Sweetie is FOUR!

My Sweetie turns four today!  She continues to be such a bright spot in our home.  She is my morning person, my spontaneous hugger, my singer, my quiet companion, and my joy.  (At first she struggled keeping her thumb down to show that she was four.)

Handsome Husband was teasing Sweetie, saying that he just couldn't find her birthday crown.

Sweetie pointed out that it was on his head.

Sweetie loves to sing.  She often breaks into song.  This morning on the way to Jeana's house she was singing Book of Mormon Stories.  She picks up on songs that Ballerina learned at school and sings at home.  When she was in nursery last year she was one of the few kids that would actually sing along with me when I went in to sing with them.  When my sister Ruthann came to visit over Thanksgiving she left a CD of her favorite music and we listen to it in the car.  Whenever Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson comes on, Sweetie recognizes it in the first few beats and exclaims, "It's my favorite!"  She sings along to the chorus complete with the "oh, oh, oh"'s.

Sweetie is also a little bit of a performer.  When we were in Utah we took the kids into my mom's work, Sweetie was all about singing the BYU Fight song for my mom's coworkers.  I was surprised that she wasn't too nervous.  Later she sang the ABC song for someone else.  

She wasn't a fan of wearing the crown.  It must have been uncomfortable.

Sweetie loves horses.  She received this horse shirt as part of her birthday outfit.  She is so cute when she gets something she really likes, she will hug it to her chest.

In this last year, Sweetie's language skills have exploded.  Especially since starting preschool.  She is pretty excited to play with other children and I think she's pretty good at it.  Although, she needs breaks to recharge.  I often pull her aside and have her color or play with her Leapster (she LOVES all things electronic).  Sweetie talks with a little lisp that is really cute.  When she's trying to be funny she will change her voice a little and I remember doing the same thing as a child.  In many ways she reminds me of myself.  

Sweetie was so excited to get a unicorn.  It is Goldie from the book Goldilicious.

Sweetie has become so imaginative.  She has always had an exceptional attention span, able to sit and flip through books, do puzzles, or color for long periods of time.  Now she will sit for hours pretending with her stuffed animals.  She favors this unicorn and another one like it, a stuffed dragon and her big dinosaur from a couple of Christmases ago.  She also likes a pair of rubber-ish horses (one is a pegasus and the other a unicorn).  Sweetie makes the animals talk to each other and I often hear "Modder! Modder!" (Mother, Mother)  If I respond she will tell me she isn't talking to me.  It is very entertaining to sit and listen to the little dialogues and scenarios that she imagines for her toys.

Sweetie loves the Disney Princesses.  She was very excited about this Tangled book.  We saw the movie while we were in Utah and she just loved it.  She also loves Tag books, she has at least 15 of them that we've collected over the last 2 years. She reads them every day.  She loves to read and to be read to.  But don't worry, she also loves the TV and movies.  Her favorite shows include Backyardigans, Max and Ruby and Hello Kitty.  She loves the Disney DVDs with Disney shorts, so she is familiar with all the classic characters.  She is going to LOVE Disneyland someday.

Sweetie's big present was a mini trampoline.  She absolutely LOVES it.

I also gave Sweetie her very own Book of Mormon with scripture stickers so that she can flip through and see pictures of stories and know where they are located in the book.  And she also received a scripture case for taking them to church since she is starting PRIMARY and will be a SUNBEAM!  (I also gave a set to Ballerina)  The girls love their scriptures.  We read to them from the Book of Mormon stories reader and I often find the reader in Sweetie's bed because she has been flipping through and looking at the pictures.  The girls know that scripture reading, family prayer and personal prayers are a must before bed.  Sweetie still needs a lot of help with her personal prayers and she sometimes likes to rush through prayers, but I am sure as she grows older, she will learn the importance of prayer.  I hope that she will be able to grow close to her Heavenly Father through prayer and that her sensitive nature will be a big blessing to her when it comes to feeling the Spirit.

That smile just says it all.

Sweetie is very agreeable.  If there is a choice of a red or blue cup and Ballerina chooses the red cup, Sweetie sees that blue is all that is left and says she wants the blue one.  In other words, she doesn't fight or insist that she get the red cup.  She doesn't like to pick fights.  And she seems perfectly content with what she gets.  Although when it comes to candy she tries to get more.  So I'll put a piece in front of her and she's say, "No, three of them."  And I'll say, "No just one."  She'll answer, "Oh, man!"  Sweetie and her sweet tooth.

Sweetie was excited for her chocolate heart shaped cake.  It was almost a cake-wreck because the chocolate was SO crumbly.  I tried to make it look halfway decent.

Sweetie likes to stay up late, playing with toys or flipping through books in her bed.  This drives Ballerina crazy (can't wait to get her own room).  Sweetie has started to be afraid of the dark and we have to keep her IKEA flower light on.  I'm sure this just encourages her to stay up.  She likes things to be predictable, and likes to anticipate what will happen next.  She will remind me if I skip part of her bed time routine.  

Sweetie is very observant.  She picks up on little details.  When we drive in the car she is always pointing something out.  She is drawn to colors and classifies things by color more than anything.  She is also very sensitive to people around her.  She can tell if people are stressed or upset by the tone of their voice and she is easily upset when things aren't calm.  This is probably THE biggest challenge when it comes to raising her.  She is often heard crying because one person or another is "mad to" her, someone poked her a little too hard, someone looked at her funny, someone won't listen to her... She cries A LOT.  We are at the point where we just tell her to stop crying.  And she will say, "No!" and go on trying to explain how she was wronged.  I have started telling her that I hear that she is upset and that she wants to tell me something, but that she needs to do it without crying! My parents say that I was the Sweetie of our family and I used to cry just like her.  

Sweetie regressed with potty training a little when we were in Utah.  I kept her in pull-ups pretty much the whole time just in case she had accidents.  Given the choice, she prefers pull-ups over underwear.  We have been working on getting her back into underwear on a regular basis now that we are back home.    Sweetie does like to be independent.  She often tells me she can do it herself when it comes to buckling herself in to her carseat, putting her coat on or putting her shoes on.  Other times she wants to me spoon feed her or buckle her in.  She LOVES to be carried and held and often comes up to me to tell me that she wants a hug or a kiss.  

Sweetie is happiest in the mornings.  She gets up bright and early around 6:30AM.  She spends time with Handsome Husband while he is getting ready.  She always has a smile on her face and a cheerful thing to say in the mornings.  I think it's great, although I KNOW she didn't get it from me because I'm STILL working on not being a bear in the mornings.  Sweetie loves her cereal in the mornings (and sometimes at other times of day as well).  She loves Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and other unhealthy cereals.  But she is also my fruit lover.  She requests bananas, apples and oranges.  

There are so many things about Sweetie that just exude cuteness.  I love her with all my soul and am SO grateful to be her mom.  She is such a joy to be around and I don't know what I would do without my quiet, yet sparkly little girl.