Ohio open tournament

On Mary's birthday, Ella had her first jump rope tournament.  She was not excited about it at all because it meant that she would not be around to celebrate Mary's birthday.  She competed in 8 or 9 events (I can't remember.) and had a fun day.  

She says her favorite events are speed events and those were the ones she did the best in.  This video is the double under event.  She jumps and the rope goes around twice while she jumps once.  It is a one minute event and she is supposed to do as many as she can before time is up.  You can tell by the end she gets pretty tired, but (unofficially) she did 75 in a minute.

She also competed in a pairs freestyle event where Ella and her partner, Emily, do a synchronized routine together.  She had a good time.

 She was super thrilled to win two ribbons, both sixth place ribbons for single rope speed and the double under event.  Her age group is large so we were surprised and excited that she placed.

 And just because she is so cute, here are a couple more pictures of Mary on her birthday.  Here she is with her breakfast in bed.

 And here she is when she went out for a birthday lunch with dad.  Marc taught her to dip her fries in her Frosty.  Yummy!  Marc said the conversation centered around how to achieve inner peace.  She says you have to stand on sticks.  She has been watching Kung Fu Panda 2 on the iPad.

Mary turns four!

This past Saturday was Mary's fourth birthday.

The time really does fly.  It is hard to believe my baby is four.

Here she is on her actual day of birth.  She was our smallest baby, weighing on 6 lbs 2 oz.

First birthday.  Finally starting to grow some hair!

Second birthday.  It is sad to see that her diet really hasn't progressed much.  I think she chose the same menu for her fourth birthday.  Pasta and fruit!

Third birthday!  She calls that dress her Dora dress because of the colors.

Here she is on her fourth birthday.  Unfortunately she spent most of it at Ella's jumprope tournament.  But she was perfectly content with the iPad.  Marc made her breakfast in bed and took a picture, but I think it is on his phone.  She chose a bowl of Apple Jacks!  I stopped buying sugary cereals a few years ago so that is a treat to her.

She had originally told me that she wanted a ballerina birthday.  During R week at preschool, we talked about rainbows and it must have made quite an impression, because she started asking for a rainbow party.

 Some facts about Mary at age four:

• She is tall and weighs only a pound less than Sarah who is two years older.
• She loves to watch movies especially those that star Barbie.  She will watch them over and over if allowed.
• She loves to play with the iPad but really just wants to watch movies on it.
• She is always asking to play outside, even if it is raining.
• Mary and Sarah play together every afternoon and Mary loves her big sister.
• Mary gets up each morning and stands on the catwalk above our family room and yells, "Hi mom!" 
• Sometimes she will put herself to bed if we haven't gotten around to it and she is tired.
• She is a picky eater and will choose to skip dessert rather than try a new food.
• Her favorite foods are chicken nuggets and french fries but she loves fruit too.
• She likes to get ready with me in the morning and likes to put powder on her ears.
• She has a funny giggle and gets the hiccups if she laughs too much.

We love Mary so much and are so glad that she is part of our family!