Liv is FOUR!

The letter to Liv I started back in mid-August... :)

Liv-

Happy 4th birthday sweet sweet person.  You are without a doubt the nicest kid I've ever met.  You are so genuine.  You care so much for other people and you are incredibly empathetic.  Your thoughts are deep and provoking.  You want things to be fair for everyone.  I love how expressive you have gotten to be over this past year and all the amazing things we have learned about you.  You are simply good.

You are such a well behaved little lady.  Although there are times you get in trouble, you always seem shocked when it happens.  By that, I mean that you are never trying to be bad, and never making choices you know are inappropriate.  So, when you do something that makes me upset, it crushes you.  You get very very sad.  But, it's always a short amount of time before you've rebounded and return to your wonderful happy-go-lucky self.  You are forgiving, and resilient.

When you and your sister argue (which is pretty much daily), we do "knees to knees" where you sit and talk about what's going on.  You ADORE this.  Sometimes there will be a minor dispute, "I want the pink bowl" "NO! I want it" and you'll quickly suggest: "Jillian, let's do knees to knees."  Jillian does not love this as much as you.  HAHA!  At the end of knees to knees you kids say to each other, "The most important thing in the whole world is my family." Then you hug and try to make each other laugh by tickling/biting/toe grabbing... whatever works.  This is the highlight for you, I think.  Evan loves knees to knees too, but it frustrates you that he can't remember our "most important thing" catch phrase.  You walk him through it word by word until he has said it correctly and in it's entirety.

We call you: Lou Lou, Lou Lou Bear, Livy Lou, and Lou.  Sometimes, we call you Liv. -wink-

You're not interested in any group sports yet, and still want to sign up for ballet and gymnastics.  You seem to enjoy both of these activities which is good because they are challenging for you.  Your ballet teacher has you keep a waltz beat while chanting/patting, "Clap, Knees, Knees".  Until recently this was impossible for you.  You're rounding the bend now though, and can keep up for a few beats.

According to you, your favorite books are: "Birthday books, flower, spring and pumpkin books, fruit, vegetable and recipe books, making stuff books, and rainbow books and sewing books."  You're starting to put together words now and feel very proud when you are able to read a book with Mommy.   This still takes a lot of time and teamwork but you're getting better every day!  Yesterday you told me, "I think you spell Mommy, M-E... Mmmmmmm.....eeeeeeeee.... is that right!?"  Close! -smile-

One of my MOST favorite things about you right now is how you hold one (or even two!) pointer fingers up in the air when you are about to share something you thought of.  It's ADORABLE.  Out of the blue: "You know what?! (*fingers up!*) today, at school, we had.... oranges!" Haha!  You're awesome.

I'm not a fan of kids asking me if they can watch TV so I've told you guys, "TV is only a Mommy idea and my answer will always be no if you ask to watch".  So, your idea to get around this is not to 'ask' per say... You just start to say, "G." (over and over).  This is code for, "do you want to cuddle in bed and watch Giada?"  Yes, yes I do.  -smile-

According to you, your favorite TV characters are: "Giada, Dora & Boots, Peter Rabbit, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Pony".  This is mostly accurate aside from Peter Rabbit and My Little Pony which we have banned from your selections due to sassy episodes. -smile-


Your favorite foods (according to you) are chocolate!, strawberries, oranges, bananas, bean burritos, and sugar snap peas.  You told me the other day you would like to eat a bean burrito every day forever.

I know I said you and Jillian argue, but it's only because you play together so much.  You really do get along well and I'm very proud of both of you for being so sweet to each other.  It's awesome.  You're also really good with Evan.  You mostly call him "boy" and enjoy having him follow you around.  The two of you play babies together all the time.  You are both great at being the Mommy. -wink-

You have a sweet tooth.  You love treats and you are very excited when they are a choice.

