Four

Our last little spring baby has turned four.  Oh our sweet little Tohi bird.  You are still just magical! From 3 to 4 has been a beautiful transition of more love and more hilarity from you.  You are this hilarious, beautiful, kind, tough, artsy, outdoorsy, creative, fun little friend.  Friend is such a good word for you.  You truly have a unique friendship with each person in our family.  

You and Woody are adorable buds.  You happily grab a few dinosaurs and go play outside together.  Your dinosaurs splash about in the puddles and fight with each other along side Woody's fighting dinosaurs.  We just started letting you and Woody swim in the ocean in front of the house without us.  You two LOVE it! Some mornings you both run down in your undies and have a swim before we start school.  I watch you from the porch and sometimes you guys are giggling and playing in the ocean, sometimes at the sandy spot, and sometimes in the front yard.  You are fun and tough and can keep up with Woody, but he is sweet to you and helps you when you need it.  You take turns coming up with fun ideas and things to play and, almost all the time, Woody sees you as a special friend to have and not an annoying little sister.  Because you are a special friend to have! You are so fun!

You and Frances are total buds too but your relationship is a bit softer and more gentle.  Playing with Woody is jumping and swimming and fighting; but you and Frances slowly crawl around the house meowing while you play "Mommy Kitty and Baby Kitty."  Frances also loves to swim and you love to look out for in the ocean and if she's floating to close to the rocks with the sea urchins you quickly swim over to her and lead her back to the sandy areas.  You guys play all sorts of make believe games in the house.  You can easily switch from having a more complex game with Woody to having a more simple game with your two year old sister.  You guys pack your back packs and go on trips.  No destination needed, just lots of packing and planning and then saying bye as you head out to the porch holding hands.  You guys play dolls and color and, most of the time, you calmly give in to her ridiculous two year old demands with a sweetness and maturity beyond your years.  I think you just like to make the games work and you are smart enough to figure out how to do that with your older brother AND your younger sister.  The funniest game you guys play is "doctor."  Frances just lays there and you take such great care of her. I hear your sweet little voices talking and you telling Frances something wont hurt or that you need to look in her ears and Frances totally trusts you and just lays there, responding when needed.  You and Francie's conversations during your play are some the sweetest and hilarious interactions.  I love to overhear them!  You have a very natural mothering instinct.  You still very much love your baby and you take good care of her.  You show Frances how to take care of all the animals and baby dolls.  You wrap them in blankets and give them bottles and put them to bed.  You are so sweet and thoughtful with how you take care of everyone.  

Me and you are buddies too! We have a few afternoons a week together where Woody goes to a class and Fernie takes a nap and then we say, "It's just Tohi and Mommy! What should we do???" We usually do artsy stuff and/or cooking stuff.  We draw and paint and use the markers that are hidden while Frances is awake.  We play with clay or paint on driftwood.  You love all art related stuff and lately you have been proudly marking your art with your name and my name! "TOHI" and "MOM" I just love it.  You are so proud of yourself for writing it correctly and I am so proud of you too!  I ask if you want to spell anyone else's name and you cutely answer, "No thanks!"  Other times we bake or cook and you love it.  You love to make sweet treats and tortillas.  If we are not baking a treat, you happily chop up veggies for dinner.  You enjoy being in the kitchen and helping out.  It's very fun to have such a sweet and helpful kitchen partner!   

The relationship between you and Dad is still just heart meltingly adorable.  You just LOVE him.  You are his buddy, his advocate in the family, and his number one fan.  And he just adores you.  The other day I made lunch only for the kids while Dad was outside working in the yard.  Unknown to me, you ran out to find him to let him know lunch was ready.  He came in, looking hungry and happy.  I told him I had only made lunch for the kids and asked him why was he inside expecting a sandwich?  He explained that you came and got him!!  You are always thinking of your Dad!  Conor and I had a laugh about how much more you think of Dad than I do and how he appreciates that at least one person in this family is looking out for him!

You have this adorably confident little personality.  What other people think of you has next to zero affect on you.  You know you are awesome and you are good with that.  I know you enjoy praise from Dad and I but you don't crave it.  You happily look on when we praise the other kids, usually chiming in your own praise! haha! You don't brag about yourself or your art or swimming or whatever skills you are doing but you don't ever need us to tell you you are doing great.  You know.  A huge majority of the time, it's one of my favorite characteristics about you.  A humble and sweet little girl with unshakable confidence.  I couldn't be more proud of your inner strength and self love! Even when you are talking about how much you love the family, you name yourself! "I love Daddy, and I love you and Woody and Francie. and I love Tohi. (pause.)  I love myself. (as you look at me with these twinkling big eyes as if I need clarification"  haha!  I love this confident part of you but it is, however, challenging to discipline at times.  You can be naughty at times and when I try to talk to you, you can get very worked up explaining why you think you should be allowed to write on Frances/hit Woody/throw the doll etc.  And most of the time, when I put you in a time out, you go so hastily and agreeably, it's as if you are saying:   "Happily!  Great idea!! I'd love a break from you all! I won't be coming out from the time out for AWHILE. I need some alone time."  And you do! Sometimes I come and check on you and you are sitting on a step or the porch just looking out into nature and I ask if you are ready to talk yet and you politely answer, "No, not yet."  Not rude or anything.  You are just truly not ready to join the family and talk it out or make amends.  We always give you your space.  When you are ready, you come in full of love and smiles, ready to work it out!

You love to swim and play outside.  You make special concoctions, teas, and soups with all sorts of ingredients from nature.  You are a great dancer and your new move is this adorable bummie shake.  It makes us all laugh.  You love to have books read to you, the books with bunnies being your favorite! Fuzzy Rabbit has been a special favorite for years.  On some of our "Tohi and Mom" afternoons I will read it to you over and over.  Luckily, your favorite book is also one of my favorites! haha!

Oh, our sweet, hilarious, fun, thoughtful, caring, witty, amazing little girl.  We love you so deeply.  You add a very special light and magical energy to our family.  Happy Birthday, sweet Tohi.

birthday morning swim

swimming followed by homemade cinnamon rolls! After you rinsed off from your swim, you ran upstairs to get dressed for the day and this is the dress you came down in.  It's your party, girl, and you look gooood! 

dancing to the beat!

the now "annual" Woody and Tohi together next to Woody's birthday tree. haha! 

for your birthday cake, you requested to make a "bunch of little cakes that we can decorate."  Done! Super fun idea, Tohi Girl! 

mini cake decorating party!