On December 12, Eden turned 4! She is so proud of being 4 and has become very grown up in the last couple of weeks.

I missed Eden’s third birthday because she was in Kenya, so it was even more special to be together this year. Eden had a Jessie (from Toy Story) birthday party and our guests dressed like cowgirls and cowboys. It was fun to have a few friends and family together to celebrate Eden and she had a great time playing with her friends.

It’s been amazing to see how much Eden has changed in the last year. She has become even more of a high achiever and a wonderful helper. She loves to take care of Grace and clean her room as a surprise for us. She also wants to have a lot of adult conversations. Recently we’ve discussed the man she will marry (she made me promise to help her find him and mentioned that she would like him to have blonde hair!) and also more about her birth mother, her adoption and a lot of discussions about her time in Kenya.

Since Eden started school in the Fall, her ‘first child’ traits have become even more emphasized. She loves going to school and works very hard to get her car to the end of the track each day (the reward system at school). She comes home daily with a report on what the kids did in class and how well each one did on the race track. A few days ago, she came home and told me that she had a talk with Mrs. Amato about another child in the class who was using a bad word (butt) and that after she told Mrs. Amato, that child’s car was moved backwards. I love seeing aspects of Eden’s personality come out and it’s fun for me to watch her and to understand exactly what she does and why she’s doing it. Our first child bond runs deep. I wish I knew if her personality is nature or nurture. 🙂

Here is a picture of Eden at school on her birthday!