

We have a four year old! I almost can't believe it. For Amanda's 'actual' birthday, on the 18th, she and I baked her birthday cake together. A few weeks ago, we did a google image search for "four year old birthday cakes" to get ideas. After looking at page after page of cakes, she knew she found The One when she spotted a chocolate cake covered in M&Ms and encrusted with KitKat bars. Here's our attempt to copy that cake. The Birthday Girl is thrilled with the result of her effort:

Later that night, we had a birthday dinner out at Skeeters and came back home to dive into that cake and open a few gifts. Her big birthday gift was a big girl bike with training wheels. After only one day on the bike with me walking beside her and putting my hand on her back, she gained enough confidence to ride down the sidewalk all by herself. I have to say, walking behind her, watching her ride that bike, is kind of heartbreaking because I can already see how quickly those training wheels will be off and she will be zooming around on that thing by herself.

In this picture, Sarah helps Amanda strap her helmet on before taking a ride around the park.


On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday party at a local park. Her cousins, along with lots of her friends from playgroup and school, celebrated with us. The kids had a great time. Here are a few of the best pictures from the day.

Brian and the Birthday Girl before the party.


Sammy and Elizabeth, a duo otherwise known as Trouble.

Amanda and Uncle Jeremy

Elizabeth flashes the camera her trademark exuberance.
And the birthday cake shot:

Amanda certainly seems to feel older. Several times since Thursday she has declared, "I'm four now; I can do it myself." While Brian and I are very proud of her confidence and new-found independence, we're going to try to keep those training wheels on for as long as we can.