Birthday and a Bike

My little girl turned four last Monday.  Her requested birthday dinner: waffles with raspberry sauce and whipped cream, wild rice & venison sausage, and asparagus.  (She LOVES asparagus.) 

The Saturday before, we celebrated her birthday with my parents and siblings and their families.  Clare requested a buried dog bone birthday cake with blue frosting and blueberries on top.  (Okay, the buried dog bone part was my idea, which, given my poor cake-making skills was probably not such a great plan.) 

 

 

I did manage to get some of the dog bones to look like dog bones, others just looked like hearts. And in case I'm likely to forget it, this cake was a LOT of work and took forever to bake and I should remember never to make it again. 

The extra batter turned into cupcakes, so Clare celebrated on her real birthday with a flaming one.

 

Clare's present from us this year was a balance bike.  I've heard so many good things about balance bikes but like anything worth having, the good quality balance bikes aren't cheap.  But I reminded myself how much money I've spent on my bikes in the past and decided Clare's bike was well worth it.  (Plus Karl can use it next summer when she upgrades to pedals and the new baby can use it a summer or two after that.)

Proud as can be.

What I LOVE about balance bikes is you can ride them anywhere. She rode over the rocks by our deck no problem, up and down the grassy yard no problem.  Eventually we'll get her on some single-track when she feels more confident.  The transition next summer to a pedal bike should be (as Clare likes to say) "easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy". 

So cute - she wanted to pump the air in her tires herself. 

Birthday picnic at McLain's State Park.

 Her confidence increases every time she goes out.  Today she went out to ride her bike at 8:30 in the morning.  She's getting better at coasting downhill without putting her feet on the ground.

 Here she's coasting down our front lawn:

Karl REALLY wanted to climb on Clare's bike when he saw her doing it.  Instead he's taken over the little Radio Flyer toy.  Most times when Clare is on her bike, he'll grab the Radio Flyer and ride on that. 

Clare at age 4

Favorite foods: macaroni and cheese, noodles with Parmesan, grapes, raisins, strawberries, watermelon, asparagus, wild rice & venison sausage, pancakes.

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite animal: dogs

Favorite books: Henry and Mudge series, Elephant & Piggie series, anything "we haven't read in a long time"

Favorite thing to do inside: draw, paint, play with Karl, listen to books.

Favorite thing to do outside: ride her bike, play with water or with Molly

Clare loves her little brother:  "I miss Karl when he's napping, Mom." 

She's so excited about the new baby:  "How big is the baby now, Mom?  Is the baby sleeping?  Can the baby hear me if I whisper?  Someday that baby's just going to pop out, right, Mom?"

I love that she still likes to snuggle up close to me while we read stories.  She's a little sweetie but getting bigger every day.