You're a great sleeper- you go to bed at 7:30 and wake up around the same time.  On the weekends we have you "wait for the eight".  That means we get to see you at 8:01.  You sit and stare at your clock until it's time to get up! :)  You're wearing 3T clothing, and size 8 shoes.

This year you've really come a long way.  You know all the letters and their sounds, you can count to 30 or 40ish and you're starting to read.  You LOVE to do "homework" with Mommy and you are very excited to learn.  When you grow up you would like to be a chef.

This year for your birthday you decided on a rainbow theme.  You're a big fan of "all the colors" and felt very excited about this.  We had lots of balloons and streamers as well as a rainbow of fruits and drinks for your friends.  We had a beautiful day with great weather so there was lots of backyard running around and jumpy house playing.  We played the song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and watched all the kids dance with the rainbow ribbon bracelets we made. It was a perfect celebration.

For your DC trip you chose to go the National Zoo.  You really enjoyed being the only kid out and about with Mommy and Daddy and we had a great time at the zoo (despite getting turned around and walking (and walking) for quite some time.  We ended up picking a place called Medium Rare for your birthday dinner.  It was awesome.  It was a pre-fix dinner where your only choices were how you wanted your steak cooked, and if you wanted salad dressing and steak gravy on your plate, or on the side.  There were a couple dessert choices so we got a giant sundae for you and took home a piece of key lime pie for later.  It was awesome.  We rode the metro and soaked in all your chatty-ness the whole time.  You're precious.

Thank you for being such an incredible person.  You have a heart of gold and we cannot wait to see what the future has in store for you.

Happy 4th birthday, sweet Lou Lou.

xoxo

Mommy

Evan is TWO!

June 14th, 2013:

Evan,

You are a delight, a wonderful addition to our family.  I can't imagine our dynamic without you- you add so much to each and every day. At your 2 year old appointment you were 35 3/4" tall (75%), &  28lbs (50%).

You bring tiny items you find around the house to me in between your pointer finger and thumb and say "what is it?"  This includes crumbs, your own finger nails, bugs, food.  You're very curious, and a bit gross. Haha.

You scream, "I loooooove you!!!!!"

When we are riding in the car you say, "Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama....." until I say, "What Evan?" to which you reply- "Ummmmmmmm.... Mama?"  You can repeat this pattern for miles.

Nicknames: Mommy calls you Bear, Buddy, Bud Bud and Boy Boy.  Jillian and Liv call you Boy, Baby Boy, and John John.  Daddy has (once or twice) called you 'E' and you call yourself John John.  This is hilarious.  You're adamant about it.  "What's your name Evan?""No Evan!  I John John!"  This nickname came about from when you and the girls play dress up and babies.  Usually Jillian is the Mom (Mama JuJu), Liv is the little sister (Kelly) and you are the baby boy (John John).  I guess you just really like the way that sounds.

You love to snuggle with Mommy in the morning.  You wrap your whole body around me and stay that way for as long as I'll let you.  You only move around for a moment in an attempt to snuggle closer.  It's really precious.  You are very territorial.  You do NOT like it when the girls snuggle with us, use the same pillow we're using, or (seemingly) breathe the same air we're breathing.  HAha!  You shout, "No Ju Ju, no Lu Lu!!!" push them away, cry.... it's insane.  The morning works out best if you're the first one up. -smile-

At two years old you still spend time in your pack and play.  You cry every time I put you in there (for about 1 minute) and then you sit down and play with your toys like a champ.  I can leave you in there for hours sometimes.  It's awesome.

Your schedule at two is: Wake up around 7:30-8am, start a nap anywhere between 12:30-2:30 and nap for about 2.5 hours (but no later than 5pm) and then back to bed between 7-8pm.  It's a pretty awesome schedule.  You make me happy. Before bed we sing you our version of "Goodnight Sweetheart" and everyone gives you kisses.  Most of the time you give hugs and kisses upon request but before bed you're often very grumpy about it.  "No kisses!" Oh my.

