4 Years Old!!!!

To my big girl,
This year has been the most challenging so far, but you've also grown so much!

You finally broke the 30-pound mark and are 40 inches all. That means you've gained 4lbs and grown 4 inches this year! You're still very petite, but you've got a feisty personality and have no problems holding your own.

Open House 2017 (left) & Open House 2018 (right)

You've completed one year of preschool and you loved it! You've learned so much, made some friends, and even got invited to a couple birthday parties this year. You know all of your letters and most of their sounds, you know your full address, you can count by tens to 100, you can consistently count to 29, need a reminder of 30 and then can get to 39. You want so bad to be able to count to 100 -- you're getting closer. You can write your first and last name, and even decided to change your name to Elsa at the end of the year. Your teachers are wonderful and I know you're very excited to be going back this fall.

This year you've tried tumbling and t-ball, and continued swimming. You really enjoyed tumbling, but I couldn't stand it because it was so unorganized and you basically ran around and did whatever (not just you, all the kids because there was no structure). After tumbling, you wanted to go back to swim, so we kept that up over the winter. You really have gained a lot of confidence in the pool this year. By the end of this summer, you were going under (shallow) water to grab rings. That's huge progress for you! You're learning how to swim with your face in the water more and you're more comfortable jumping in -finally! This spring you took a break from swim to try t-ball. Your team was made up of older 2 year olds, 3 & 4 year olds. It was like herding cats some days, but you did well. You were a great listener to your coaches, even though I think you enjoyed playing in the dirt more than t-ball itself. It was cute to watch you play!

You love all things Elsa, Frozen, princesses, and dressing up. But you also love bugs, butterflies, playing in the dirt, being barefoot outside, jumping in puddles, playing in the rain, fishing, climbing on everything, playing with your babies, coloring, drawing, taping your creations/art all over the house...

Oh little girl, you are full of sass! Daddy and I are really trying to have you use manners/nice words, be kind to others, and most of the time you are, but sometimes you are just so sassy which drives me crazy. You and I have similar personality traits, in always wanting to be in control, haha, so we often butt-heads. You think you know everything (already) and sometimes I just need to pick my battles because its not worth the fight. I think part of the behavior comes with your age and I think some of it has be learned from being around other kids this year. I hope that this next year you mature and tone down the attitude just a bit (please!). :)

You finally became a big sister this year, and you are very proud of that title. You didn't know what to expect when Calvin was first born, but you've been so good with him. You would get excited over the littlest things (when he opened his eyes or his mouth, haha) and you always want to take pictures of him. Now that he's becoming more interactive and mobile, you're getting more excited too. So far you're pretty good about sharing some of your toys or stuffed animals with him. You always say, "I'm the big sister and the big helper" and you refer to yourself as "sissy" which is pretty cute. You call him Bubba, like I do, when he's upset or when you're encouraging him to do something. You get just as excited as I do when he learns something new like rolling over or sitting up. You're still learning how to share adult attention, but that will come. If someone is playing with Calvin and making him smile/laugh, you like to get all up in there and make him look at you instead. You want to feed him with the spoon (and try all of the baby foods he's having - don't worry, you're not missing out!). I am proud of the way that you behave around him and I love how much you love him! I hope that the two of you can grow up and be close with one another.

4 years old & 6 months old (3.5 years apart, to the day)

Other random things I can think of: you learned how to ride a bike with training wheels this summer; you got your ears pierced the night before you turned 4; you can do hopscotch (not sure where you learned that); we still read a book before bed every night; we've accomplished 1,000 books before Kindergarten this summer; you don't like spiders; you still love the color blue; you now know how to work the TV remote (its terrible because you switch shows every 5 minutes); you hate doing your laundry; you're pretty good at keeping your room clean & organized; you still love Chinese food; you prefer taking showers over baths; you love being outside; you love being silly!

I can't believe you're four years old already! I can remember the day you were born so clearly still. You've grown up so much right before our eyes and we're so very proud of you. Keep being kind, but don't lose your spunk either, big girl! :) We love you!
~Mommy