Bella's Birthday

Bella's big party was out at Jerry and Bridgette's this year, and she was showered with princess clothes and dress up things. She even got her very own pink princess ice cream cake, complete with princess crown, mirror, and hair comb on top. Grandma Bonnie got Bella a Christmas dress with matching mini dress for her doll, which she absolutely adored. Here she is reading one of her new birthday books while wearing her new dress...

As her gift from us, I took her to see the Nutcracker up here in Spokane the weekend after her birthday. She got to wear her Christmas dress, and I dressed up too and we had a lovely time. Bella asked questions through the entire first act and she was a little afraid of the mouse king, but I think she loved it in the end. Grandpa found a couple versions of the Nutcracker on TV and recorded them for her, so for the next week she danced around the house listening to the Nutcracker Suite and emulating the ballerinas. I'm looking forward to making this a yearly tradition!

I can't believe I have a four year old though. She's such a little lady now, and I don't know where the time went! A couple of days ago Bella went to school with Andrew so that the teacher could demonstrate how to do a well child exam on her, and she did amazingly. She sat there answering all the questions the teacher asked, and I was so impressed with how well she did interacting with a total stranger in a room full of people watching her. Her imagination is running wild now, making up games, imaginary friends, and her own songs. This of course also means that she's getting more creative with ways to be mischievous, but we're figuring out how to keep up. She and Eva have just recently started to really interact, and Andrew and I love hearing Bella making Eva laugh from another room. What a joy!