Aspen is 4 Years Old

In July Aspen turned 4 years old.  I swear she was 3 FOREVER.  Aspen's birthday is so close to the 4th of July, she always gets confused and thinks the fireworks are for her.  I had to explain to her a million times that it wasn't really her birthday and some times we just celebrate a little early because we have a family BBQ that day.

To celebrate her actual birthday, I invited some of her cousins and neighbor friends over for a swim party in the backyard.  She wanted to have a "Deep Sea Diver Party" this year.  So I found some cute decorations at the Dollar Store and had everything water themed.  We had the alligator slip-n-slide set up and had lots of squirt guns and water balloons.  Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of her friend party because it's crazy with a bunch of kids running around near water.

Then when Isaac got home from work we went swimming at the South Jordan Rec Center.  This is a fun indoor pool with a nice kid zone with slides.  Sophie loved going around the lazy river.

Then Aspen was able to pick where she wanted to go for dinner.  She kept fluctuating between Little Caesars and Arctic Circle.  She finally asked "Does Little Caesars have a play place?"  Well, that made her decision and off to Arctic Circle we went.

After a quick dinner we rushed home for her family party and cake.  This year Isaac and I gave her the movie Moana, and a party music machine that makes cool lights and has a microphone.  She got the Moana and Frozen soundtracks so she could sing with her party machine.  She also got some beads, games, and books.

Here are a few things about Aspen:

• Aspen doesn't like to be told what to do.  She is very, very stubborn and independent.  She likes to be in charge.  Ms. Kathryn from her preschool said that she leads play time every day.  She took over the castle and turned it into her "do-fice" (Doctor's office).  Then she demanded that the other kids bring their babies and stuffed animals to get check-ups.  When she got bored she would demand another kid to become the nurse and take over while she moved on to other things.  Apparently this sort of thing happened all the time.
• Aspen knows most of her upper case letters.  She still hates me to question her about them, and I worry she will never get them down.  But she's making progress.  She doesn't recognize numbers very well, but she can count out loud and count objects fine.
• Aspen loves hiking if she can lead (it's better with cousins or other people).  She will march at the beginning of the line, but as soon as someone takes the lead she crumbles.
• Aspen is super funny.  She just says the silliest things all the time.  I wish I wrote down more of them because she's always cracking us up with the things she says.
• Aspen is my girly girl.  She is really into clothes.  She has to pick everything herself but frequently asks me if things match.  She likes to look pretty and sometimes wears dresses and skirts on non-Sundays.  She likes to do her hair and it's fun for me to try new things on her.  Sophie wants straight hair every day and never lets me do fun/experimental things.

Aspen is still challenging at times, but she's such an important part of our family.  Recently she and Sophie have become best friends and they run around playing together all day.  Of course they still have their fights, but most of the time they are so good together.  They are especially cute in primary because Sophie watches over Aspen and they stand next to each other during all the games with their arms around each other.  Aspen is growing up so fast and some times Isaac and I think that we expect too much out of her because she seems older than she is.  But she's our little girl and we love her so much.