We Are Family!: FOUR

Our sweet, oldest daughter turned four on May 6th.

She got just what she requested for breakfast - a donut with pink icing and sprinkles.

Then she opened a couple of presents.

Every time she goes to her friend Luke's house, she plays with his safari animals and especially likes when there are daddy, mommy and baby animals to make families with.

I was excited to find a lot of 30 animals on ebay.

She is obsessed with these little plastic figures and they keep her (and Haven) occupied for long periods of time.

Her other present was a bike (that I scored at a garage sale for $10!).

It was a little hard for her at first, and when things don't come very easily, she has a tendency to want to quit.

Here I am giving her a little pep talk.

Then she was back at it, got the hang of it and really started to enjoy it.

Little sis really wanted to try the bike, but will have to stay on the tricycle for now.

Anna said she needed to rest from all the hard work.

Our precious Anna, it is so fun to go through all the new stages of parenting with you.

I think this last year, we both grew in patience and self-control.:)

I tell you all the time how much fun you are to be with and that there is no other way I would want to spend my days (although I don't FEEL this way every second, I KNOW this in my heart).

Currently, your very favorite thing to play is pretend games with your stuffed or plastic animals. The latest game was about a lonely pony who lost its mommy and then a got adopted by another family with little girl pony to be her sister. Occasionally you like to have a tea party or play doctor, but these character games are by far your favorite.

You always have and continue to love for me to read to you and still insist on sitting right in my lap. By far, your favorite book is James Herriot's Treasury for Children (thanks for the suggestion, Marci!) that is a compilation of several different animal stories told by a veterinarian.

Another thing you absolutely love these days is a show on PBS called Wild Kratts about, you guessed it, animals! Each day you will tell me the new things you learned on Wild Kratts and they are often new to me as well because the show features some of the more exotic animals. A funny story...the other day in Sunday school some of the children were trying to guess the animal that a little boy was thinking about. Most of the children were saying animals like lion, giraffe, bear, etc. Your guesses were Harpy Eagle, Great Horned Owl and Basilisk Lizard (all learned from Wild Kratts).

You didn't always, but now you love to give hugs and kisses and will randomly come up and tell daddy and I how much you love us.

You and Haven aren't the most affectionate with each other, but you do have sweet moments of hugs and kisses.

I've noticed that you can be very protective of her in new environments, but not everywhere. Recently at the playground, you were huging her and telling a boy to be careful of your baby sister. The very next day when you were with your cousins, you made her be the monster and later, the target of your pretend guns. :(

You have even started to become protective of your little brother and get onto Haven if she gets into any of his things we are starting to collect.

Stats:

37 lbs 40.5 in (both 65th%)

20/20 vision

I hesitated to post this pic of us taken on your last night to be a 3 year old because it is not the most flattering, BUT I want you to look back and remember moments like this.

I want you to know how I layed with you and snuggled you every night before I left your room.