Celebrating Four Years with Cubby

My second daughter, Cubby, celebrated her fourth birthday this weekend.

It's hard for me to believe that she is four years old! Four years old is a milestone in my extremely short parenting book. At four, my oldest daughter officially changed from a whiny, tantrum throwing brat to a civilized sweetheart. I remember the change being so drastic, that I would comment on it to friends. "Just hang on through the two's and three's. That fourth birthday is life changing," I'd say.

This is not going to be the case with my second daughter, Cubby. She has always been a sweetheart. She loves cuddling, reading, singing, curling up with her blanket, and hanging out with Emma or one of the Grandmas. She skipped the terrible two stage. I mean, she has thrown a handful of tantrums, but usually she's just overtired and needs a nap.

When Cubby was born, our oldest, Huggy, was only 17 months old. Yep, we found out I was pregnant with the #2 child when our #1 child was only eight months old. Eight months old and barely crawling.

God smiled on me that day when Cubby was born. After a short and and complication free labor and delivery, I gazed lovingly at my little red-headed angel. From day one she was the sweetest, most wonderful, content, quiet little baby on the planet. She took easily to nursing, slept through the night at six weeks old, and enjoyed all the attention of her boisterous toddling older sister. What more could an overwhelmed mother of two baby girls want?

Here are a few of my favorite birthday memories of my sweet number two daughter, Cubby.

APRIL 2006 - CUBBY'S BIRTH DAY

Cubby clearly had red hair from the moment she was born. Arriving at 2:00 AM that morning, she looked at us with dark, clear eyes.

What a blessed moment for us as parents of another beautiful baby girl!

Little 17 month old Huggy didn't know quite what to think of her new baby sister. She looked at her momentarily, then reached for grandma's lap and a sippy cup. It would take her a while to warm up to our family's addition.

Grandma Susie is all pride and joy. Another grandbaby to love!

Home at last, and we quickly slipped into our new routine as a family of four.

One year later.....

APRIL 2007 - CUBBY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

The girls have grown and are becoming fast friends.

I remember it was tough on this first birthday for big sis to allow little sis all the attention. But I don't think little Cubby minded too much.

And the sugar coma sets in for my one year old.

The proud grandparents....

....and the proud daddy celebrate one year with Cubby. What a trooper she is for keeping that hat on her little head!

After a party, sometimes this happens. I don't know what causes it. The sugar? The gifts? The knowledge that you've made it one year and you can hardly stand it? No clue.

APRIL 2008 - CUBBY'S 2ND BIRTHDAY

The girls became buddies this year. Cubby turned two, Huggy turned three, and they all of a sudden realized how awesome the other was. Actually, Cubby always thought her older sis was pretty much amazing, but it took a couple of years for Huggy to figure it out.

And Cubby made the cutest face on the planet. I will treasure this photo always.

What do you do with a couple of little girls who are obsessed with Cinderella and their mom is pregnant with twins and their lives are about to change forever?

You go to Disneyland, of course!!!!!

APRIL 2009 - CUBBY'S 3RD BIRTHDAY

A third birthday party means pizza, cake, ice cream, family, friends....

....and a gigantic Mickey Mouse pinata that none of the kids can break so Daddy has to get the metal bat and whack it a few times so the kids will stop crying and get some candy. Cubby tried her best, but she was no match for the fully reinforced metal innards of this innocent looking paper mouse.

This is my gorgeous little three year old. She's going to break some hearts.

This is our little family last year at this exact time. Huggy is four, Cubby is three, and the babies are 10 months. I have no memory of this year. I have to rely on pictures to recall any event in this time period.

APRIL 2010 - CUBBY'S 4TH BIRTHDAY

And here we are just two days ago. The cake blow,

the gifts, the smiles,

and our family all added up to a perfect afternoon.

I can't wait to read this book!

And then, in typical Walker family tradition,

the kids all took a crack at an enormous, super strong, well reinforced pinata.

Those little kids tried their very best,

but it took a very determined young lady to take that princess pinata down.

The cool thing about this particular party was that all my kids were able to enjoy themselves, with very little adult supervision.

J.D. was thrilled about being given this whole balloon bouquet. It made his day.

Actually, maybe the bubble machine made his day. G and J.D. live for bubbles. J.D. now has eight words in his vocabulary, and "Buh-bow" is one of them.

You two WILL be best friends!

Look at this four year old. My mom asked her the other day if she could stay three years old a little while longer, and she promptly replied, "No, I'm turning four." It broke my heart for some reason to hear her say that. These kids change so incredibly fast, I wish I could press pause once in a while. Such a cliche, but I must remember to enjoy this time in my life with my wealth of young, healthy, wonderful children.

