almost 4

where does the time go? my little e is turning 4 on saturday. 4! she is getting so big and maturing so fast. i love watching this happen, but oh, i wish i could slow down just a wee little bit. there are certain moments, certain accomplishments that i just want to freeze in time and savor.

we live on a metra stop. the same tracks are also used by amtrak and a freight train line. just about everywhere we go, we travel across the tracks. often, we are stopped to let one of these trains pass through our town. when we moved here last year, e was SO EXCITED. i remember thinking, "i wonder how long the thrill of the train will last". a year and a half later, i can report, it is still a HUGE joy to my little girlie. she loves watching the lights to see if a train is coming, she gets giddy when the big arm comes down to stop traffic, and she eagerly guesses at which type of train is about to come through. she yells it out with precision. MOM, IT'S A METRA!

and so today, to kick off her birthday celebration, we added to a tradition. last year, e and i drove downtown to meet daddy for a birthday lunch. this year, we took the train. (in the pouring rain, i might add.) and oh, the excitement that my girlie felt as we waited for that train. she was thrilled to be just like her daddy who rides the train to work. she kept running out of the covered platform to see if the train was coming.

is it here yet, momma? (she'd run out into the pouring rain) nope, not yet! (thirty seconds later, she would do the same. our train was 7 minutes late so you can imagine how soaked she was:).

and then the train arrived. getting d's stroller onto the train was a little bit more difficult than i expected, so e began to get nervous. she didn't want to get onto the train before me for fear that i wouldn't make it on behind her, but she also didn't want to watch me ride off without her. she had a brief moment of panic, but thanks to some friendly fellow riders, we all made it swiftly onto the train. she skipped down the car and carefully chose her seat. she sat glued to the window, staring out, for the entire ride. her face was all smiles as she took in the sights.
a few days prior, we asked her where she wanted to go to lunch. my girl chose ed debevics. it is a tourist location where the wait staff is known to be overly rude to its patrons, in a comical way. they tease, they throw things, they demonstrate a great deal of attitude. they also wear 50's gear and are known to dance and sing.
our server kept things lively. he told e that if she didn't wear her hat, that the monster from the basement would come up and bite off her foot. she knew he was teasing and decided that she wasn't going to wear her hat. the guy came up behind her and scared her three times. he kept telling her he was going to do it until for as long as she kept her hat off. it was a riot. she'd take the hat off, he'd scare her, she'd giggle her pants off. in the end, he won and she kept her hat on.
and then he brought her their trademark, WORLD'S SMALLEST SUNDAE, and had the restaurant sing happy birthday to her. it was a blast.
and for the ride home, we rode on the second tier of the train just to keep things exciting. i think it was a success!