Holland Turns 5!

Well, it happened. The day that I have been dreading for the last year eventually came. My cute, darling four year old turned five. Over the last two weeks, I have come to notice that the change doesn't happen overnight, but it will. Probably when she starts school, she'll start acting a lot older. I know she'll still be darling and cute, but it just isn't the same as a four year old cute and darling. That being said, Holland really is so much fun right now. We LOVE her! 

Ironically, as much as I have been dreading her turning five, I don't know if there has ever been a birthday more highly anticipated as Holland anticipating her fifth birthday. She has brought it up in our weekly Sweet and Sour journal as her sweet as her birthday is coming soon since about January. One reason that she wanted to turn five so much was because her best friend turned 5 in November. I think she thought it would make her as tall as her friend. 

In fact when she saw a recent picture of the two of them, she asked me if it was taken before her birthday. When I said that it was after her birthday she asked, "Then why is Sophie still taller than me?" Being big is an important thing when you are newly five. 

On the actual birthday we started out the day with waffles, whipped cream, and strawberries. The rest of her requested meals were very simple, so waffles didn't seem like too much for breakfast. We had to go to the park and take photos, even though it was plenty hot that day. I like this picture of Holland and me, but I do think it shows how hot and swollen I feel. I swear I have seriously swollen up since it turned hot. (Maybe it is all the extra ice cream I have been eating??) 

On our way back from the park, we got a nice little surprise of our friends stopping by with Happy Birthday signs for Holland. They are so nice!

Of course Holland requested mac and cheese for lunch. After, she and her sisters had to play in the pool for a while. Holland had big ideas for her birthday cake, so I worked on that while they swam. It all worked out though because Holland requested to have cheese toast and salad for dinner. It made me laugh when I heard her request it. She responded, "It is one of my favorite meals." Well, at least it was on homemade bread. We have made homemade bread ever since COVID started which means that we all have been enjoying bread a lot more than usual. It isn't normally something I am all that interested in, but fresh bread is definitely yummier. 

Then it was finally present time! Holland also had big ideas about what she wanted to receive as birthday presents. "I want 100 presents!" Her list included a computer, an American girl doll, Frozen 2 with all the Frozen 2 dress ups, among many other things. We definitely couldn't do all of that, but I think she was still pleased with her presents. I thought it was sweet that her older sisters wanted to use their own money to buy her a birthday present. Fist up was the swimming mermaid tale. 

She also received a fun present of kinetic sand, coated skittles and a card from her friend Sophie. Then she opened up an off brand American girl doll. She also got some clothes to change the doll's outfit. She named the doll Rosetta. Rosetta has been a big hit. 

Miriam bought her ice cream cones with her favorite kind of ice cream (Unicorn Swirl). We also gave her the movie Frozen 2 (without the dress ups). Ellie gave her a new princess story book collection. Holland seemed quite pleased with all of her presents. We were hoping we could throw her a party for her fifth birthday, but the quarantine wouldn't allow for that. 

It is hard to know how much to spend on making her wish list come true. We don't actually want to spoil our kids, but we also still want to make their birthdays be a little bit magical. One way we try to do that is by decorating our house. I didn't actually get very good pictures of this, but hopefully by hanging up the balloons and streamers, they feel celebrated and loved without spending a million dollars buying everything they want. 

Like I said, Holland had big ideas about her cake. She wanted a cake for sure. I tried to talk her into a variety of other desserts, because you know, cake is kind of blah. But she really wanted a birthday cake, which is fine. We were a little unsure of what she really wanted until she saw a picture of Ellie's birthday cake when she turned five. Holland wanted it just the same as that except the cake was requested to be pink or the frosting pink or just pink everything. 

We made it similar to Ellie's cake except that we added cream cheese to the whipped cream so it would hold up better and be yummier. We also made the cake into Strawberry Bavarian because of the picture on the box. It ended up being delicious, but maybe wasn't stable enough for a layered cake. 

The Strawberry Bavarian was chunks of cake mixed with jello, strawberries, and whipped cream. It was good, but a just not super structured. At least it held together long enough for a photo. :) After birthday dessert, it was time to watch Frozen 2. The girls have watched it four times in the last couple of weeks. Such a good one. ;)

We missed Holland's four year well check up, so that more immunizations at the five year check up. Can you tell who has enough self control to wear a mask? We actually bought fabric masks for all of us just recently because we think they are going to be required for the kids to actually go places. It is kind of unbelievable that this is still going on. 

At her five year check up Holland weighed 34 lbs 8 oz which is the 17%. She was 40.5 inches tall which is the 18%. So she is small but consistently so. I love our pediatrician, Dr. Miller, which is awesome because I don't really love any of our other doctors. She is so good with kids. Holland warmed right up to her. She got all checked out and got told that she is doing great. 

