Happy 4th Birthday Laila!

Happy 4th birthday my sweet sweet Laila,

Four years ago today, you taught me that out of the numerous roles I have in life, my most favorite role is being your momma.  If I had to pick one word to describe you, it would be "sweet."  You are such a sweet little girl, and I frequently get told how sweet you are by so many people who meet you, even strangers.

You are such a little beauty with your blond hair, beautiful blue eyes with thick long eyelashes, and adorable smile with one dimple.  You are just the cutest with your little bob haircut.  Your daddy and I know we are going to have our work cut out for us when you become a teenager.  You make the funniest and cutest facial expressions, and some of our favorites include the big eyes look when you are making a point and the way you open and almost shut your mouth fast when you are really happy.  

You are such a smart little girl and never miss a thing.  Your vocabulary is quite extensive (I like to think it is because of the Fancy Nancy books you and I read together), and I love when you use big words out of context.  My favorite is when you are dismissing something or do not want something, you say, "nevermind."  

There are so many things that you do to melt my heart and make me so proud to be your mom.  For example, I love watch weeks at dance when you stop what you are doing to wave at me numerous times throughout the class.  It also meant the world to me that you wanted to have a Fancy Nancy themed birthday party as Fancy Nancy books are a little thing between you and me.

I keep going back to how sweet you are.  You take such good care of your numerous babies, which you refer to as honeys or sweethearts.  You are very tender with them and make sure that they get fed, burped, and down for naps with lots of blankets.  Sometimes I have babies covered up in towels and blankets all over my house.  Your dolls always look great with the creative outfits you come up with for them from life jackets paired with skirts to shirts with no pants.

  
You are such a busy and creative girl.  You are too busy to watch a whole movie and instead prefer to play and stop to watch your favorite parts, usually when there is singing going on.  Some of your favorite things to do include coloring and snipping.  You could just cut, cut, cut all day.  You have figured out that you can pretty much open anything by cutting it.  You frequently come up with creative things to do, and we love to hear you say "I have a great idea."  You have great ideas daily.

You had a really big year.  You started preschool, and you absolutely love school.  You cannot get enough of school, and you loved it so much, we increased the days you went to school from 2 to 3.  You learned how to write your name, letters, and numbers, so you frequently help me write lists of things that I need to get at the store.  You also learned how to swim under the water this summer, so you are quite the little fearless fish.  You will jump off of anything and swim, swim, swim.  If there is water around, you want to be in it.  You also completed your first triathlon and rode a horse for the first time, not just one of those horses in a circle but an actual big horse in lessons.  I keep going on and on about your firsts this year.  You also went to the fair for the first time and told me that your favorite things were the cows and the circle thing (Ferris wheel).  You were quite the dare devil and even went on the tilt-a-whirl and other big kid spin rides.

1st Day of School

Last Day of School

 

1st Triathlon

Most importantly. you became a big sister this year, and you are the best big sister a little brother could ever have.  Our little Merrick adores you, and I think you are his favorite person.  You like to help feed him bottles and food, hold him, and you try anything to get him to stop crying.  You share your blankies and little animals with him, and he loves to hear you sing.  You are also the only person that can get numerous belly laughs out of the little guy, and there is no better sound in the world than the two of you laughing.  You are not a jealous sister, which is great, but we do have to ask if it is a night that Merrick can join you for bedtime stories or not.  If you are around, Merrick looks for you as he loves you so much.  Your daddy and I are so proud of the wonderful big sister that you are.

1st Time Meeting Merrick

I come back again to how sweet you are.  You tell me frequently that you love me, daddy, Merrick, and Lucia "as high as the sky."  I love to hear that.  You also tell me routinely that my tummy is getting smaller (after having Merrick).  Even though the my tummy is stalled at it's current size, you make me feel good by telling me it is smaller even though I have a ways to go.  You are such a helper around the house, and your most favorite thing to help me with is cleaning windows.  Although, you do have a Tasmanian devil mode where you can get toys sprawled out all over the house, and you are not the most fond of picking them up.  You are quite opinionated about your outfits and come up with some very creative outfits.  Every morning is a negotiation with you.

 

 

You are a really good eater, and you absolutely love "white ice cream with no candy."  I think your favorite white ice cream is from Old McDonalds.  You are the best little girl that we could have ever asked for, and your dad and I are so happy that God chose us to have you.  We had the most wonderful year with you and cannot believe how much you have grown and matured.  We look forward to seeing all your wonderfulness in this next year. 

I love you to pieces,

Your momma