Cass - age 3 1/2

Oh Cass...what do I say about this crazy, fun little girl who is, as I type this, decorating my computer with a beautiful blue boa. ;)

Oh how she holds her own in this family! It's so entertaining to watch.

(little side note: I've tried for the past 3 weeks to figure out some way to post using a method that would keep the captions lined up with the pictures. I thought I had it figured out, wrote up the whole post, and lost the whole thing...had to start all over again. :( So, yeah...sorry about the pictures/captions thing, guys...I know it works in Google Chrome and Explorer, but Firefox messes the alignment up for some reason. I'll keep working on it. But...just in case you are reading this someday, Cass, and you notice that I did the posts about the other children a week apart, it wasn't because you weren't important to me and I just dawdled in getting around to yours...I really was trying to make it better. :) Haha. Just a little FYI.) :)

She has never, ever seemed to feel herself to be any younger than the rest of the kids. And in fact, at times seems older than some, as far as assertiveness goes especially. And...her siblings seem to return this sentiment...treating her as an equal, never as the baby.

If I were to 'sum up' and compare my kids, I'd say that Grady and Eissa are a lot alike and Hadley and Cass are a lot alike. And to analyze further, that dynamic really works as far as complementing each other...Grady (firstborn) and Hadley (secondborn) work well together, Hadley and Eissa (thirdborn) work well together, Eissa and Cass (fourthborn) work well together. Hadley and Cass also work very well together, even though they both have pretty strong personalities. The only ones who don't work very well together sometimes are the two more passive ones...Grady and Eissa. Isn't that interesting? ;) You'd think it'd be the more assertive ones who would have that issue, not the passive ones. Having kids is so interesting and so much fun.

Anyway...back to Cass.

She is just a big ball of fun. I think I've mentioned before that she is very, very opinionated as far as her wardrobe. She very much has her ideas about what looks good and what should go together and what she needs in order to be cute for the day. Hilarious. (picture at left: She insisted on having a green bow/belt with that little dress. I had to tie two ribbons together for it to work. Haha.) I was never like that and neither were her sisters. But, this one came out different. ;) So funny. Tiring sometimes, but funny. And she loves to be pretty. One day a few months ago (she was still 2), she got dressed and was very satisfied with what she had on. Then she said matter-of-factly, "Now everybody will see me and say, 'Que linnnnda!'" That means 'How beautiful!' Hahaha. She was not being conceited at all...very innocently just told the truth. That is what she hears from everyone down here. But, it was just so funny that she had picked up on that and had that in mind as she got dressed.

She has also taken to doing her own hair. She loves to fix her hair and at any given moment you will find at least 6 'hair thingies' in her hair...bows, barrettes, clips, whatever she grabs and thinks looks beautiful. :) She also loves to do others' hair, which works out great for me. Love that.

She's smart as a whip, this one. She seriously repeats *every*thing. I'll be saying something that I have no idea anybody is even listening to and then I'll hear this little echo a few feet away. A little Cass voice. ;) And what a cute little sweet voice it is, too.

The kids are constantly playing make-believe. The other day Cass came to me and wanted a Band-Aid. The rule in this house is that you have to have blood to warrant a Band-Aid. Can you imagine the amount of Band-Aids we'd go through if that rule wasn't in place...lawt! So...I asked her if she had blood and she said no. She hung out a little with me and in a few minutes said, "Mama, let's play like I'm the Mama and you're the sweetie." (remember from the post on Eissa that 'sweetie' = child) I said that of course I would play that with her. She promptly went into Mama mode and said, "Sweetie, aww Sweetie...Mama hurt herself and needs a Band-Aid, so Mama's gonna get a Band-Aid now, ok, Sweetie?" Hahaha...smart one.