There were two areas of concern I had. First, Holland still sleeps wet almost every night. Dr. Miller told me that this is completely okay at her age. However, because Holland doesn't like to go to the bathroom during the day, Dr. Miller started Holland using a potty timer. I am surprised at how well Holland has taken to a potty timer, considering how resistant she was to using the bathroom before. She would just wait and wait until sometimes she'd have an accident but for sure at least a kind of emergency bathroom stop. Dr. Miller said that because she was putting it off for so long, her bladder was consistently overfilled, and she probably didn't have a lot of sensation of needing to go to the bathroom. Using the potty timer, which is just setting a timer for every 3.5 hours will help restore her sensations. Dr. Miller made a point to tell her that this was her doctor telling her this and not just mommy. Well, it turns out Holland is super impressed with doctors unlike mommies because she has been completely on board with using the potty timer. And to our surprise it is has helped with the sleeping wet at night. Instead of sleeping wet almost every night, it is more like half the time right now, which is amazing. 

The other issue we have been concerned about is Holland adorable little lisp. She just sticks her tongue out between her teeth when she says her S's. It is pretty cute, but definitely not something we want her to have her whole life. We learned our lesson with Miriam about putting off speech therapy in hopes that the school will help with that. So right now we are in process of getting a speech therapy referral from the pediatrician to take Holland to. It is definitely a ton more money that doing the free speech therapy at school, but at least we are not having to wait years to get her some help. I worry that Miriam won't shake her R mispronunciation because we waited too long to get her help. Fortunately Dr. Miller agrees with my opinion about not waiting for speech therapy so we actually could get the ball rolling for this process. 

I have to record more about Holland at this fun age. There is really way too much to record though. For instance. One day she told me about these flowers hair bands on her arms, "There's a really bad battle with really bad guys, and these arm shields will protect me." 

Holland loves and loves on the baby in my tummy. She is pure sweetness with her. The only problem is when she kisses my belly so hard that it digs her chin into the tight, overcrowded belly. 

Holland is obsessed with her hair getting longer. She was pretty thrilled the other day when she asked me to put her hair in a scrunchy, and it actually worked. The funny part to me though was that she was so complainy about it hurting for me to brush it or pull it back. Sweet thing isn't really used to having her hair done, so she's going to hit a hard reality if she succeeds in growing it out. I love her short, little blond curls. 

I have a feeling I am going to lose that fight though. She loves hair accessories even if it is on her ankle.

I think it is so funny to watch her play. Those throw pillows are constantly being put to some use: a path, cushion for her rocking moose, supports for a fort, etc. We did have to laugh when she came out down the hall into our room with Miriam's mermaid tale all over her. 

This girl loves to make a path. A particularly fun game right now is to use magformers to make a path for little people or ponies. I think it is sweet to watch her in her deep play, where it is just in the zone of play. Her whole room gets destroyed with books, kitchen toys, dress ups, ponies, little people, stuffed animals, Rosetta clothes, and anything else that catches her fancy of getting out. But she really does so much independent play in there with those toys, that I feel like I have to let her do it. I just remind myself that this is the cycle of a home. It gets messy, and then we clean it up. That's what we have the stuff for. Thankfully Holland is getting slightly better at being willing to help clean up her messes. 

Other times, she has no interest in playing by herself. She will pick a parent (since John is working from home right now) and just tell you all the things. She'll get on dress ups and bring toys and just talk and talk and talk. It is super cute, but it can definitely be wearing. I love having my little buddy though. 

Another favorite toy are the orange balls. They tend to get scattered about almost every day. She also loves to get the dress ups on. But not just to do the princess dresses. She's a little more creative than that. :) 

Holland is super the youngest child right now. She loves getting attention, especially from John and me. Like I wrote before, she goes on these chattering streaks with us, which is fun, but they can be lengthy. Also, if she doesn't feel like she is getting our full attention while she is talking to us, she often grabs our faces to make sure that we have eye contact with her while she is talking. This is also fun to do to each other as husband and wife. :) 

Another favorite activity is to turn on the prerecorded songs on the pianos and dance to them. But once again, it is only okay if we are watching her dance. She'll often ask, "Are you watching me??" She is an excellent twirler. :) 

I think it is interesting that although she really likes to demand so much attention from John and me, she is also our most content child (so far) to play independently. She is likes both ends of the spectrum. I wonder if this is because hers sisters are closer in age to each other than to her. I feel bad that our new baby will have an even bigger gap to her nearest sister. I hope they can all still somewhat play together though. 

