I seem to have missed posting when Eden turned 4 1/2, so here it is!

Eden has changed a lot over the last six months. Being 4 seems to be a bit hard on her. She’s much more opinionated (which is hard on me!) and often seems to be in a snit about something. She’s developed a lot of sass, but is quick to rephrase when she’s called out on it. She still loves being the helper and is a great big sister. She has become very independent and likes to get herself drinks and snacks and normally gets some for her siblings as well.

Eden’s really glad to be back in school and is of course, doing great! This week she is the bell ringer, so when it’s time for everyone to sit on the carpet, Eden rings the bell and everyone has to sit down. As you can imagine, she loves the power! Haha!

She’s doing gymnastics at a gym down the street and they’ve been really pleased with her skills there. They’ve been modifying things for her and her teacher told me the other day that she’s going to start working on back handsprings with her next. Eden has a real awareness of her body and is very strong, so it’s fun to watch her learn new skills, especially since she loves gymnastics so much!

Eden recently learned how to ride her bike without training wheels, so Ben and I bought her a new bike. She’s on a 14 inch-er now and she zips around the cul-de-sac like she’s been riding for years! Andy and Eden love to ride everywhere and spend a couple of hours every afternoon riding around with the neighborhood kids. She’s taken a couple of spills recently and her knees and face took the brunt of it, but she is really brave and hasn’t let it slow her down much.

There is always a song on Eden’s lips these days and it’s wonderful to hear her singing church and VBS songs. She loves to go outside and swing on the swing set and sing to herself. Even the neighbors can sing the songs now after listening to Eden sing them so often! Ben and I are entertained by the funny lyrics that she sings. She sings very confidently, but some of the words are totally off.

It’s so fun to watch Eden grow and she’s constantly amazing us with the things that she understands and the mannerisms that she’s developed that make her seem like a little adult.

This has been a busy month for Grace because she is potty trained! She is just the cutest little stinker, and as soon as Ben and I decided that we were going to wait to potty train her until next summer, she went ahead and potty trained herself! It started on a Sunday with her randomly announcing that she needed to go #2. She sat down on the potty and did it. I spent the following few days doing minimal potty training which basically consisted of following her naked self around with a little potty. She had a few accidents, but since the weather was nice most of them were outside. By Friday she had a pretty good handle on things and Saturday morning she woke up screaming at 3am because she had to go potty. Her diaper was dry and Ben took her to the bathroom and we’ve been on a roll ever since.

She’s had a couple of accidents since then but those occurred when Ben and I weren’t there, so we’re not too concerned about it. She prefers a big potty and already likes to check out the bathroom everywhere we go. She’s wearing big girl undies which are big on her, but she loves them.

Grace has also started to gain weight so the high calorie diet is working! We’ve had to make a few adjustments, but overall it’s been fairly easy.

Gracie loves the water and has really enjoyed being at the pool this summer. I think she’s resigned herself to the fact that we won’t let her just swim around in the big pool by herself and seems to be happy in her floatie now. When it’s not too crowded she can just float on her back around the shallow end next to us while the kids play and she likes that she’s not being held by one of us.

Here’s a picture of Grace on the potty!