10-4 good buddy

the little girl born on 10-4 is my good buddy.

4 on the 4th!

four!

i was looking through some baby pictures the other day and had to smile. she was so little.

now she is four, drives me crazy at bed time (which is currently the case, it's now 10:23), and for the most part is a total sweetheart.

velzy is an amazing big sister. she is always looking out for ivy. she cares for her. she tattles on her when she is doing something she should not. she loves her. she is annoyed by her. she is her teacher. she is her idol and also her audience. she is her best friend.

she is a smart girl and remembers everything. she puts things together then surprises me with her knowledge. which is fun and shocking. it's really fun to teach her new things and see how she remembers them. it's even more fun, and scary at times, to see the things that she isn't taught but picks up on.

the girl loves to walk and run. her favorite things are to play chase and hide and go seek. someday when she figures out just how to use her amazingly long skinny spider legs, she will be uncatchable. i like to envision us running together on the beach, she will be the tall skinny one with the huge strides, and i will be the short one trying to keep up.

she loves to sing and i think she will be a great little singer. she can carry a tune and does a mean ariel impersonation. lately, she has been making up songs- a random a mix of church songs, wee-sing type songs and little songs she makes up. they are pretty funny to listen to.

she is accepting, reasonable, and flexible- not all the time, but a lot of the time. if you present her with the facts of why something has to be the way it is, she is easy to accept it. which makes my job a lot easier. i love the age of reason.

she loves nature, bugs, and animals. she is fearless and will pick up anything she finds, and always finds a bug to tote around (which usually ends up dead- a victim of "rough love"). the other day i came outside to see her with not one but two little praying mantis' on her arm chasing her friend around who was screaming. she also loves to collect shells and picks every pretty flower that she sees.

she loves the water and is getting pretty fearless. she loves to "bodysurf" especially at low tide at churches, it's one of my favorite things to watch her do. even more than the running scenario, i like to think of she and i putting on fins at pounders or waimea getting ready for some womp-age.

she is happiest when her little hands are busy- painting, coloring, "crafting" (so funny when she asks if she can do a craft). and she loves to do her "learning book" when ivy naps.

on sunday, we had a fun little birthday party for her complete with:

a bounce house

that was supposed to be princesses but they delivered a toy story one. when she got out of the car and saw that it was the wrong one she said "that is the one i wanted!" crisis averted.

at one time it was full with 1 grandpa, 3 dads, and about 12 crazy little kids- so fun to watch.

velzy loves a good dog pile

we had the worlds toughest pinata

my little pony cupcakes

and of course the four f's: food, family, friends, and fun. it was a good day.

happy birthday velzy, i love you my little buddy!

10-4. over and out.