Darcy's 4th birthday

Oh Darcy, my sweet girl. You are such a darling delight. I feel so lucky to be your mom. You are so generous with your love to me. You so happy about so many things in life. You are fun and funny. You are goofy and can talk so seriously. You are such a good talker. I love hearing what you come up with. 

At four years old you love dresses and the color pink. You love to play with any toy that anyone else is playing with. Not to take it from them, but you just love playing with other kids. You loved playing with Claire that whole summer. Sometimes you can be little bossy with playmates, but I think you are more aware than you used to be about it. You and Holland are best friends and love to play together. I am so happy for you that she will play with you so much event though you're five years apart. 

Your favorite way to play by yourself kind of drives me crazy. I like to keep things nice and organized so it is easy to find the things you want to play with and to put them away at the end. But you love to mix things up. You put anything and everything in purses and bags and then put those in other purses or bags or boxes. It is impossible to keep things organized with you around! What kills me is how many things you tuck away that aren't toys, including containers of food from the refrigerator and books overdue at the library. Good thing you are so cute, because you are killing me kid! 

Sometimes you play by narrating stories out loud to yourself which is pretty dang cute. I love your imagination. You have kind of followed Holland's lead by being interested in what she is interested in. You love dragons, teddy bears, and legos. You love dancing and cheering on your sisters. You love to hear stories being read to you. In fact you have developed a love of audiobooks, which is fun, but I think it making you less willing to learn how to read. Whoops! 

You are still doing reading lesson and preschool at home though. I am proud of how much you are learning. I sometimes am concerned that I baby you too much and don't make you work as much as your older sisters did at your age (which I am sure is true), but I think you are going to work out just fine too. :) 

At four years old you weighed 31.3 lbs which is the 22%. You are 39 inches tall which is the 42%. This puts your BMI at 14.39 which is the 18%. You would never know by your tiny little body that you are such an eater. You want snacks all day long. You love milk, bananas, and toast maybe the most. 

What is your favorite vegetable?

Tomatoes

What is your favorite breakfast food?

Oatmeal actually pancakes and waffles

What is your favorite dessert/treat?

Candy. All kinds of candy. I like lollipops the best.

What is your favorite restaurant?

The one in South Dakota. I mean the one in Costa Rica. We drove in a fancy car there. It was by lots of warm pools. It is actually at the resort with the turtle pool. (In Tortuguero)

What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas, because I LOVE presents. I especially loved Poppy on my birthday. I liked the birthday when I was turning four because that is the day I got Poppy. 

What is your favorite stuffy?

Poppy because she is so cute. She is especially cute when she wears my glasses. I am glad you don't joke against her. She doesn't like being joked. 

What are some of your favorite things to do?

That's easy. Swim in a pool. A turtle pool. Lighting candles. I like when we have a candle bath. Playing with my light up pigs. 

What is your favorite thing to do with Holland, Miriam, Eliza?

Kissing them. 

Who is your best friend?

Oh that's easy, Brielle. 

Who are some other friends you like to hang out with?

Marta--she's nice. Preschool people (Cyrus and Jack). Samuel--I like that we went on an adventure with him. 

What’s your teacher’s name?

Sometimes I do it with Cyrus's mom and Jack's mom, and Mommy especially. You already did preschool with me once. 

What is your favorite thing to learn? 

I don't think anything comes to mind right now. 

What activities do you participate in?

Preschool, playing. I don't think chores because today I kind of struggled. I definitely participate in MCO now. I don't crawl on the floor anymore. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

An artist. Actually a penguin. 

Who do you admire and why?

Mommy, because I like your kisses and hugs. 

What do you like to sleep with at night?

Bearby, Poppy of course. 

What are you scared of?

Bears, I wasn't scared of the bears at Bear Country because they didn't try to stomp towards us. I am scared of foxes. I am not scared of dragons because I haven't seen one and they are not real. Actually I have, but it was in a book. It was in Dragon Master book 1, do you know what it is called? Rise of the Earth Dragon. 

Where is your favorite place to go?

Probably to the beach. We have been to the beach before, haven't we? It is that part of the forest when we traveled to the beach. It was on a trip. It was on a trip when I tripped my knees a lot. At least I think it was. Oh Mommy I remember things that are very far away from here. 

If you could go anywhere on a trip right now, where would you go?

To see turtles hatch. Because I saw turtles lay eggs. I just wish I could do that! 

What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Spend it on a pet penguin that was real but I would have to go fishing everyday to feed it breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

What are you thankful for?

Toys, Mommy, Candles--I mean warmth. 

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Playing legos. We played legos today, did I? Did it look like I have been playing legos? 

