Happy Birthday Cate!

Over the last four years, we've watched our sweet, super cuddly baby grow into a strong, determined, and independent little girl. Cate definitely lives life to the fullest and doesn't hold back much when it comes to how she's feeling. If she's happy or excited she will brighten the entire room. If she is mad or frustrated, believe me, she will let you know. And if she's sad or embarrassed, boy it's one of the saddest things you've ever seen. The interesting twist to all of this is that she is very reserved around others, with most of her emotions staying inside. One of Cate's favorite activities is to "read" her books, particularly her two princess books and "Ballerina Ball." These three books come downstairs almost every morning, back up for rest time (actual naps are far and few between these days), back down again after and back up one final time for bedtime. She will sometimes sit for a good hour flipping through the pages and making up elaborate storylines. She has a tendency to pull in random plotlines from something we just watched, talked about, or she learned about in school. Example: She's telling a story about Ariel and Prince Eric and all of a sudden Jesus dying on the cross comes in somehow. Highly entertaining. While telling these stories, she tends to flap her hands. I don't know if it's out of excitement or what, but again, highly entertaining.

Cate still prefers wearing dresses with no shorts or tights underneath, prefers no shoes, and always wants her hair down. Basically she doesn't seem to care for anything too restrictive. Her favorite foods have remained the same for some time now, and she loves ice in her water. Band aids and ice packs are requested on an almost daily basis whether she really needs them or not. Cate will generally try and try to do something until she gets it and is definitely more of a risk taker than Will. In the car she is constantly asking if we're going the speed limit when she thinks we are driving too slow. At this point in time, Cate has decided she wants to be a substitute teacher when she grows up. She is very specific about the "substitute" part. That's interesting. Her dreaded four year appointment is coming up later this week. Not looking forward to the four-year-old vaccines...