Ilana at 4

Three things come to mind when I think about this past year with Ilana: growth, emotions and the "instruction manual."

Ilana has grown in so many ways this past year - in stature, as a big sister, as a friend, as a daughter, mindfully, vocally... I could go on and on. I look at her summer clothes from last year and think "these will never fit her again!"

Ilana has been so "little" since she started walking, and now she finally seems to be catching up...

just a little bit.

 
We still have meltdowns ever day, which is where the emotions of this year come in.

Ilana is really exploring her emotions - which ones are appropriate when, what they actually are, and especially how to express them. We're trying to help her navigate this confusing part of life.

All in all, she's a pretty happy girl most of the time.

She's also grown in her imagination. This girl LOVES to dress up as 759 different characters every day and you better remember which one she is now.

When people ask me about Ilana these days I say "the instruction manual has arrived." People always wonder why infants don't come with an instruction manual and my answer is because they arrive at 4 years old. Ilana knows what she wants, when she wants it, and is not afraid to tell you. Must be a 4-year old thing. Definitely a new adventure for us!

Her birthday this year was on Wednesday - the day Paul works late, so we started celebrating the night before by going to our favorite pizza place in Chicago, formerly Ian's Pizza (now Dimo's Pizza, same exact place, they just decided to stay a local pizza place and not franchise - go Dimo's!!) Of course, we had to get their smore's pizza and when they brought it out, it had 4 candles on it. Again, go Dimo's!! My friend, Emily is in town this week, attending a conference in Chicago, so of course she joined us for dinner that night (on the left). It was super sweet.

The next morning we let her open her gifts first thing.

We had a great time celebrating with the friends at our weekly Wednesday playgroup. I intentionally didn't take the camera with me. It was just one too many things, plus I wasn't feeling all that well. Then we came home and after naps and dinner had another round of cupcakes.

There was no resistance to this idea, only silly faces.

Ilana, you are a joy to us, despite all the challenges that being 4 brings!