Happy 4th Birthday Miss Grace!

Dear Grace,

I can't believe you are already 4 years old!  Your daddy and I are always saying to you that we want you to stay little forever, but you're not too keen on that...instead, you love to stand up on your chair during dinner (when you decide to actually eat dinner, that is) and show us how much you're growing as if every bite triggers and extra millimeter or something.  You love to talk about how big you are, and I think you take the cake in regards to "most excited for their birthday"!  You seem to think that your almost as old as Olivia now that your 4 and will somehow catch up to her - I imagine you'll eventually figure out that you're always going to be younger!

This weekend at your birthday party someone, I think your Aunt Beth, said that you have spunk.  Yes, that is most definitely true...you have enough personality to fill our entire house!  You can be sweet, cuddly, crazy, sassy, silly, aggravating, mischievous, kind, a little mean, funny, and sensitive all in a matter of minutes!  You have pretty much zero patience (we're working on this) and are one of the most stubborn and persistent people I know.  And, while this last trait, to be honest, makes me want to tear my hair out and scream quite often, I think it's going to take you great places one day.  When you truly want something in the future, I have a feeling you're going to fight for it, and the willingness to fight can be the key to success.

You're doing really well in your transition from youngest to middle child.  You love your little "Grady Bug"/"Buddy" so much, and it makes me happy to see you be a little mommy.  You're pretty proud of yourself when you can make Grady smile, help him with his paci, and get me this or that.  Sometimes you don't like when you have to wait when I'm helping Grady, but overall, you get it that waiting in this regard is necessary and don't seem to mind entertaining yourself with some toys or a show.  You don't ask to hold Grady too much but you really like to be near him.  The other day he fell asleep on my lap while you were "reading" him books - pretty cute.  You and Olivia get along really well for the most part; you enjoy playing a lot of the same activities (but you like dance a lot more).  You two help each other out quite a bit too which is very sweet.

You're super into imaginative play right now...I find you often up in your room playing with your dollhouse, baby, stuffed animals, and Barbies.  You also really like playing house, school, and dress-up.  I often find myself nodding in agreement to some story you're telling me about something even though I really have no idea what you're talking about as most of what I'm supposed to be understanding is part of some imaginary world/game/situation!  What else do you like:  going to Luther with Dad, playing Trouble (you're obsessed), drawing/coloring, doing puzzles, watching TV/movies (sigh), and creating stuff with Leggos.  Uncle Nate bought you some new Leggo sets for your birthday, and you were instantly obsessed - you call it playing blocks, and it makes my heart happy to see you and Nathan connect over this shared passion.  :)

Based on your interests, I think you're going to be the child who's good with abstract concepts...the drawings you make and your explanations of them along with all the other imaginative stuff you do make me feel this way.  We'll see if I'm right!

You're enjoying preschool and seem to have lots of friends.  It seems to me that you don't hesitate to involve yourself in activities and groups of people.  Sometimes a shy side of you comes out but not very often, and when it does, it's relatively short lived.  You can write your name pretty well and like to make letters though don't always seem to know what you're making.  It'll be fun to see how you grow next year as you switch to school 3 full days a week instead of just 2 mornings.

Other facts about you:  You love filling your bed with stuffed animals, blankets, books, and whatever else; basically you fill it so full that sometimes it's hard to find you in all the chaos - how can that be comfortable?  You barely eat anything these days...we can see most your ribs.  You'd probably take 3 baths a day if you were allowed to, like to change clothes, and/or like to wear no clothes or clothes that don't make sense...like swimming suits when it's -15 and our house is 60 degrees.  You love a big glass of milk at bedtime and like to get out of bed a couple of times before falling asleep.  You're obsessed with the movie Frozen and anything connected to it.  You can backtalk better than I would like...seriously this is a major problem that your dad and I are working on (sometimes more successfully than others) as hard as we can and can be a tattletale.  You are a pretty good sport when we play games, have great hand/eye coordination (thanks to hot potato with Dad), do your best to manipulate your dad and I, like to give people nicknames, have a recognizable sound of your feet running across the floor, love to laugh, don't pronounce "r's" very well, can get dressed, put your shoes on, and zip your coat by yourself (though you don't always like to do so), can be amazingly cooperative or a terrible listener, and have a major sweet tooth.  Whew...that's quite a bit of information for a girl who's only four!

One last little piece...today (January 30) at your well-child check you weighed 32 1/2 pounds (30 percentile) and were 39 3/4 inches tall (52 percentile).

Mostly, Gracie-girl, everything I just wrote shows that you are a lovable little girl who adds a lot of spice, spunk, and sweetness to our life.  You have the kind of personality that just draws people to you, and your smile is big enough be be seen across the room.  You have a zest for life, and there is absolutely no way it (or we) would be the same without you.

Lots of love,
Mommy