Hart Adventures: Sara Beth is Four!

Looking back at this blog, I wish I had written about Sara Beth at each of her birthdays. I will get to the party post soon, but I want to remember this year with our first born. At 4 years old, she is dangerously smart, classically beautiful, strong-willed, and silly. Here are a few milestones from her fourth year of life.

Two days after her third birthday, she became a BIG SISTER! At the time, she was very into babies. She loved holding her brother and was super-sweet with him.
In October, she went on her first plane ride to Las Vegas to visit one of her best friends, Owen Herbeck. She did great on the trip, but I think her favorite thing about the plane was that she got to have gum for the first time as well!
In the fall, she started taking ballet at Shreveport Dance Academy. She is a natural dancer and has great toe-point and an amazing way with her arms. The class is fun for her, but she really likes dressing up like a ballerina each week.
She also had the chance to go to several ballet performances this year: Fall into Dance, The Nutcracker, and Peter and the Wolf (twice).
At the end of October, Sara Beth started preschool at Shreve Island Elementary. She tested into the preschool gateway program. Mrs. Flint and Mrs. Dupee do a great job making every experience a learning experience. Her class is a mixed-age group of thirteen 3, 4, and 5 year olds. She will stay in this class for one more year before she starts kindergarten.
For Halloween this year, we were a "Super Family". SB was "Super Sara Beth"!
This year has been a year of princesses at our house. Sara Beth is completely enthralled with all things relating to princesses. Every day, she dresses up in her royal costumes, and wants us to reenact the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc.
She is AMAZING on her pedal bike! Seriously, AMAZING! Never had training wheels. No assistance required. Handles tight spaces and corners like a pro. I guess she takes after Adam.
She continues to be a fabulous eater. Her favorite food is fruit (any kind). She eats pretty much anything we make. She tolerates some spiciness, but not much. Of course, like any kid, she would eat junk all day if I let her. I try to limit it, but it's becoming increasingly difficult. Her favorite lunch is a sandwich- ham, cheese, mustard, and mayonnaise with pickles and lettuce.
We don't eat out much, but her favorite restaurants are Golden Corral and Jason's Deli. Her great-grandfather takes her to Golden Corral when he visits. We opt for the salad bar at Jason's Deli.
She started soccer lessons this year. It's just a skills class. No teams or games yet, thankfully. While she is pretty good at the ball handling skills that they teach, that girl as no hustle in her. I guess I should have known that based on our morning routine at home. She is content to hang back or be the teacher's helper. Needless to say, soccer is not going to be her thing.
She is also taking swim lessons. She was so afraid at first, but now it's her favorite activity. Hopefully, she will start learning to swim on her own soon. Nonni and Opa's pool is calling our name!
This year, she attended Bible Study Fellowship with me on Wednesday mornings. We studied the book of Matthew. She asks very deep spiritual questions sometimes. I pray that we can answer them in a way that helps her eventually accept Christ as her savior. She loves when we take out the Resurrection Eggs before Easter. The story of Jesus' death and resurrection definitely intrigues her.
This year, we haven't had as much time to hang out with her friends. We've had to be much more deliberate about planning time to play with them. Her close friends are Tristen Reneau and Nanette Kawanaka. She likes all of her classmates at school too, but her favorite is Magnus.
She can write her name (and most of the other letters) and read simple words. She knows all of her letter sounds. She has a few books that she can "read", but she likes for us to read chapter books to her the most. Right now, we are deep into the Rescue Princesses series.
Sara Beth can count to 100 and understands the concepts of addition and subtraction.
She is a good artist when she really wants to be. She colors in the lines and can draw stick people and simple shapes. She loves to cut with scissors and add glitter and stickers to things.
We haven't been to the doctor for her check-up yet, but she weighs about 35 pounds now.
She is such a drama queen! I will leave it at that. ;)
She is not afraid of bugs or worms or snakes. Her Daddy lets her do all that yucky stuff and she loves it.
For her 4th birthday, we gave her a new twin bed. She is now officially a big kid.