On this fourth birthday of my second daughter, I want to thank God for giving her to me. I feel so blessed to have this little person in my life. She is one of those people I would love to know, and she is my daughter, forever and ever. She holds my heart. I love you Cubby, and happy birthday!!!

Want more Cubby? Check out her birthday interview below!

Applesauce

Some people are fascinated by the whole twin baby thing. These people are usually other moms, moms who remind me how lucky I am to have such a large family. And they're right, of course. These moms have many questions for me, since I am a new mom of twins, and they have inquired about everything from the babies' kicks during pregnancy to double tantrums as we approach the two's. But one question in particular has stuck out as the most common question I have been asked throughout my entire five years of parenting.

It's amazing that this question gets asked so often since I have had so many amazing experiences!

Since I had two singleton babies before the twins, I have a pretty unique perspective on the whole baby thing. I have had two regular old-fashioned labor and deliveries, and one emergency C-section of twins. I have been through diapers, potty training, pull-ups, and the freedom of undies! I have now experienced the joys of sending a daughter off to elementary school and still struggle with organizing baby childcare. I have been on bed rest, diets, exercises programs, and prescription drugs to help keep my body healthy. I have thrown ten birthday parties for my kids, enjoyed two Christmases with all four kiddos dressed in red, and have outfitted every single child in cowboy boots and hats for Cattle Call Rodeo.

One of the most unique perspectives Danny and I have due to our children, is that we get to watch a boy and a girl of the same age grow up together. They are only two minutes apart, but they have learned and performed and grown at completely different rates! Although weighing less at birth, G is now heavier, talks more, laughs more, hugs more and plays more with others. J.D. has far less words, but he is twice as active, and twice as liable to scream and throw a fit when he doesn't get what he wants (namely, his favorite plastic hammer).

So, finally, the question I am most asked by other moms has been, "How are boys and girls different?"

And I give them a single word answer: applesauce.

Observe:

GIRL

This is the way G chooses to eat her applesauce.

She uses the correct utensil, scoops the appropriate amount, and neatly spoons it into her mouth.

What a little lady!

Now she is still a baby, so a certain amount of this is acceptable behavior.

One little finger dipped into the sauce never hurt anybody, right?

She might be feeling a little sheepish about the finger, but it's not a problem.

Yum.

BOY

Oh, he has a spoon.

But mashing his entire fist into that little cup is so much more fun.

And it still tastes delicious.

And really, the spoon has other important uses.

Jackpot.

Trench It!

Throughout this kitchen project, poor Danny has been called upon to do the most unpleasant, thankless jobs. Pulling up old linoleum and removing yucky fireplace tiles don't really bring honor and glory.

One of the things I really wanted in this kitchen was gas. I remember cooking with gas when I was in college, and loved it. I like gas so much better than electric, that we bought a gas cook top, dryer and water heater. Now installing gas requires hooking our house up to the main gas line which is out in the middle of the street. Therefore, a trench must be dug from the house to the street to hold the gas line.

Digging a trench the length of our unusually long front yard is yet another job Danny had to perform. For this work, Danny at least got to rent a machine to help him out. Too bad that machine puttered out and died before digging even two feet of trench.

The second machine worked out a bit better.

Check that sucker out!

Yep. That's the official name.

The process looked pretty tough. Danny got a wee bit frustrated. I wisely stayed away and chose not to take pictures of this grueling process. Here's the end result, and the trench looks great!

The Gas Company came the next day, and they declared it the best trench they had ever seen. The gas line is in, and we are all set for hookin' up!!!

Men who work so hard at home should get a special treat. They should get something like, oh say....

....a new mountain bike for their trouble!

It's the gift that keeps on giving!

After the Gas Company did their thing, we all went outside to fill in the trench. The kids had been dying to do this the entire time, so once they got the chance, everyone put their backs into it and shoveled.

Everyone grabbed a tool and pitched right in. Some people's tool was a camera.

One by one, the kids started seeing other things that held their interest more than shoveling dirt. Huggy skipped out early.

Cubby was next.

Then G tried to fill in the trench with an asparagus knife. It's not really the best tool for the job.

Then there's little J.D. He always has serious work to do. We're lucky he's on the job everyday, doing quality control on the whole project. The guy's a professional, what can I say?!

And yes, he mixed and poured the cement for this sidewalk bright and early the very next morning. We've been lucky to get such cheap labor!