Defender of Men

It's almost a month late, but better late than never, right?

This past January 27 was the birthday of one very special little girl. Unfortunately, my ideas for her birthday these past two years have fallen short, and it is by the grace of God that she's either forgotten my promises or I managed to keep my thoughts away from her ears. She's rolled with the poverty punches though, and hasn't complained too much when her last two birthday were subdued affairs and she didn't get the boatload of gifts children of this generation have come to expect.

Since we have no friends up here as of yet, Aly's birthday was only family. I figured this would be my last stress-free birthday party for her for at least 16 years, so we milked that. We bought (not made gasp) a yummy chocolate cake per her request from Magpies and Wes & Carole treated us all to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Not the typical birthday dinner for a four year old but she was ecstatic, knowing it was her day and enjoying every second. Before that, however, came Matt and my gift to her: ear piercings and her own picked-out-by-Aly earrings.

We went to Claire's in West Town Mall. Aly snuggled a bear while the patient piercing specialist (sometimes we all need a fancy name) prepped her ears and her mind, only interrupting to ask a few questions, quietly soaking in the unfamiliar atmosphere and situation permanence. Upon being given over 30 earring possibilities she chose my birthstone, ruby, because it was bright red ;). Apparently January's garnet dark red just wasn't red enough for her.  She tensed a bit and brought her hand to ear in reaction to the first piercing but didn't even react to the second. There were no tears, no complaining. She sat perfectly still as we adjusted the piercing, cleaned the wound, etc. Nothing more could have shown me how much she has grown up.

This video doesn't really show anything except Aly getting marked for piercing.

 

Since then she reminds us when it is time to clean the piercing, can clean and spin the earring herself, and hasn't tried to take them out. I'm hoping this is a precursor to how responsible she will be growing up.

Aly at four is a smart, sweet, funny, creative, imaginative princess. She is a master of colors and shapes, picks up patterns easily, but is still having trouble recognizing letters and numbers. She can entertain with the best of them and has an imagination that makes my heart swell every time I hear her voice it. She can infuriate me like no other. She equally tattles on and takes care of Lorelei, keeping them as close friends as I imagined when we first knew of Lorelei's possibility. Connie's gift of a Dora computer game has proven Aly to pick up computer skills incredibly fast, which still amazes me as she handles the game with ease and confidence. She can't stand to be by herself or not be a part of something, even if she is bored. She can be lazy and ask for anything and everything to be done for her, but for the most part she insists on doing everything herself, for she's a big girl. She loves to dress up and be a princess. Aly also loves mysteries, clues, and things to solve.

Today she's been sick and feeling a little blue, so I created a survey for her to help keep her mind off her illness.

Who is your favorite princess? Sleeping Beauty. Really? I thought you loved Ariel. I do love Ariel, I love Ariel AND Sleeping Beauty. Well, which is your favorite? .....Ariel.
What is your favorite color? RED!
What color do you not like? Green. (insert yucky face)
What is your favorite thing about yourself? (after much explaining and inane answers like horse and monkeys, she understood) My hair!
And by the way, she couldn't think of anything she didn't like about herself :).
Favorite food? Peanut butter jelly and turkey sandwich (which she has never had and would find disgusting if I ever combined all three in sandwich format)
She also could not think of a food she dislikes. She simply said, I like everything.
Favorite movie? Scooby Doo
Favorite hobby? Coloring
Favorite animal? Monkey!
Favorite season? Winter.
Favorite outfit? The dress Aunt Laney gave her for christmas, all pink and gray striped and soft.
Favorite song? The ABCDEFG song.
What makes you sad? When people spank me. (insert heartbroken Aly face)
What makes you angry? When you don't get out of bed (LOL!)
What makes you happy? When you do good (ROFL). What does that mean? Is there anything else that makes you happy? Yeah... I love yous!
When did you cry last? When I wanted my mommy
What is your favorite book? (after pointing to the first book she saw and being said that doesn't count) Little Red Riding Hood!
If you had money, what would you buy? A toy stroller
Do you know your birthday? January 27.
What color is your hair? Red
What color are your eyes? Brown, like yours.
What do you want to do when you grow up? Reach chips. No, no, I mean, what sort of job do you want to have? I want to work. (After explaining more and giving examples of jobs) I want to paint pictures.
When you grow up, do you want to be tall or short? Tall! 
Who is your best friend? Hailee!

Pictures of the ear piercings to be added as soon as we can figure out how to get them off Matt's phone ;).