Dear Maya,
Today's post is just for you, my sweet, smart, and sassy firstborn.
You are four years old today. FOUR! Where has the time gone? Mommy has been looking back to the early days of this blog, documenting your early days, and it feels like you were Emi's age just yesterday. I know all of these sentences are very cliche but they also feel so very true.
We'll be having your party this weekend, but mommy wanted to document today a little on its own. We didn't do all that much except run some errands, but it felt pretty special nonetheless. You had requested pancakes for your birthday so daddy made some for breakfast, then mommy made you a special breakfast-y dinner as well. We had homemade waffles with blueberry, cranberry and banana sauces, plus custard and whipped cream. And sparkling orange juice. And bacon. We are so full!
Last year mommy tried to interview you for posterity about your likes and dislikes (click here) but you were uncooperative so in the end I had to make up answers for you. This year, though, it only took a couple of chocolate kisses to get you to open up! Still, I think you were just angling for another candy and some of your answers aren't exactly representative of your tastes, so mommy will add her thoughts in parentheses.
- Favorite toy: Puzzles (And Legos, stickers, etc.)
- Favorite game: Bugs in the Kitchen (Yup, you love this board game of Uncle Matt's)
- Favorite thing to do inside: Dance (True, but I think arts and crafts are a bit higher on the list)
- Favorite thing to do outside: play in the snow (Yes, but we don't need to hope for too much of that)
- Favorite place to go: Nanny and Poppy's house (That's mommy's favorite, too!)
- Favorite book: "Pancakes, Pancakes" by Eric Carle (Yes, and also "Zen Ghosts" by Jon J. Muth)
- Favorite TV show: "Woody Woodpecker" (Holy retro! You also love the new "My Little Ponies")
- Favorite movie: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (And "Robin Hood" in the off season)
- Favorite song: "Let it Go" from Frozen (Also "All About that Bass" and "Bohemian Rhapsody")
- Favorite animal: tiger (Really? That's news to mommy! More like ladybugs and dinosaurs, no?)
- Favorite breakfast: pancakes and cocoa (Your special breakfast that daddy makes)
- Favorite lunch: quesadillas (Same as last year, but now you like spinach in there, too!)
- Favorite dinner: noodles (You're most excited by any kind of soup that has beans in it)
- Favorite fruit: peaches (You do like to eat them in frozen mixed fruit without strawberries)
- Favorite vegetable: carrots (Same as last year, but you like them raw better than cooked)
- Favorite drink: water (Good girl! Aside from some milk, it's pretty much all you drink all day)
- Best friend: Mama (Oh, you really know how to make mommy's heart melt!!)
- Biggest fear: robot Santa (The life-sized dancing Santa robot at the store really sent you for a loop!)
- When you grow up you want to be a: librarian (Credit to Aunt Rhi for that one--awesome!)
- Things you take to bed: my wall (You make or have us make a 'wall' out of your stuffed animals and smaller blankets every night and naptime--there are about 30 of the former at last count so it's a decent-sized wall--then you sleep with 2 red blankets as your pillow, 1 blanket as a blanket, and 1 stuffed animal of choice to cuddle, lately your long-limbed white bunny that Grandma made)
And now, like in previous year recap posts, mommy wants to share a photo from each month of this last year that hasn't been on the blog before. Oh, how you've grown!
And finally, mommy would like to share the top 5 things you've done lately that have wowed me:
5. Listening to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" for the first time on the radio, you asked me if it was the witch singing the song. I didn't know what witch you were talking about, but you clarified that you meant the one from "Into the Woods" which you'd watched once about a month earlier. You were totally comparing the voices of Gayla Peevey and Bernadette Peters. And you were totally right. Awesome.
4. One morning mommy was rushing around getting ready and from the breakfast table you suddenly said, "Mama, I have something to tell you." Mommy expected you to fess up to spilling something but instead, you turned and pointed at me and said, "All I want for Christmas is you." Awww....
3. You have foam letters that stick to the shower wall and lately mommy has been spelling out random words with them, hoping that you'll take it upon yourself to try to read them. This morning when mommy pointed to each letter of the word "cat," you sounded it out by yourself! Woohoo!
2. Tonight we gave you presents after dinner. Mommy gave you an important gift--a box of My Little Pony dolls from when I was a little girl. You fell in love with them, even toting them to the next room to play a game Matt and Rhi gave you, saying you'd miss them if you didn't. Mommy is thrilled!
1, For the first time in quite a while, at very least since Emi was born, you pulled mommy and daddy in for a group hug at bedtime tonight and said you loved us. You had some very irritable (and irritating) moments today, but you ended it on such a sweet note that mommy got butterflies.
Well, the happiest of 5th years to you, my darling. Love you sooooo much!
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| January |
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| February |
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| March |
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| April |
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| May |
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| June |
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| July *photo by Grandpa as you spun around/danced together in the birth center room |
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| August |
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| September |
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| October |
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| November |
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| December *You were jealous that everyone was drinking out of lemoncello glasses so you got one with egg nog :) |
And finally, mommy would like to share the top 5 things you've done lately that have wowed me:
5. Listening to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" for the first time on the radio, you asked me if it was the witch singing the song. I didn't know what witch you were talking about, but you clarified that you meant the one from "Into the Woods" which you'd watched once about a month earlier. You were totally comparing the voices of Gayla Peevey and Bernadette Peters. And you were totally right. Awesome.
4. One morning mommy was rushing around getting ready and from the breakfast table you suddenly said, "Mama, I have something to tell you." Mommy expected you to fess up to spilling something but instead, you turned and pointed at me and said, "All I want for Christmas is you." Awww....
3. You have foam letters that stick to the shower wall and lately mommy has been spelling out random words with them, hoping that you'll take it upon yourself to try to read them. This morning when mommy pointed to each letter of the word "cat," you sounded it out by yourself! Woohoo!
2. Tonight we gave you presents after dinner. Mommy gave you an important gift--a box of My Little Pony dolls from when I was a little girl. You fell in love with them, even toting them to the next room to play a game Matt and Rhi gave you, saying you'd miss them if you didn't. Mommy is thrilled!
1, For the first time in quite a while, at very least since Emi was born, you pulled mommy and daddy in for a group hug at bedtime tonight and said you loved us. You had some very irritable (and irritating) moments today, but you ended it on such a sweet note that mommy got butterflies.
Well, the happiest of 5th years to you, my darling. Love you sooooo much!
