My little Lainey turned 4 today. Amazing! She is such a sweet and spicey girl! Some of her favorites right now:
- She loves to dance.
- She loves to jump. Off of things. That is how she did this yesterday. Twice. We thought maybe (and hoped) the tooth was ok after the first time; not so sure after the second. Good thing Dad's almost a dentist and can keep an eye on things.
- She's really into puzzles right now. That's often how she spends her 2 hour rest time.
- She loves to rhyme.
- She wants to start reading lessons (again) tomorrow, now that she's 4. We've tried twice before, but she has a perfection complex and doesn't want to make mistakes. She pretends she doesn't know. I've tried to take the pressure off and told her we'd just stop for now and try again when she's 4. We'll see how it goes this time.
- She loves playing in the backyard pool and has learned to not be afraid of water on her face. Hallelujah!
- She loves being my helper. Last night while Mike took M and S to buy E's presents, she helped me clean the kitchen after dinner. She stuck with it to the bitter end, even sweeping the whole floor herself (with a whisk broom).
- She loves to swing and can pump herself (about 6 months now).
- Elaine loves primary. She's very social and doesn't hesitate to speak up when she has an opinion or something to say, but she's also a very good example of reverence. (I saw her once, gently putting her arm around a boy sitting next to her, and whispering, "It's time to be reverent," with a very motherly look on her face.) She loves being assigned to say prayers or give the scripture in primary. She did not get that from me.
- She prays every day for her Uncle Chad in "Africanistan."
- She has the loudest scream when she's upset or hurt. Blood curdling!
- She loves cuddle time; I should do it more often with her.
- She is learning how to ride a pedal bike. (I love strider bikes!) She's almost got it. It's been so hot, it's hard for me to stick with it for more than a few minutes at a time. We got her a 12-inch bike, and the seat is at the lowest height, but her short little legs barely reach. Makes starting and stopping kind of tough for her.
- She's a singer. Today in the car, she was belting, "Baby alooga, oh, baby alooga!" (Baby Baluga.)
- She loves to color and draw and is finally over her Mariah's-little-sister complex and is progressing rapidly (instead of just scribbling to avoid being compared to, or criticized by Mariah).
- She's excited to start preschool in the fall. Her mom's still not sure about it.
This morning she woke up in cheerful anticipation. Presents were first thing (after dressing in ballerina stuff.)
Book from Grandma Orva and Grandpa Paul.
Twisty balloons from Mariah (for the party).
A rhyming card game from Sally.
Littlest Pet Shop from Mom and Dad.
I got this scooter free from somebody who was moving. We gave it to the girls today to add to the fun.
Poor Mariah had a pretty hard time with someone else having a birthday, and she tried all morning (inspite of herself) to sabotage the fun. I decided we needed to get out of the house. Good decision. Everyone was happy at the zoo.
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| Eating lunch and hiding from the rain. |
We hit the elephant show after lunch and then the cat forest.
We spent the bulk of our time at the splash park. Fun for all.
After dinner of beanburgers and sweet potato fries (birthday girls' request), we had the "party." After several fails, we finally got some twisty balloons into shape.
Then we headed outside for the last of our 4th of July confetti "fireworks."
Elaine wanted a strawberry castle cake. I made
frozen raspberry dreamcake, but subbed in strawberries instead and added a
coconut cream layer to the top. Can you tell that's a strawberry castle on top? Good enough for a 4-year-old. Her comment, said to herself when she didn't know anyone was listening was, "Such such good cake!"
