We went shopping for swimsuits a few weekends ago. As we started looking through the rack together you looked up at me and said “Daddy, I want one that doesn’t cover too much skin”. Lord help me! This is only the beginning and I can’t say I’m looking forward to the many, many more moments like these yet to come.
Category Archives: Chapter 4: Year 4
You’re Reading and Speaking Spanish!
Posted onFirst, it again has been way too long since we posted for you. Sorry! We’re going to try to get better at more frequent short posts.
Your little brother is going to be 2 next month. You guys adore each other. Where ever you are, Brady is right behind you. You guys have your brother sister moments, but you two really do adore each other.
You are reading! We bought you the full series “Bob” books. You’re on book 5 of set 1 right now and learning a new book every week. It’s really amazing to watch you sound out your words.
Mommy and daddy started teaching you what little Spanish we knew or could find online. Preschool has a bilingual teacher and began teaching you Spanish. You surpassed mom and dad in about 5 weeks. You come home singing full songs in Spanish and we have no idea what your singing. You know all of your primary colors, days of the week, several animals, you can count to 10, and some other miscellaneous words.
You’re going to start kindergarten this fall. There’s a brand new, state of the art School opening about 8 miles from the house. We applied for a transfer and you were accepted! The time is going so, so fast. Everyone told us it would happen. It’s something you just don’t understand until it happens.
Love you monkey.
Our Little Helper is SWIMMING!
Posted onWell, you did it! You finally just decided to put aside your fears and take the plunge….literally!
For the past 4+ years you have rarely been in the swimming pool without a life jacket. And the few times that you have, it was with much hesitation and fear on your part.
We signed you up for swim lessons a couple of weeks ago. You screamed and cried the ENTIRE first class….which, we actually expected. What we didn’t expect was for you to embrace…and even enjoy(?)…the 2nd and 3rd classes?!
So Sunday morning we decided to take a family dip in the pool. Much to our surprise, you wanted to try and swim without your life jacket. Well, before we could even try and figure out what had changed, you were swimming from the steps to your dad (at the middle of the pool) and back again! And each time you came up for air you wanted to do it again! We kept looking at each other asking “who is this kid?!”. 🙂
Once you figured out you could do it and got a little bit of confidence under your belt, you didn’t want to stop! It was AWESOME! So, we are officially calling you a swimmer….and we couldn’t be more proud of you!
In the meantime, it was all we could do to keep your brother from drowning himself! He has no fear and insisted on just walking off the steps and into the abyss. Our experiences with him have really taught us just how much we should appreciate your cautious and guarded behaviors. He is all boy as evidenced by the fact that he is into everything and requires at least one dedicated parent at all times. 🙂
You are getting super tall – your dresses are all shorter on you now – and you are maturing so much! You can recognize all letters and are learning how to write them in uppercase. Daddy went on a business trip a couple of weeks ago so we snuck a card into his suitcase….and you had written all 6 letters of your name on it by yourself!
Speaking of travel…you & I went on a girl’s trip to Wichita Falls last weekend…it was to surprise Luli at her retirement party. The ladies she worked with coordinated the outing and daddy graciously agreed to stay home with Brady and the dogs so we could go. It was SO SUPER FUN! She couldn’t believe we were there and even started crying when she saw you. You had a ton of sugar (cake, cookies, ice cream) and were wound up…but you were still on your best behavior!
It was also our first time to sleep in the same bed. I was looking so forward to that treat – until we laid in the bed. You were tossing and turning and having a very hard time winding down. I slept very lightly once we did fall asleep so I was exhausted when you woke us up….at 6:00am!!! 🙂
You are such a special person…with so many amazing qualities. You bring happiness and joy to our lives each and every day. It’s so fun and exciting to watch you learn and grow! And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you being my little helper! From putting away silverware, to feeding the dogs, to watching Brady….you are always willing to be my second set of eyes and ears. I couldn’t do it without you!
You LOVE the Water!
Posted onYou are officially a self titled “Boat Girl”! One of Brad’s work friends invited us to go out on his sailboat Friday night and watch the fireworks display over Lake Grapevine. We got a sitter for Brady and headed out. You were very shy at first because you’d never been on a boat and did not know Rob and Kelly. It was very humid and pretty hot at first but once we got out on the water and started feeling the breeze it was awesome!
You started breaking out of your shell and had a blast going up and down the stairs into the galley. After a while Daddy asked if you wanted to crawl up to the front of the boat and sit up there. I thought for sure you’d say no as the climb to the front was a bit intimidating. But much to my pleasant surprise, you were excited to give it a shot! And so you did….and you LOVED it! Even when the waves came and rocked the boat pretty good – you threw your hands up and said “Wheeeee!”. At one point we all 3 ended up sitting up there…it was super fun.
We finally convinced you to go back to the seats in the back of the boat but you kept asking when you could go back up to the front?! Of course, your dad agreed and took you back up there. Once the fire works started you decided to perch up on one of the back suspended seats. You were a bit intimidated by the loud booms but really seemed to enjoy the show. It was such a special treat to get to go out on the boat, and watch the fireworks, and hang out with new friends. What fun!
Afterwards, Rob and Kelly could not stop talking about what a well mannered, mature, sweet, and fun young lady you are! They said you were one of the most well behaved children they’ve ever been around! What a compliment…to all of us! 🙂
We followed that up with a pool party at our house the next day. We had some friends over and you got to play, and swim, and eat hot dogs, and jump in the pool, and hand out with your friends. Brady loves the water too so we all had a super great time. What a super amazingly fun weekend we had!
Speaking of fun weekends – a couple of weeks ago we went to Tyler, TX for a 3 day vacation. We went to an indoor water park 2 days in a row and even visited the zoo. You loved all the different animals….but weren’t too fond of the smell of some of them. You even went into the bird habitat with daddy! Though you were a bit intimidated, you did great!
We celebrated your 4th birthday last month at Urban Air – an indoor trampoline park. Grandma Karen flew down to celebrate with us and even Brady got in on the fun. He was crawling around the kiddie area like he owned the place! We got you a new shopping cart for your birthday! You had a cheapo plastic one that you would take shopping every weekend….the wheels were about to fly off that thing. So we splurged and got you are miniature version of the ones the stores use…it’s heavy-duty metal and everything! YOU LOVE IT! And you get a ton of comments on it every time we go shopping…both from parents and other kids alike.
You are a total girly girl! You LOVE to wear skirts and dresses and can’t get enough of all things girly – jewelry, fun shoes, flowers, rainbows, hearts, hair stuff, etc. I often just watch you…just observe you. I find myself in awe…in awe of what a beautiful person you are on the inside and out. You’re kind, loving, gentle, smart, sweet, funny, caring, and simply put – just pretty AMAZING! We can’t fathom one single day of our lives without you and we count our many blessings each and every day.