What are you really good at?

Singing. Listening to music. Focusing, just like I focused getting out of the bathtub. 

What is a goal or something you want to accomplish this year?

Do the advent at Christmas time. Do my chores faster and get it done faster. 

What's your favorite toy?

I think Holland's dragons toys. They are stuffies, but also toys. Mommy can stuffies be toys?

What's your favorite color?

All the colors in the rainbow. Red because it is dark pink and I love pink so that is why I love red. 

What do you like to do with Mommy and Daddy?

Work with them to build the pool. Remember when I holded down that thing when you did it across? Karaoke because I was on your team so we got to go together. And I like that we sang Must Be Santa because it is my favorite song, and we sing it in choir. And I know it better than you. 

What's your favorite game to play?

Zingo!

What's the best thing about our house?

Snuggling in the bed and squishing each other. 

If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?

Giraffe because they are not making noises. Because I haven't had it as a pet and I have never seen one. 

What's your favorite book or story?

My favorite book is Dragon Masters. Rainbow Dragons are actually Sun Dragons but they have rainbow powers. Actually Sun Dragons have the power of rainbows not just sun powers. Rainbow Dragons have the power of rain. 

What is your favorite food?

Cucumbers. I like tomatoes and cucumbers. I also like salad. Toast. Salad. 

What is your favorite movie or show? 

Bluey because I like the part when Bingo used to be Mini Bluey. And Big Bluey used to be Big Bingo. 

What is a bad habit that you have? 

That's a hard one. Sometimes when I breathe faster it gets the word inside my head faster. Not listening to the full answer. 

What is a good habit you have? 

Oh that's easy. I have to think about it for long though. Not picking at my other fingers except this one. (Her thumbs.) I have only been picking at my thumbs and toes. And that is a good habit because my toes aren't as worse as my thumbs. 

Tell me a time you were kind. 

In church, when I am learning from my teachers. I always listen to the full answer. I patisipate. I copy what I am supposed to be doing. 

Tell me about a time you were not kind. 

When I was shouting and I had to say sorry later. It was today. I was shouting so much. And you told me to say sorry to everyone. 

What are you excited about? 

Birthday. Of course I am excited about your birthday! (hug) I am glad your birthday is nearest to John's, I mean Daddy's. 

What is your prettiest thing? 

Flowers. The flower that Holland planted. 

What do you think about Jesus?

He healed everyone. He always watches over. He helps us. He helps us be stronger and makes things easier for us. I am glad that he always...Mommy how does God stay up over night without going to sleep? I am glad that he always watches us over even when things are supposed to be doing all day. That he watches over us all the time. I like when he loves us. He helps us as he guides us on the right path. 

We celebrated Darcy's birthday 3 days early. She asked for her meals oatmeal, toast with almond butter and jam, and Trader Joe's tomato soup. Cheesecake with strawberry rhubarb sauce for dessert. 

For presents we gave Darcy some picture books, light up tennis shoes, a sticker book, a bath toy, and the best of all a stuffed animal penguin. She loves the penguin the best because of all of the Poppy the Penguin stories I tell her. 

They always start like this, "Once upon a time there was a penguin named Poppy, and she lived in a nice icy land named Antarctica with her friends, Freddy and Macey, and her mommy and her daddy, and her baby sister Grey." Poppy and her friends go on lots of adventures, some of which aren't logical at all, but the thing they like best is sliding down icy slides. It's pretty cute and in another life I would like to write a children's book about it. 

In the real world Darcy just loves the stories I tell her and absolutely adored the new stuffy Poppy. It's pretty cute! 

Happy birthday sweet girl! We love you so so so much! 

Holland is 4!

 My littlest is 4! I am a little heartbroken about this, but it is also the best. I really think that so far age 4 is my favorite. They say the funniest things, are a little bit more reasonable, and oh so sweet. She loved waking up to decorations on her birthday morning. I hope my girls remember how magical it felt to wake up to a house decorated for their birthday and not just remember all the things I didn't do.
Our morning took a unexpected turn when John and I dropped everything to go look at a van which had been posted that morning. Turns out that it had been sold the day before. Whoops!
But we still had a fun lunch (mac and cheese is a special treat at our house) and Sophie came over to play, which she loved.

This girl picked pizza and watermelon for dinner, and then we had presents and angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries. It was a hit.

For presents Holland received an Elsa dress up ensemble. We particularly laughed at/loved the long braid. Honestly this is a perfect fit for Holland right now. She loves wrapping a cloth around her to be her cape like Elsa and pretending to freeze everything with her frozen/ice powers. Not to mention she asks her hair to be braided "long long" like Elsa. It's been a hit.

