You and some of your friends from preschool like to play outside after the mommas pick you up. Lately, your favorite game to play is 'Puppies'. I don't quite understand 'Puppies' and I don't think you girls actually ever sat down and decided on anything about the game further than "Let's run around and play 'Puppies'!" It's fascinating to watch. One of you is usually the Mommy Puppy and the others are designated as the Baby Puppies. The Baby Puppies seem to hide in the bushes a lot. And the Mommy Puppy yells a lot. "Go to bed, Baby Puppies!" "You're in Time-Out, Baby Puppies!" "Come HERE, Baby Puppies!" It's apparently a burdensome job, being a Mommy Puppy and all. You silly girls have also decided that you have to go to the bathroom as a group. I mean really. You're FOUR. I had NO idea this notion of girls always going to the bathroom together started this young. Now I know. You silly Puppies.
I adore how clever you are. You were rifling through your dress-up clothes the other day and found a visor. You held it up and asked "What's this called again?" When I told you that it was a visor, you looked at it and giggled. You said "It looks funny. Like a convertible hat!" I couldn't have come up with a better description myself. Another example - Daddy just traded in his (gas-guzzling but manly) truck for a (gas-friendly but not-at-all-manly-but-at-least-it's-blue) Civic. It's got a sunroof, which you love. After riding in the car for a bit, you proudly declared that Daddy's car was a half-convertible. Seriously, kid. You slay me.
Your current obsession is automatic doors. You want to be the one who the door 'sees' to tell it to open. And you get MAD if someone else causes the door to open. You always ask if we can just wait for the door to close so that you can be the one to open it. Sometimes I oblige; sometimes I don't. I'll give you zero guesses how the 'not obliging' part goes over with you. We were at Lowe's recently and our checkout lane was right by the exit door. There were several people in front of us in line. While we were waiting for it to be our turn, you took it upon yourself to be the Official Door Opener. You stood by the exit and jumped in front of the door to open it if someone was about to leave. Thankfully nobody seemed too annoyed that a little squirt jumped in front of them as they were trying to leave the building.
You've stopped waking us up in the middle of the night (thankyouJesus), but you've started this thing where you'll come into the living room 12 seconds after I tuck you in. You try to put on a sad face, but since you're such a bad faker you just look silly. You muster up the most pitiful voice you can and say "I had a bad dream." Oh, really? A bad dream? In 12 seconds? 11 of which were spent singing to your stuffed animals about going to sleep and the other second spent walking into the living room? Really? But I put on my Sympathetic Mom Voice and say "Oh no, honey, I'm so sorry. What was your *ahem* bad *ahem* dream about? Your response: STEALING. "Because stealing is so, so bad, Momma. It was a so bad dream." *facepalm*
You love writing notes. You spend much of your Quiet Time writing notes to people. You write me notes when I don't feel well (which, unfortunately, has been a lot this month), you write Welcome Home notes for Daddy, you write sweet notes to Charlie about how you hope he sleeps well at night. It's precious. And just the other day, you came out of your room dressed up like a 'ghost' (ie: you had your big pink blanket over your head) holding a note that said "BOO! HAH HAH HAH!" It was so awesome.
You also love writing notes to 'your girls' (all the girls in your preschool class). Each girl gets her own note with a personalized message. Case in point:
DEAR OPHELIA (names have been changed to protect the, well, the four-year-olds)
SO NICE
LOVE, NATALIE
DEAR BETTY-LOU
YOU'RE FUN
LOVE, NATALIE
DEAR WINNIFRED
HAPPY FUN DAY
LOVE, NATALIE
Speaking of preschool, I was on the fence about putting you into it last year. I was all "What if she hates it? What if nobody plays with her? What if someone's mean to her? What if she gets beat up on the playground because she won't stop singing 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing'?" I knew very soon after the school year started that preschool was the right choice for you. But if there were still lingering doubts, they were erased when I watched you play with your friends after the last day of school. You ran from one friend to another, chattering about everything and nothing. You ran to the teachers to give them a hug. The biggest thing was that you were in a bounce house WITH A TON OF OTHER CHILDREN. If this had happened last year? You would have taken one look at the full bounce house and headed for the hills. Some of it has to do with you being a year older, but a lot of it has to do with you and your learning to handle social situations. You still get nervous when places are really loud and/or crowded with people you don't know, but to say your socialization has improved this year would be the understatement of the century. You fascinate me, my little peach. It's an honor of the highest order watching you grow up.
Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy
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Headlines for June 1, 2013:
- Storm-battered Oklahoma a 'war zone' after deadly twisters strike
- 'I'm free': Mexico drops drug charges against US mom
- Obama urges Congress to follow his lead to extend student loan rates
- Woman beats incredible odds to win $1 million prize on 'Wheel of Fortune'
- Brawl erupts at Ohio kindergarten graduation, 8 arrested
- Memorial set for Newtown gunman's mother
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