To Lorelei on Her 4th Birthday

Dear Lorelei,

Today you are 4. Every year, it seems, goes by in a flash. It is so surreal to have a 4 year old. That's not a baby anymore, or even a toddler. You are a kid now. And I find that terrifying! This year, you have come into your own, for better or worse. Before, you were a tiny person. Now you are an actual person with ideas and opinions!

You are Creative
If anything this year, you have shown us that you are an artist at heart, or maybe a storyteller. You love nothing more than an art project. Unless it is playing with your princesses. You will play with them for hours and hours at a time. It's amazing. You create your own little world with them, reenacting experiences you are going through or the plots of your favorite movies. I love how you can just immerse yourself in whatever reality you are imagining!

You are an Amazing Big Sister
I love how you interact with Amelia. You are one of her very favorite people and she is one of yours! You are protective of her with other people--always telling them "that is MY sister." You give her hugs and kisses and will even share some of your prized toys with her. Mostly, you just want to make her happy and smile!

You are Silly
You love to crawl around and bark like a dog and meow like a cat. You will spin in circles just to get dizzy and fall down. Your new favorite game is "Hide and Sneak" but you are TERRIBLE at hiding! You just cover your head with your little tushy in the air! You think it is hilarious when you tell your Daddy that you have stolen his seat--even though you have been sitting in that chair for three months!

You are Independent
This has been the key word of the year. You want to be BIG GIRL so much. You want to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. Call it Type A, call it bossy, call it stubborn, call it independent or being a future CEO, call it what you will, it's all you. And that has made this a CHALLENGING YEAR. Everything from taking off your diaper in the morning to picking your clothes to getting dressed to brushing your teeth and putting on pajamas to reading a bedtime story is a battle. On the one hand, you so want to please (this shows at school in reports from your teachers), but you also want to be in charge and in control and to DO IT YOURSELF. There have been a lot of time outs this year, and a lot of tears and tantrums.

You are You
You will be the first to tell anyone that you are a princess. And you are. You are our princess with scraped knees, big hugs and tons of cuddles. And we can't wait to see what this year brings!

6 Weeks

1 Year

2 Years

3 Years

4 Years