My prolonged absence can only be explained with a four letter word: sick. We have all been sick. Ugh. But, we are back and I apologize for making you wait so long to hear all about Melody's 4th birthday! I just know you have been waiting on tenterhooks!

Now first of all, I cannot, just cannot, believe that my baby is 4. Wow. I knew when she was born that time would fly, and so many people have said as much over the past four years, but here it is, four years on and it seems like maybe a year ago she was born. And at the same time, it seems like a lifetime ago that I did not have a child. Time is an amazing thing. We have gone from this:

to this:

For Melody's birthday, I decided to get another cake from my friends at Radiant Cakes since they did such a great job last year. I got a few ideas from them, then asked Melody one night, "so, would you like a Hello Kitty cake? or a Supergirl cake?" Without even a second to think Melody said "how about a Giant Robot cake Mommy?" Now, if you don't know what Giant Robot is, let me just have you picture 1960s Japanese television, guys dressed in rubber suits like all sorts of monsters and bad guys, and one robot that saves Japan, and ultimately the world. It's dubbed over from Japanese with all the stereotypes intact. It's crazy, but John and Melody (and yes even Mom) even enjoyed it immensely! 

What could I do? I requested a Giant Robot cake. 

I planned a fun day for Melody and a few friends at the Children's Museum in La Habra, sent out the word to family and friends. 12:30 a.m. the night before her party, Melody came down with the stomach flu. OMG. Fortunately for us, the museum was awesome and rescheduled our event to the following weekend, and by Sunday Melody was feeling well enough to have her grandparents and auntie come over to have a small family birthday party.

12:30 a.m. the next night, she was suffering from the flu again, and the next day so was I. It was a terrible week. John didn't get the stomach flu but suffered from deep fatigue and exhaustion. It really has been a rough winter for us.

Finally, the new day of the birthday party rolled around, and even though we no longer had the awesome Giant Robot cake (we ate a little on her birthday) everyone met at the Children's Museum and had an awesome time! Octomom even came. No lie. Not to our party, but to the museum. It wasn't the herd of photographers you might be expecting because her expiration date has long since passed, but everyone at the museum knew it was her.

So, even though we have been a little under the weather, it has been a great double celebration of Melody's 4th birthday. I've been doing some cooking over at Gram's Recipe Box, and have been posting a mystery photo album over at Who Were They? There are new pictures in the gallery of the birthday girl.

Click over to Angry Julie Monday to see other Wordless Wednesday posts. Don't worry, she's not really Angry.

This is a Wordless Wednesday post - see more great photos over at Angry Julie Monday! Don't worry, she's not really angry. :-)

There are a variety of milestones in a child's life: first steps, first words, potty training, etc. I have been incredibly proud of my daughter at every milestone and continue to celebrate her accomplishments every day. I thought I was ready for the next step. I thought it wouldn't be an issue. I was wrong! Not about Melody, but about myself.

We started thinking about preschool about six months ago, looking at various centers, trying to decide what we wanted Melody to get out of preschool, trying to determine if she was ready. Our quest was excellerated when we learned that her best buddy in daycare will be starting preschool at the beginning of the new year. We wanted to make that separation as easy as possible, since they have been together every day of the week for most of their little lives.

Finally we settled on a preschool in our area that we really liked, plus our neighbors had also taken their child to the same preschool and recommended it. We enrolled her, and set a schedule. Two days a week for the two weeks leading up to Christmas break, the break off, then in the new year, full time preschool. I notified the current babysitter who has been like a second mother to Melody for well over three years. I was excited!

We bought all the required things, including a lunchbox, and on Tuesday my baby started preschool. She was eager to get there, excited to learn about her new environment, meet new kids. What I wasn't prepared for was her forgetting about me almost instantaneously. She became absorbed in the train table with some other children. I snuck out so she wouldn't see me leave, and as I was walking out the door, I felt the tears coming.

I did not cry when I dropped her off at her current babysitter's for the first time, though I expected to.

By the time I was in the car, the tears were freely coming down my cheeks and I was getting the sniffles. My baby is a bona fide little girl. Today was her second day of preschool and she was ecstatic to return. I think preschool and Melody are going to be really great friends. I have a grip on myself today; I think I was just stunned by how easily she took to the new environment where I expected her to be shy. Where I figured she would need me, she was happy to run away from me. As her mother it was incredibly difficult not to grab on and never let her go. As her mother I knew that I had to let her take these baby steps to independence on her own.