She really has a very vibrant imagination, which is so funny to me. You'd think with all the stimulation she gets from having 3 older siblings and all the constant play she is involved in, she might need that and feel a lack when they are busy with other things. But, no. She is very, very content playing all alone. Sometimes when the other kids go outside to play, she chooses to stay inside and play by herself. She is constantly making things up and talking to herself/playing by herself. She makes a great playmate for herself. ;) And who needs dolls? She loves her babies, but she can easily take a couple of crayons and have a conversation between red and blue for an hour or more. And interestingly enough, more often than not her make-believe times are held in Portuguese. :)

Also, she loves to entertain...loves to make people laugh. Again with the confidence...doesn't mind an audience (usually). Sometimes when we are out and about she will get all shy and not want to talk...but I think that more corresponds with just a feeling that she just isn't in the mood, not that she's a shy person. Mostly she doesn't meet a stranger and is happy to talk to whoever is talking to her in the grocery store or mall. And she loves to talk to and 'pet' babies. ;)

She is still a thumb-sucker. I got some stuff to put on her thumb to help her not to do that, but we haven't used it yet. Honestly, I just love our little thumb-sucker. It's so cute and it's so nice that she can soothe herself that way. She hardly ever has to 'soothe' herself though, so 99% of her thumb-sucking is done only at night when she is falling asleep with her blanket. The only time she sucks it during the day is when she is tired and has her blanket in her hand (there is a definite connection between the blanket and the thumb, which might make it easier, we'll see). 'Teeth people,' I know you are cringing right now, but we'll eventually get to it and she will stop. (In other words, don't leave comments...we know, we know.) For right now though...it really is super sweet and cute still. UPDATE: Wrote this 2-3 weeks ago and just today I think we may have started the no-thumb-sucking phase...we shall see. But, she initiated...and I think it might just be the end of the thumb-sucking. She even went to sleep without sucking her thumb. I'll post about it later in detail.

She is so very sure of herself. She doesn't like to do very risky things, but even in that she is very sure of herself...perfectly content in seeing her older siblings go do risky things, being completely confident in her decision of not doing those things. She makes a fantastic cheerleader though and really sees that as her role. It's really cute.

I just asked her what she wants to be when she grows up. She said, "I don't know...like you, Mama?" ;) Cute answer. I don't know...only time will tell. Her usual answer is that she wants to be a musketeer. Yeah, we've watched the Barbie musketeer movie...she loves it. ;) If I had to guess her future right now, I'd say a fashion designer or personal stylist. I can totally see her telling other people what to wear. Ha. She is very convincing and confident and I'm quite sure that people would trust her with her wardrobe ideas. :)

As strong as she is, she is also very tender, sweet, and obedient, always eager to please. And she hates punishment for disobedience (it breaks her little heart), therefore she avoids it very well.

A couple of days ago, we had a first. We were on our way somewhere. We were trying to leave the house and it was raining. Everyone ran to get in the car. She was still standing there in the garage (the car was parked outside the garage at the time). She was not happy about the rain and getting wet, etc. I told her very firmly, "Just get in." She did. She was crying and a minute later she said, "Mama, you broked my heart." And then she just wailed and let the sadness spill out. Awww, it was soooo sad. It was sweet and sad and so very cute all at the same time. And a little funny because I hadn't done anything necessarily heartbreaking...had spoken to her with that same tone of voice many times before. But, this time it 'broked' her heart. Of course I apologized profusely for breaking her heart. We couldn't wait to get out of the car so we could hug and snuggle. But yes...she's very sweet and tender within that strong little self of hers. ;)

We just love this little chicken. She really does make the perfect baby of the family (for now). Can't wait to see what God does in this little life. So, so fun to watch.

I have a ridiculous amount of pictures that I picked out for Cass. So, I am going to post some of them now and some of them in another post. These are of the first part of this past year...November 2010 - June 2011. :) Enjoy...



Shakin' it.

Mmmm.
This is Marcelo. He and Joel are friends from childhood. He's our family here.
She loves her Tio ('Uncle') Marcelo.






We were all gathered around the Christmas tree. Joel was praying and we were being all reverent...but, Cass wasn't feelin' the reverence and had something else in mind. ;) She crawled up here and liked the idea of playing a lot more. :)






I love these...