Speaking of playing together, I am pretty impressed at how well Holland picks up games. There are obviously games she doesn't play with the rest of us, but not as many as you'd think. She also seems to have uncanny luck at the games she does play. Maybe it is because the rest of us can't help but being a little less competitive with her, but she tends to win a lot. But she is also not really that competitive and will often pick a person or two that she wants to be extra nice to during the game. "Don't worry Mommy, even though you are losing I still love you 131." 

Holland turned a corner earlier this year when it came to reading. I might have recorded this before, but it was about Januaryish, when she decided she could just read and started doing it. She started picking up picture books and actually reading them. And it turns out when she gives herself that much practice, she progresses really quickly. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard the changes in her reading within just a couple of weeks. It was remarkable. Ever since this corner she turned, Reading Lesson has become "easy peasy, lemon squeasy." But we decided to go ahead and finish the book anyway, just to give a little extra practice and make sure we didn't miss anything key. It has been so fun the last few months to see her get better and better at reading. She can't read everything right now, but she has made so much progress. She demands her turn when we read the scriptures. She reads any given picture book and some longer books as well with some help. I think one of the best things is that she just isn't intimidated or scared of trying to read things. She thinks she is capable and so she is. 

I am so proud of her for working so hard to learn to read. I am also proud of me for sticking with it for her. It has been a labor of love and patience to do this with her for the last two years. It took her just under two years to finish the Reading Lesson book, which isn't surprising to me even though we were pretty diligent about it. We did it most days, but it is just a long book with a little girl with a short attention span. 

Let's hear a little bit about her from the girl herself: (I'll use the same questionaire as Ellie's birthday this last year.)

1. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?  Uh...I don't know that question. The best place I would like to go is to...the very best place I would like to go is to California with Sophie. Go on the rides. Go to Disneyland and California Adventure. 

2. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be? Why? Unicorn Swirl. So no one would eat me because you guys don't like Unicorn Swirl. You like chocolate better. And Ellie likes vanilla and caramel better. 

3. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Bunches of Oats (or boats) AND Red Berries and Mini Spooners. 

4. What is your favorite candy? That's a hard one. I don't know. I love all kinds of candy (sad voice). One that I like, the very very best on...uh...does it have to be in the candy basket? I like Dumb Dumbs and Starburst. Those are my very best ones. 

5. What is your favorite Primary song? I don't know. "I am a Child of God." 

6. Are you a morning or a night person? Uh...no...both. 

7. Are you on any teams or clubs at school? If so, which ones? I am not in school yet. So, I can't do that. I can't answer that question.

8. If you were a crayon, what color would you be and why? *Machine gun laugh* I don't want to be ice cream or a crayon. Pink and blue and red. Because I like so many colors. I like all colors, rainbows, and pink and black that's all, except BROWN. I don't like brown. Daddy, your hair is black. 

9. What is your favorite season of the year? I like all of them. *thumbs up* I don't have one that I like the best. 

I love 4 year olds. They say the best stuff because they know the words, but not quite all of the meanings or implications of what they are saying. It is so stinkin' funny. I have this running list of funny things that Holland has said, but really the list could be endless. 

"Volcanoes have... Pain in them."

"I want a break from going to bed."

"But I'm tired." (This is her response to anything she doesn't want to do.)

"There is no more true love at all." (I don't remember exactly what was going on when she said this, but it is a perfect example of the dramatic, funny things that can just pop out of her mouth.

"I am setting a timer for you to stop talking, better stop talking." (We use a timer for so many things at our house. I guess it isn't too surprising she would pull this out to use for us.)

"Back when I was three, I felt my heart break."

"Mommy I am dining on carrots. I love love love carrots!"

"Mommy, I remembered something sad, sad, sad....SCHOOL!" (She actually doesn't seem very sad at the prospect of school, unlike me. I wish she didn't have to go to school in less than two months.)

"Please can the girls read kissing books? Please, please, why?" (This is a bit of an issue at our house. We want our girls reading age appropriate books, which includes not having a great deal of romance in them. Holland took no time at all to join their persuasive pleading.)

"When I'm an adult, I will certainly know it." (If only all adults knew all the things, kiddo.)

"Ugh I was always meant to be a princess." (Funny thing is that she absolutely insists that she is not a princess. She is a "royal child," as opposed to Miriam who is a "royal kid," or Eliza who is old enough to be a "princess." She corrects us every time if we say she is a princess.)

"She was born in 2018" about all the stuffed animals that are her babies.

"I want the baby to love me (about the new sibling). You're not going to be born for a long time, but stay calm, okay? I want you to be happy. "

"It's not fast Sunday. It's slow Sunday, so today everybody's going to slow." (Even today she said that she is "slowing" because she is not "fasting." Yeah, we're not correcting that terminology.)

"It turns out you are a really good at playing the piano." (addressed to Daddy just now.)