In the morning sometimes I lounge around in bed reading books with the girls or watching a show.  When you get too hungry to deal with this you go out to the kitchen and bring me back a squeezy applesauce.  "Open me Mommy?" I like what a little problem solver you are.  You move chairs/barstools around our house to reach things you need.  Sometimes I find you standing in the middle of the counter reaching for glass plates/bowls.  I like your problem solving, but I'm not a huge fan of this.  -smile-

You like to sing.  You make up songs and tunes and try to sing what the girls are singing.  You like to dance.  You like to do anything your sisters do which includes wearing pink ballet clothes, pretty dresses, and fancy shoes.  When you have these items on you turn in circles and say proudly, "I pretty! I pretty!"

While these sisters of yours are trying to sabotage you with their girly ways, you're very boyish.  You  love cars and trains and Vroooming things.  You like balls and throwing things.  You've actually got a pretty good arm already... You like to pretend arms and legs are race tracks and move your cars up and down our bodies.

You often make chomping noises and then announce, "I bite you!" before diving into our faces/arms/necks and chomp chomping on us noisily.  There's a tiny bit of real biting during these attacks but mostly you understand how to play without getting in trouble.  Not always though... lol.  Both of your sisters have been bit by you, and you can get a little smacky at times too.  Oh my.

You love it when we play Daddy monster and Mommy monster.  This always results in tackle hugs, tummy nibbling and lots of giggles.  You always protest, "No! No!  No get me!" and then follow up with, "get me Mommy, get me Daddy!"

Your favorite foods are yogurt, bananas, cheese, fruit, beans, applesauce, crackers, cream cheese, avocados & oatmeal.  You like pretty much any kind of meat and you don't love vegetables right now.  You like spicy/sour foods more than you sisters do and you really enjoy dishes like potato soup & white bean chicken chili.

Your favorite characters are Thomas the Train, Handy Manny and Elmo.  Your favorite books are anything Sesame Street, Little Blue Truck, and any book with cars/wheels/construction in it.

You like to practice counting and singing your ABC's but you can't really do either of these things independently. You can sing Happy Birthday by yourself (almost correctly).

Sometimes when you're feeling emotional we will send you to your room to "get control".  I have to admit I adore the way you stomp off crying and screaming.  You go into your room and get louder.  Then, all of a sudden- you turn it off and say, "all done".  Awesome dude.  Moving on...  I like that!  When you get hurt you like to hug, and get kisses wherever you were injured.  You really like it when an injury necessitates ice.  When Mommy gives you hugs to comfort you, you pat my back while I pat yours.  Love that.

You like to climb, swing, and hang from things.  You're not timid or afraid of anything.  You like to wave to people and you're very friendly.  You play independently really well although you're much better at it when the space you have to roam in is restricted.  I sometimes put a baby gate in your doorway and let you play in there and that works well.  When left to roam freely you're a bit more destructive than either of your sisters were.  You dump full cups of water on the floor, rip pages out of books and throw things.  While this kind of behavior has improved a great deal over the past year, we do lovingly refer to you as destructo baby.  Despite that, you do listen to directions really well and you're great about helping to clean up toys and books.

My favorite thing about you right now- you have wonderful manners.  Everything I do for you, give to you... you say, "Thank you Mommy" (or, as it sounds, 'dank do Mommy')  I love that.  You melt my heart.  Other common phrases are "Up please Mommy" (You say this whenever you want to get up OR down from somewhere) "Come-id me" (with a gesture to follow you) and "Stay dare!" (with your little hand as a stop sign) "Wait Mommy, wait Mommy, I do I do" and "Watch this!" ("Watch this" is almost always followed by you jumping off the ground (an incredible .5") and saying "Wow!").  You also talk about going potty all the time and are already quite successful in this effort.  I'm kinda surprised and hope this means when we're both ready to potty train, it will be easy!

Thank you for being our sweet boy.  We cherish you and are so proud you are ours.

Birthday Party Photos, Click HERE
Birthday Portraits, Click HERE