I love how she sleeps in her carseat...always Indian style. Too cute.
Dancing in her flapper dress.

She loves babies. Fun with our friends' son, Davi.

I love these too...





Intent on Daddy's gingerbread house skills.



Cute little girl with a cute dress and cute shoes to match. :)
We were decorating gingerbread cookies with our Brazilian friends...definitely an American thing. It was our friends' first time. I love this picture though...showing Cass right up in the middle of it all. That is usually her preferred place. :)
Concentrating hard on painting a Christmas tree ornament.


Love her little bedhead.

Cute little girl with pigtails and a dirty mouth. :)
Spaghetti or chili...hmm.
Cute outfit she came up with...look at her cute little shoes. ;)
Cass put all these chairs together and layed all her blankets on top so they could have a special place to watch their video. She was so proud of her 'gift' to them...her special place she'd made.
I just love this progression of shots...


At a birthday party of a friend's son. Joel actually went to LeTourneau University with Jonatas and Jonatas is actually the one that told Joel about the job at Honeywell back in 2000...the point is that we have a history with them. Love that. They now live in Goiania, a city nearby.


A familiar sight. An older kid just loving on and taking care of Cass...and Cass loves it. ;)
Playing with our babysitter, Carol, who has been our babysitter for the entire 4 years we've been here. We love her!!


There was a little girl...
...who had a little curl...
...right in the middle of her forehead.

With our sweet friend, Fany. This was early in the year...she's grown up some now. But, she was the 'baby' of the neighborhood for a long time. She's grown up a little, but they still love to play with little Cass. ;)
Excited about getting a package in the mail.

Some potty time. No more diapers for Cass.

So tired.

This is Salto Corumba. Joel's parents were here (in February) and we went to visit there...Joel's parents have a lifetime membership there. :) They used to go camping there when Joel and his siblings were kids. Priscilla was able to come down from Recife, another city in Brazil (where she was doing a stint with YWAM), for the weekend.




Such a little performer. :)
A great picture of 3 generations.
Getting her nails done...special treat from Grandma.


What a cute little girl by a pond.
Mmm...cucumbers.





I love watching the different phases our kids go through. This was her Little People playdate phase. Every day, at least once a day, she would lay out her blankets and gather all the Little People and say they were going to have a playdate. ;)

I loved her final arrangement. And I love that Noah can hang out with a modern-day pilot and Hawaiian hula girl.

Very nice drawing.


Sometimes Eissa just looks at me and says, "She's crazy." Haha.

All dressed up for a friend's tea party birthday party. Love the rubber boots! ;)
Another playdate.
I love her outfit...guess she was having a Punky Brewster day...cute.
Another phase...she would get her chair and put it just so and get her books and put them just so and then she would read and read and read.

Time to turn 3! Cass with her whale party invitations.
Running off excitedly to deliver her invitations with the help of her big sister.
Having fun at her party. We had a pool party and this little life vest was one of her gifts.
"Happy birthday to you"
Family picture, minus Eissa...she had just fallen poolside pretty hard and was still very upset, poor girl. :(
I know it's blurry, but I thought it was cute. And no, they aren't supposed to jump on the couch. :)
Some chicky love. I love her cute little pink tights she picked out to wear. ;)



Laying in my lap. I'm soaking this up while it is still happening.


Cass had no interest in doing the zipline. She quickly found her place though...greeting and congratulating the zipliners and helping them back up the hill. ;)
Even the strangers.

So proud of her 'city.'
Cozy on the couch.

Sleeping again. ;) She really doesn't do this often, maybe once or twice a month. But, when she does, I always take a picture. It's just really cute.


"Um, are we done yet?" The answer was no...the little boy wasn't really cooperating. Cass was a pro and just kept posing until the dad gave up. Haha.

With another friend, Marceline...from Germany. She stayed with us for a while back in May.
Loving on my friend, Kelma. And Kelma loving every single minute of it. :)