"What do the bad guys eat? Rotten onions?" (Worst guys must eat the worst food, obviously.)

"Prince Hans is my enemy and so is Jafar." (They probably eat rotten onions.)

"Baby, you have to kick when I tell you." (I think she'll flow in the bossy older sister role just fine.)

"Actually adults are the worst." (I follow an account on Instagram, which posts funny memes and quotes from kids that are hilarious. It is called Kids are the Worst, but it really doesn't belittle kids or anything. It did make John and I occasionally whisper to each other "kids are the worst" when one of our kids does something punk-ish or ridiculous. Apparently one day we didn't whisper that quietly enough, because Holland replied with the quip about adults being the worst.)

"When I get to heaven I am going to ask Jesus for real powers." (Powers are a big topic of conversation and imagination at our house. She loves having all the powers and dispersing powers to us. Its a good time.)

Of course this might have been taken a bit too far when she actually included in her prayer a plea for real powers.

Her prayers are so sweet though. One day during music and the spoken word she announced, "I feel like I need to pray."

"Heavenly Father is the raddest." (Questionable reverence, unquestionable adorableness.)

"I am going to pick a guy when I grow up that doesn't have a beard because that's gross." (Yeah, I may be a little too vocal about how I don't like beards.)

"I want a rich man when I grow up." (Okay, that one wasn't from me.)

"If you stop breathing I can hear your heart beat more."

"Miriam is the new stinker. I'm the old stinker. Ellie is the oldest stinker." (All stinkers really.)

"I wish my name started with an x."

"I desire to mess with it." (Holland often gets told to not mess with this or that. Her reply one day made me laugh.)

"My heart tells me this is yucky." (Holland seems like such a good eater, until she isn't. She really doesn't like lasagna or any kind of noodles with red sauce.)

"Jesus would give us all treats, if we say please." (Once again, maybe a little questionable reverence, but there is no way I am going to tell her to stop saying stuff about Jesus.)

"Can we go camp somewhere that our home isn't?" (She is getting a little cabin fever-ish with the quarantine.)

"Daddy, you are sadly mistaken. That means you are wrong, wrong, wrong!" (Maybe my favorite quote of the year. I wish I remembered what she was referring to.)

"You know Elsa and Frozone are married because they both have ice powers."

"I have all the powers except mommy and daddy powers." 

"Thank thee for those that have coronavirus and cancer and Erica and Brielle, and....the people that have the Black Death." (I don't know where she learned the name Black Death, but she pulls it out occasionally and it's pretty funny.)

"Daddy, I found a baby bad fairy. I should break it's wings." (This was so so funny, and slightly scary. She names various things in our backyard as fairies, especially the seeds from one flowering plant.)

"I'm a lot cute and a lot enjoyable." (Referring to her baby picture, but also true for today.)

"If you ever say I'm not cute then you are sadly mistaken." (Good follow up to that last quote.)

"It is easier to get poopoos out when I have privacy." (Life lesson learned.)

"Here are the insects I recommend: butterflies and fairies!" (Definitely, but also ladybugs.)

"I am all sugared up." (She actually said this on her birthday after eating a good serving of her cake. She couldn't quite finish it because she was too sugared up, obviously.)

"You are nothing, literally nothing, except my Mommy." (Ouch.)

"I love you even though you're pregnant." (Thanks, I guess. She has the unintentional burn perfected.)

After begging and begging to name the baby Darcy, Holland just announced Darcy is a terrible name for our baby. (Okay, just let us know when you have decided.)

"I am the royal child." "So you're the princess?" "No, I am the royal child." (There is a clearly a difference.)

"The air is making me cough. It smells like dead flies." (Ew.)

This exchange between Holland and John was so funny. One day she was going potty when she complained that her size 4 panties were too small. "My bum sticks out." She then showed him her bum. Daddy explained that she was experiencing a wedgie to which she confirmed, "Oh yeah, sometimes I get wedgies."

"Parents are the worst! You guys aren't the worst, just other people's parents are the worst. You guys are the smartest parents." (Sometimes it feels like we are winning at the parenting game.)

"When I grow up I won't be a cheerio killer."

"I'm not feeling wimpy, but last year I was feeling wimpy." (About writing the word 'came,' including lots of groaning) "Remember last year when I was tired from eating my breakfast? That's when I was feeling wimpy"

"Oh my hecks!"

"I can be a champion even without pants. They are invisible pants on me."

I can't get enough of this girl. Holland is a delight and such a blessing to our family. I love her more than I can say. She is so sweet, precious, fun, and just delightful. We are so lucky to have her in our family.

One more pic. The smile, arm, hoisted shorts, diaper hanging out. It is all too good for words. We love her!