 Holland also received another season of Sofia episodes to watch. She loves those. I also made her a couple of cute necklaces that she wasn't very impressed with. And last but not least, she got a stockpile of gum. This is good sum of Hollands favorite things: Elsa, shows, and gum.

We love this girl so much! She is such a light to our lives. She loves going to other people's houses. She still especially loves the Davises. Good thing we're such good friends.

 I love she makes up songs and dances constantly. It is adorable. She is my little buddy and I can't believe she is getting so old so quickly. I swear it took Eliza twice as long to get to 4 than it did Holland.

 She says the best things: "Do you like my beautiful lips?" "I want to kiss you with wet lips." "That is my best part. What is your best part?"

 "I want to sing you a song" (after John had sang to her at bedtime, she made up the sweetest primary song. "I want to do Jesus' example. I want to do the work with him. Now I want to be. Now I want to be. Now I want to be."

"I want to keep you." "Want to see my best dance?"

 Then there are the less sweet songs. One day she made up a song about how she wants us to leave her alone in her castle. She sang about how she didn't want us around. I blame Elsa.

 Yet, on the other hand, just a day or two after the "leave me along in my castle" song, I heard her singing asking if she can stay with us.

 She is still progressing well at reading lesson and preschool pages. She isn't quite as happy to do it as she used to be, but craisins and fishies "help." I probably doesn't help that I am not as consistent about it as I would like to be, but we'll get there. I loved the day that she told me "I am doing a LOT of work." She had just finished up some preschool pages that were dot to dots and tracing a path. Pretty rough stuff. :)

 I also loved it when she declared in the middle of reading lesson that "SHINE, sun shine is my best word." We had just read it, and she pronounced it her best.

 She is almost always pretty sweet and happy, but there are some tactics we use to get the desired results from her. For example, the best way to get her to do something that we ask her to do is by going into pretend to be puppies/kitties mode."Okay, puppy, can you go get your clothes and take you jammies to your drawer?" "Puppy, it is time to pick up toys."

 One of her most common sayings right now is "I am careful with fragile things." She has been given some fragile toys and she is certain that she knows how to handle them. She brings it up regularly.

 One of my favorites is how she can totally insult us without meaning to "Daddy, you have a poofy neck." Then there was the day that she was singing into the microphone about loving a person. I asked her who she was singing about, and she answered, "Someone else."  Not me, obviously. :)

 I love the dramatic things she says (sometimes) "If you give me too much watermelon, I will DIE."

 She is also talented at stating the obvious. "Gum is my best gum." "I need to go back to bed." This last one was said at 2 am when she was asked what she needed.

 Just this morning, she was sitting on the potty before church. She was concerned, "My hair is getting longer. It will fall in the toilet." Honestly though, there is almost nothing that bugs her as much as finding a hair stuck to her, or on the rug, or in the bath. This is unfortunate because we have so much hair all over. I have to clean out that vacuum roller regularly.

 "I am good because I like friends and I am happy." She is such a good girl, who loves so many people around her. She told me the other day that she loves one specific boy who she has only played with a couple of times.

 As much as Holland can throw down the zingers, she can make you melt with her sweetness. The other day I walked in to see Ellie reading to Holland. "Is Ellie reading a story to you? Ellie's the best, huh?" Holland nodded, "She is."

 We just love Holland and think she is adorable. I love how much she likes to just sit and look at books. It seems like sometimes she is almost relieved to get a timeout and go to her room and calm down while she looks at books.

 Holland is super affectionate and loves giving kisses. I love her cuddles, and she lights up the whole room with her smile.

 One funny thing that she had done a couple of times is tried to put something she likes so high that "Miriam can't reach it." Still working on that possessive/sharing thing.

 At bedtime prayers she always starts "(Whoever) is super nice. And he/she always plays with me and ..." It is really sweet.

 This girl seriously loves bandaids and wants them always for anything. Unfortunately lately she has had a lot of bug bites which need bandaids. It is so sad to see her tiny arm covered in big swollen welts.

 Holland filled in the blanks. Something great about me is "riding bikes." Something funny about me "climbing trees." Something I love is "music." My best song is "Eyes on You." "My favorite thing to do is EAT BIRTHDAY CAKE!" Something that makes me sad "getting a time out." Something that makes me laugh "I like to read Mom and Dad stories. And putting my sparkly cape over my head."

 My favorite game "Zingo." My favorite family member "let me get Zingo out and also Daddy and Mommy. I love Mommy and Daddy."

 We love you so much Holland! You are such a blessing and delight in our lives.