Dear Lucy,
You are 49 months old. We had a fun and exciting month!
We started off with one last camping trip of the summer, with Augie and his family.
You learned to play Yahtzee, which was one of my favorite games as a kid too. You LOVE playing games, and you are getting good at following rules and directions. I too love games so it's especially exciting that we can do it together!
You also went all the way into the river that was VERY COLD. Ruby refused to even dip her toes in, but you were so brave!
You also learned how to throw magnetic darts. You are such a fun kid!
You and Ruby can be the best of friends. You still love (and insist) on matching every day, down to your underpants if you can.
One day you and Ruby found a bunch of wood scraps and decided to build a 'club house'. For a week there was scraps of wood lying around that we couldn't move because it was the CLUBHOUSE.
We found an ice cream truck just down the street and started walking to it every Friday after school. It was a big hit with all of you.
You especially loved the chocolate. And the strawberry.
One day, it started RAINING (big rain, which says a lot for this rainy town) on the way home from the ice cream truck. We all were cold and wet when we got home so you and Ruby immediately got into your pjs and snuggled under your blankets for a movie. Not a bad Friday.
I found this embroidered shirt at a garage sale and you fell in LOVE with it. It looks like something I would've worn when I was your age and it makes me so happy that you love it so much.
You are at Runabouts 4 days a week this year. I only work 3 days, and as much as I am loving these Mondays with just Mabel, I do miss you so much. I thought we would have some days that you skipped Monday at school and we did fun stuff, but so far you want to go to school every day, even on the weekends.
Brittany is your teacher 2 days a week and you couldn't be happier. (well none of us could be, you have three of the best preschool teachers we could ever ask for!)
You get to play in the water
And you made grape juice!
You especially loved mashing the grapes!
You've also made friends with a lot of the 'little' kids. You are so good at being a friend to kids that are shy, or left out, or that are sometimes too loud or rambunctious. You really seem to try and know who needs what, and you try and give it to them. I think it's a side effect of being a middle child (ask me how I know) or maybe having a big sister who sometimes needs you to give her more because she has anxiety. Either way, you're making lots of friends and you love it.
Isaiah takes you to school twice a week and you spend a few hours with him after. He does original play with you often and you need it so much. I am not a super wrestely type mama, so getting your BIG physical needs met with others is so important. Daddy often wrestles you too, and some days it's exactly what you need to get your big 4 year old feelings out.
You do have SO many big feelings, and I do my best to meet you where you are and help you navigate them. I do hope I'm doing a good enough job, because you are so so so special to me.
You LOVE helping in the kitchen. Every day you ask if you can help make whatever I am working on. Max and Kelcie came over for dinner one night and you helped to make Pizza! You especially loved watching Max throw the dough up in the air!
One day while we were riding bikes to the playground, you decided that you could just let go and ride without hands. You do SO many things like this, where you just TRY new things. It is so very different from how Ruby was (and still is) because she is very firm in her physical boundaries but you like to push them all the time. It sometimes scares me, but mostly I feel so proud and excited for you.
This month you practiced jumping from a stationary object to grab onto the monkey bar/rings and then you flip over. You also are practicing jumping as FAR as you can (which is pretty far).
One night Cormac and his family came over for dinner and a sleep over, and you and Ruby decided that he needed to sleep in the big kid bed with you. That marked the last night you slept in my bed (of course you still crawl into bed with me when you need to, as does Ruby, but you are so excited that you sleep in the big kid bed all night almost every night). I put mabel to sleep and then read books to you three big kids until you were all passed out. Then you didn't wake up till 6:30 in the morning. NOT TOO SHABBY.
My sweet darling Lucy Mae, you are SUCH a sweet and loving kid. You give the best compliments every day, telling me my hair looks nice, or you like my outfit. On the days I'm not feeling my best, you always make me feel better. You are also often so good at appreciating the things we do. When we have a treat, or do something out of the ordinary, you are so quick to say "Thank you for getting us ice cream mama!" You also beam the hugest smile, and I know you feel proud for being so kind and honest.
Don't get me wrong, you aren't always a bucket of joy. Sometimes you get SO MAD at me (and often I really deserve it) and you'll yell and scream and tell me you are SO MAD and that you don't like me (or mabel, or Ruby or whomever). You are still figuring out pronouns so you'll say things like "I DON'T LIKE SHE!" which makes me laugh and laugh (on the inside, cause it would really make you mad if I laughed out loud at you!). Sometimes you get mad and just growl or stomp your feet. As hard as it is, I want you to hold on to that indignant anger, cause you're gonna need it when you grow up. There are a lot of things happening in the world that will make you very angry and I want you to be able to stand up and GROWL when things piss you off. But really, I"m sorry you can't have gum AND candy AND a bubble tea, mama has to have some say in how much sugar you consume.
Lucy, you are one of my most favorite 4 year olds in the history of 4 year olds. I'm so very glad I get to watch you grow up. <3
All of my heart, and some extra bubble gum, Mama.
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