Sunday, May 3, 2015

Little Miss is FOUR

AGE 4 - STATS
Height: 41.8 in (3 ft. 5.8 in) - 90th percentile
Weight: 32.6 lbs - 25th percentile

With your favorite dolls that you have had since birth: Purple Baby and Pink Baby (obviously)

 Dear Holland,

You have been counting down the weeks and days until you turn four, and it's finally here! You love telling people that you are FOUR! And, just hearing you say "I'm four!" makes me shake my head in total and complete disbelief that four years have really gone by so fast. Four - Four - Four...it's mind-boggling!

But, it's official and I'm so happy and excited for you, because, as you say, you are now a "Big Girl." You get yourself dressed every morning (and pick out your own outfits - which some days are really, um, creative), including snaps, most buttons, zippers, and buckles. You make your own bed, and you do it surprisingly really neat - in fact, sometimes I have to double check that daddy didn't help you. You like to help put the silverware away and occasionally set the table. You love to help me with the laundry - putting the clothes in the washer, adding the detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets, and pushing the buttons to turn it on, as well as helping with the folding. Thanks to Grandma Lucy for teaching you, you are really good at folding towels, washcloths, pajamas and pants!

You love to be outside! Riding bikes, going for walks, digging in the dirt and just hanging out with Daddy while he works on bikes in the garage. You and Tagg play so well together and could literally play in the yard together for a good hour or more.

Dressing up is for sure your latest hobby! You now have several dress-up dresses that you change in and out of, some days several times an hour. You not only like to dress up, but you like to be called by the name of the character of your choice, even if you don't have the dress-up of that character. For instance, you often go by "Skye" from Paw Patrol, Rapunzel, Anna & Elsa from Frozen, and Cinderella is a new favorite since seeing the movie. But you usually don't stop at what you are to be referred to at any given moment, you also assign me, Daddy and Tagg a character name as well - my least favorite is when I end up being Cinderella's step-mother, or, as you call it, the "mean mom" of Rapunzel.

Your mind is a serious sponge these days. You learn things so quickly! You would do ABCmouse.com (an online preschool program) all day if we would let you, and you're mastering the mouse so it's fun to watch you navigate the program on your own. We also have a few school workbooks that you and I work on regularly - you've already completed the preschool and kindergarten books and are now working on the 1st grade workbook. Granted, you haven't mastered everything in each of the first two books, but you are definitely trying and eager to learn.

Dance! You really love your ballet/tap dance class at Utah Dance Arts Center, located at 9150 South 1300 East in Sandy, UT. Your teacher, Miss Shauna, is so great...she's even willing to go along with your name changes (character of the day) when you inform her. You seem to gravitate toward ballet, as we find you practicing your arabesque and plies constantly. You also love to practice skipping, and you've really come a long way! We find you practicing your shuffle steps now and then, and your favorite thing is to ask me "Is this correct?" as you show me examples of different shuffle steps, obviously mimicking what Miss Shauna says in class. I love it!

It's fun that Sheri's girls, Siena and Aria are in your dance class as well, because it means that Sheri and I know that at least once a week we get to see each other for an hour. You've become really great friends with another little girl in your class, Bostyn Baxter, and we do play dates with her now and then. Just recently, your best little neighborhood/church friend, Hannah Crofts, has also joined your dance class. I'm hoping you remain friends with these little girls forever!! In fact, I've signed you up to continue dancing next year with some of these girls and will continue to do so as long as you keep loving it. I just want you to do what you love and what keeps you eager to learn!

If we would let you, you would probably go to Grandma Lucy's and Grandpa Charlie's house every day. You and Tagg both love spending time with them and beg for "dates" with them regularly. The best part is that they love you just as much as you love them! Recently when we were driving to their house you said, "Momma, when can we live right by Grandma and Grandpa?" Even though we are just about an hour away, I totally get that it would be amazing if we were to live a lot closer!

In January you moved from the Nursery to Primary and are now a Sunbeam. At first you were not too happy about it, but the fact that I was in the presidency made your transition a bit easier. But then, in February, I was released and you were back to square one with wanting to go to Nursery instead. However, the past several weeks you have stopped talking about Nursery and have been excited about going to class with your friends. Of course, Hannah Crofts is in your class, as well as Caroline Sadler. And, Sarah Grace Barber (you've been friends for a while, since she is my friend's daughter) just moved in and you are so happy about that. The four of you are just the cutest together!

You are funny Holland, and I wish that more people could see that side of you, but I also kind of like that you reserve your true self for those you love. In public you are shy and reserved. However, at home you are all about being silly and making us laugh. You have this funny little move where you shake your booty and it always makes us laugh.You love to preform Frozen while listening to the soundtrack. You make Taggart laugh more than anyone and it's obvious that he adores you! You often tell me that you and Tagg are best friends and that you are going to marry him in the temple one day. You will probably change your mind about the marrying him one day, but I do hope that you two will be best friends forever!

Holland, one of the funniest things you do is make up words and give them definitions, or use words you've heard but define them in your own way. It's so funny! The other day you said I was being "so cemetery." When I asked what that meant, you said, "It means you are being really rude and not waiting for me." Gotcha. I'll try really hard to not be "cemetery" any more.

Daddy and I love you so much and hope that you will always be eager to learn and to bring happiness to those around you.

Love,

Momma