4 Years in a blink of an eye, and also an eternity

I'm late. I got distracted. Eleanor is distracting.

The Vitals: 38lbs, 42 inches, which is right on par with her 75th & 90th percentiles

Highlights: OMG the stories! She tells me stories, all these crazy delightful stories about monsters and Santa and her whole heart is just... full of imagination. Also, she says the most delightful things. Heartbreakingly sweet things. Like "When I grow up, I'm going to have a baby and name it baby Papa and then we'll have a Papa again since ours died." Yeah. That happened. While I was driving. She misses my dad a lot, but she tells us stories about what she remembers. She remembers a lot more than I thought, and that's a huge comfort. We look at pictures frequently, so that helps too.

Oh! She makes up songs now! Improvisational music! My daughter! I'm delighted.

She's still never had a haircut, but she wants to go to the "salon" with me, so I've got to figure out a place to take her for a fancy up-do or something.

We've discovered she can't curl her tongue, but that doesn't stop her from sticking it out all the time.

Skills: Running, jumping, climbing trees. Being a big helper in the kitchen. She's great on slides and is starting to figure out the swings (other than on her belly). She's tried dance a bit, but still has a hard time focusing and following instructions, so we'll try more this summer. Solid on the alphabet (though can't pronounce F or V), can count reliably to the mid-teens, is working on basic math. Her handwritting is... well, it needs work, but she can draw all the letters of her name. Now to get them in order. She sings & dances in music class. She's a pretty good line leader, door holder, light switcher and snack helper. She dresses herself completely, even if she still only gets her shoes on the right feet about half of the time.


She Likes: Dance parties, monsters, goldfish and fruit snacks, the Jareth movie (Labyrinth) and Dark Crystal (especially the skeksis), taking care of her babies, putting on makeup, picking her own outfits, twirling, very recently Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, still My Little Pony, and now also R2D2, pink and purple, splashing in puddles, singing all the things, HER G Dragon and HER BTS, making phone calls, Amma and Papa, carrying her purse or backpack, she's still a baby because she sleeps with a blankie and don't you dare tell me otherwise, wheedling, stalling and negotiating for more privileges, hide and seek, making a fort out of couch cushions, wearing capes and waving a wand, fighting monsters, cooking (especially with Uncle Glenn), blowing bubbles, sliding on slides, digging in the dirt, climbing tall things

She Dislikes: Sharing, not getting her way, being quiet, raw vegetables except tomatoes, kebabs (which she calls thingamabobs and no one tell her otherwise), the distinction between when I'm her music teacher and when I'm her mom, quiet time



I like: Her beautiful hair. The songs. The stories. Her sweet heart. Teaching her bible memory verses (and learning them myself, too). Our dance parties, my cooking helper, when she wants to follow instructions she's very very helpful. Her creativity. She always wants to make pictures for everyone and she says hi to EVERYONE. She says "when I was a kid" to describe the past, which is charming though inaccurate. She also thinks 16 is a grown up, so... yeah.

I dislike: Temper tantrums, the assertion of her will, disobedience and the need to be consistent. I just want peace, but giving in makes it worse and being a good mom is hard. I don't like having to discuss grief and grieving with her, but she's handling it amazingly well. I don't like when she runs to J for snuggles instead of me. I'm not the always-favorite anymore, which is wonderful and freeing, and also just a little bit sad.

the inside of her "rainbow" cake. For Rainbow Dash, naturally