She says it's her birthday ... nananananananana!

Yes, today Mia turns four. Four big years! Jeez, it's hard to remember a time when she wasn't a part of our lives, but it really hasn't been that long. In honor of her birthday, today's post will be about her birthday party, which we had this past Sunday.

It was a fun party. More people came to it than showed up at Norah's party, but that's just because Mia has been around longer! Two of my ex-students showed up, one with her husband, and three of my ex-co-workers, two of whom are married to each other, and the other with her husband and two children, one of whom is a month younger than Mia and the other of whom will turn two in December. Now that's a sentence! It was nice to see everyone - the only one we see with any regularity is Rachel, one of my ex-students, and that's because she babysits for us (and has now gone back to school in Canada, so we're stuck in the house until Christmas - damn you, Rachel!). I miss seeing friends, but they all live far, far away on the other side of the Basin, so it's difficult to get out and about to see them. Parties are good excuses to catch up!

Mia and Norah were both very well behaved, as they usually are. Krys bought two cakes for some reason known only to her - and believe me, I'm not about to plumb the depths of the female mind that much! She got a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a sheet cake with vanilla (well, white - I suppose it's vanilla) and chocolate layers. She said something about wanting a completely chocolate cake for Mia, but Mia isn't really all that into cake anyway and getting two seemed like overkill. But again, I don't dare question the decision-making of the wife!

People started showing up around noon, and Mia, of course, was happy that all these people were paying attention to her. Norah clung to Mommy for quite some time, but she loosened up as the day progressed. People ate, Krys lit candles on Mia's cake, and they both blew them out. I doubt if Mia had much to do with that, but I think she blew a little. She wasn't into the cake very much at that point - her aversion to trying new things extends to a certain degree to sweet stuff, even though she loves it. Norah chowed down on it, of course, because she's Norah. Then it was time to open presents.

Krys felt bad because she really didn't get Mia a lot this year. I pointed out that she has a lot, and other people got her presents, and Mia doesn't really care, but she still felt bad. She got her DVDs of two of her favorite books - Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type and Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 - plus the sequel to Click, Clack, Moo (because the first book was so successful) and a Grover doll. Mia digs The Monster at the End of this Book, so we figured she'd like Grover. She got some clothes, which were greatly appreciated, and some foam puzzles. Which Norah likes to chew on. Of course.

Then it was time to take a nap. She was flagging, we could see, so we put her down and most of the guests left. Two of our friends, Michelle and Kevin, stayed for a while so we could chat. We hadn't seen them in months, and I miss talking to them face to face (Michelle and I communicate via our blogs, which isn't the same). Norah eventually went down for a nap, but not before she decided that Michelle was way cool. She did the same thing with Michelle that she does with Krys and me - brought books to her and then sat on her lap and pointed at each page saying "Dat?" Norah is slowly getting over her fear of strangers, which is nice. She loves Rachel and was starting to dig Mia's physical therapist's student (before said student moved on to other things). It was very cute to see her hanging out with Michelle.

When Mia woke up, she had some cake and decided that she liked it. Mia hasn't quite gotten it through her head yet that when we give her new things to eat we're not trying to poison her. She ate some cake and thought it was groovy. Yay, Mia!

Another impressive thing she has done over the past few days is tell us her age. On Sunday we counted up to four with her, but later we just asked her old she was, and she said, "Four!" Her success with this question has been intermittent over the past few days, but she said it again tonight, so we're hoping she's starting to grasp the concept of numbers. That would be nice.

Considering that we weren't sure if she'd make it to her first birthday, every birthday she has is a good one. We had a nice party and Mia enjoyed herself very much. She is still doing well on the mental side of her therapy, which is, for us, the more important side. Physically, she works hard, but let's face it - there is quite a bit they can do for someone who can't walk. But for someone who can't reason, there are significantly fewer options. So although we're frustrated by her slowed progress, we're very happy she's doing so well mentally.

So for the next year, she's the most beautiful four-year-old on the planet. You must deal with it!