Almost 5

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I can't believe my sweet baby girl is almost 5 years old! People tell you to enjoy every moment because they grow up so fast - and I did. I watched, listened, documented, photographed, reveled and enjoyed EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. Well, ok except the times she talked back, gave me attitude, hit her brother, etc. But 95% of the time, I loved it all. And she STILL grew up too fast!

Maybe one reason I want to slow time down is that my daughter is awesome. I know everyone says their kid is awesome, but Kyla is made of awesome, dipped in awesome with awesome sprinkles. She's also very different from me. Not in the awesomeness department, of course :) but her personality is close to a 180 from mine. She's reserved, laid-back and introverted. See, 180! I love that these qualities make her observant, thoughtful, cautious (sometimes) and easy-going. One area we have in common - she's detail-oriented and a bit of a perfectionist. But the absolute best part about Kyla is that she's a laugher. A DEEP BELLY LAUGHER. She finds joy in everything and she lets you share in it. Like I said, awesome.

So, here's ten things this amazing girl has been up to...

1.) Kyla is very interested in creating things. She loved making play dough and spent hours cutting out shapes and making designs. Few days later she's asking for the scissors (safety of course) and tape. Next thing I know she's taping together a mermaid. She individually cut out the tail, body, head, arms and hair, colored and taped them together (see picture above). And pretty much every day she's got a box of markers and crayons out coloring, designing or writing. Today? No exception. She cut out bracelets for me, Dylan and Nobu. She taped them on each of us, even the dog. Nobu didn't really appreciate it and promptly tried to kick them off (she put one on each paw) and then chew them off. Kyla was a little disappointed in his actions :). So....

2.) She decided to teach him some tricks. Since he already knows the basics, she started with rolling over. She got his collar and leash, some treats and went to work. Nobu wasn't having it. He sat, he did "high five" and even jumped up, but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

3.) She asks questions constantly. She has a scientific mind and wants to know how things work, what's going on, what's going to happen, etc.

4.) Her mind and focus seem to be on future things. Makes me crazy. For example: we went to the rodeo a few weeks ago. We were barely in the door and Kyla was asking, "when are we going to do this again?" We have to remind her to enjoy "right now" and not worry about tomorrow. It's like she needs to know that this isn't the last time.

5) Sadly, Kyla is going through a love/hate relationship with her freckles. From the time they first appeared I knew there would come a time that this would happen. So I've always told her that freckles come from fairy and mermaid kisses when you sleep. She used to love hearing this and I'd wager that she still does, but it's sometimes not enough to overcome her dislike of being different. Different from whom or what? Movie characters, dolls, her friends and in particular her best friend Sophie who has blonde hair and no freckles. Did I mention, she also doesn't like her brown hair and would prefer to be blonde? Barbie is blonde, I'm blonde, Dylan's blonde and of course Sophie is blonde. I try to point out that a real princess, Princess Kate has brown hair and blue eyes just like her. That my mom (her grandmother) who was considered a real beauty, had brown hair and freckles when she was little. She gets it and is excited, but she still wants blonde hair. She told me the other day that when she's older, her freckles will disappear and she's going to color her hair blonde. *sigh*

6.) Kyla tells me that when she's older she's going to live in Florida so that she can go to the beach and Disney World anytime she wants. I asked her if she'll miss me being so far away and she told me that I could get on an airplane and visit her anytime. Thanks, Ky.

7.) Kyla is OBSESSED with pointe shoes. She tells me that she's going to be a ballerina and dance en pointe when she is older. She's also wants to be a cheerleader, cowgirl, doctor (both for kids and animals) and a mom. Love this girl!

8.) She is determined to do a cartwheel. She practices anywhere she can find space.

9.) Kyla now has a chore-chart and she's really trying to earn money to buy the toys she wants. Guess she got tired of me saying "no" at Target.

10.) We are still working on Kyla sleeping in her bed through the night. She comes to our room 5-6 nights/wk at least hoping we will let her in our bed. We started letting her sleep in the chair or on the bench with a blanket, but now she complains that they are uncomfortable. Yeah, honey that's the point. But she makes such a fuss about it in the middle of the night that no one gets any sleep. Last night, she went to Dylan's room and slept with him. He likes it, she slept. Win-Win for everyone. We'll see if this holds and John and I get an uninterrupted night's sleep.