Kate is FOUR

Dear Kate -  Happy 4th birthday! Yet another year has flown by and oh my, how you have grown! I rarely carry you anymore now that you've gotten so big and strong. I remember the days of carrying both you and your sister Aria up and down the stairs at the same time - you in one arm and Aria in the other. Now I can barely carry you with both arms! You sure have sprouted from my little toddler to my big girl. 

On your birthday, you got dolled up in your favorite red dress with matching shoes and headed to the salon for your very first haircut. 

You had been begging for months to get your hair cut and today was the day to get those adorable curls trimmed. 

Afterwards, we swung by Caribou for a yummy strawberry banana smoothie. 

You had been telling everyone for months that you were going to have a Rubble birthday party because "yay-yo" is your favorite color. (For those not up to speed on children's cartoons, Rubble is the Bulldog in Paw Patrol who always wears yellow.) So Paw Patrol decorations and balloons with Rubble were a must! Once we arrived home, you discovered your birthday balloons and a gift waiting for you. What could possibly be hiding in that gift bag?? It was Rubble, of course!!

Next on the agenda was soccer.  This summer you had been taking a class to learn all the basics of soccer with your sister Rose. So off went the fancy dress and on came the Colombian soccer jersey. You love Saturday morning soccer practice and insist on wearing your soccer jersey. You just gotta look the part of Colombia's future soccer star.

You were sure tuckered out after practice and fell fast asleep on the couch.  No matter how hard you try to give up your naps, you just can't seem to make the entire day without catching some extra zzzs.

Once rested and rejuvenated, you were up for more birthday fun. You loved being silly with Paw Patrol party masks and even got Rose and Pa in on the fun. You, of course, had to be Rubble!

In the hot afternoon sun, you cooled down with one of your favorite summer activities - swimming! This year we upgraded our kiddy pool to a 12 footer which has plenty of room for you to splash and work on your newly mastered swimming techniques.

For your birthday dinner, you requested mac and cheese from Noodles and Company. It's one of your all-time favorites!

And the celebration wouldn't be complete without a Paw Patrol birthday cake. You even helped decorate the top of the cake with the Paw Patrol characters of your choice.

The following weekend, the celebration continued, but this time with party guests.  You started the day opening a special outfit to wear for your birthday bash.  Finding a dress with Rubble on was a bit of a challenge, but luckily an Etsy shop came through and voila! The perfect party dress for a Paw Patrol fan. You looked adorable and ready to par-tay!!

Your birthday presents were a huge hit! You'd rip open each one then intently look it over before moving onto the next. You loved all your new fun toys (and so did your sisters.)

After gifts, it was soccer time! You had the option of skipping out on practice today but you opted to go and show off your moves for all your guests. Go Kate, go!!

After expending all that energy, it was time to refuel with sweets! First up was the piñata. Each kiddo took a turn selecting a key with the hopes that their chosen key would release the trap door and the candy would gush out onto the floor. It took a couple rounds but eventually Rose would be the one to pull the lucky key. 

Last but not least, was your Rubble birthday cake! A lemon cake with fresh raspberry compote filling. We ordered it from a new place called CAKED and it just may have been one of the tastiest birthday cakes we've ever had. 

Kate, you are our little Diva. Always getting gussied up in fancy dresses and shoes. You sure have sense of style at the ripe old age of 4. I can just imagine what you'll be like at 14!

You've had a number of nicknames over the years - chicken nugget, chimichanga, and most recently tater tot which has morphed into "Tate". Lately when I call you "Tater Tot" you'll respond, "I'm not Tater Tot, I'm Tate!" 

You love to swim! You'd spend every day splashing away in the pool if you could. Your swimming skills have really exploded with all your pool time. You now happily dunk yourself under the water and propel yourself across our kiddie pool. You've become quite the swimmer and love the water! Speaking of water, you are oh so very sensitive to water temperatures. This past year, you've been insisting on taking lukewarm baths. You swear that cold baths are much better than warm ones. Same goes for food. The colder the better for you. No need to warm up left over pizza or noodles. You prefer them straight out of the fridge!

You, my dear, can nap anywhere. I will find you sleeping in the most uncomfortable looking places. It's because you hate taking the time out of your busy day to catch up on your much needed beauty sleep. So you end up falling asleep wherever you happen to be.

You have become quite the YouTube Kids aficionado. Whenever idle, you seem to always have a device in your hands while you catch up on your favorite YouTube channels. 

You have grown to love frogs, just like your big sister. Every summer night when the frogs come out to our deck to feast on bugs, you and Rose can be found gathering them up in your hands with delight. You think they are so cute, especially the itty bitty ones.

It can take some convincing to get you into the house at night once frog season has arrived. But eventually you make it inside and crawl into your Minnie Mouse toddler bed which sits on the floor next to Aria's bed. After tucking you in complete with hugs, kisses and high 5s, you always ask for cuddles. I've been camping out in Aria's bed ever since her seizures started. Most nights I can postpone being squished between you and Aria (and sometimes a kitty or 2) at least until the early morning hours when you wake up and sneak into bed to get your fill of cuddles.

Kate, you are an amazing little girl! You find such joy in life's simplest pleasures. We love you to the moon and back! Happy 4th birthday, Kate!