The Lee Family: Olivia turns 4!

Our little one is 4 years old and we just can't believe that she's growing up so quickly! She is now 42 inches tall and weighs 41.5 lbs, wearing 4T and 5T clothes. Just recently it seems like most of her 4T dresses are just too short. Thankfully, our little Olivia LOVES wearing leggings with every dress and skirt so "no one sees her underwear." Even when it is 100 degrees outside, she wants leggings and socks with her sandals. We joke that she must be British or German since she only wears sandals with socks. Olivia loves to wear either skirts or dresses and absolutely lives in her three mermaid shirts, two Frozen shirts and her butterfly shirt with sequins. Although she literally has a drawer full of clothes that were originally Sofia's, she doesn't even touch about 80% of them. She has her favorites, especially her shoes and has to pick out what she's going to wear for the day. I don't even suggest shoes, because she know exactly what she plans to wear for the day. She used to like her hair in either one or two braids, but now likes a simple ponytail, which is nice because it takes me about 30 seconds to put up.

Olivia absolutely loves mermaids, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, princesses, and My Little Pony and literally thinks she is going to be a mermaid when she grows up. She's told me that she'll get her "mermaid tail" when she turns 8. Not really sure where she gets that idea, but I love her passion for it all while a part of me is sad to know that reality will catch up with her at some point. She also loves dress up and pretending and is great at making up stories while she plays. She'll spend hours playing with her mermaids/dolls or My Little Pony characters and will talk and sing the entire time making up a pretty complex story. She also has what she calls her "pile" of books that she keeps on her little table next to the rocking chair. She's very protective of her book pile and will often go into her room and "read" the books from this pile. Or if we read a story at night from her pile, it must go back where it was and not on the floor. She loves being read to and goes through times where she has a few different favorite books, but for the most part she enjoys listening to one of us read any of the books in her room.

When she wakes up in the morning, the first thing Olivia wants is "morning juice" which is a special blend of juice that I get from the grocery store. Sometimes she wants orange juice or apple juice, but usually she wants her morning juice which I usually dilute with water. She also wants it in a character cup and has to pick it out herself (it's usually Ariel from the Little Mermaid). Much like her Papa, she doesn't seem to be much of a breakfast eater and usually eats a small amount a few hours after her juice. Sofia and I love our breakfast just about as soon as we wake up, but Olivia doesn't join in and likes to eat later.

She still loves to swim and pretends she's a mermaid as she dives down to the bottom of the pool. She's set to start school at Noah's Ark after Labor Day and will go three days a week, which we are hoping is a good fit and good prep for kindergarden next year. Luckily, she will be going with her friend Hannah, so I think she'll feel comfortable going into the classroom for the first time.

Olivia is easily entertained and easy to laugh and just a fun little girl to be around. She likes to go and do things but also loves to stay home and play My Little Pony for hours with her sister while they make up stories together about all the horses and what they say and do. She has enjoyed these past two weeks with me while Sofia is at school, but I know she's so excited once Sofia is home so they can play together. She really loves playing and being with Sofia and is generally up for whatever Sofia plans. She's also become quiet a good story maker and we love to listen to her talking away and creating.

Olivia does have a few sweet little quarks. She is a sensitive little girl and if she gets her feelings hurt, either by her sister or by getting corrected by CK or me, she will run into her room and lay down on the floor on the far side of her bed with her blue blanket and her "crying towel" which is actually her pink hand towel from her bathroom. We aren't sure where she got the idea but she's very attached to it when she's upset. She also uses the same area for naps and will often disappear into her room for me to discover her later asleep in her favorite spot, despite the fact that she could just as easily climb into bed. She is a bit of a squirrel and uses the window ledge in her room to hid her "treasures" behind the curtain. She will add a favorite book, or a drawing by Sofia, little mermaids, keys, etc. In fact, a few months ago she added a key to CK's 100-year old dresser (without me knowing). Sofia looks at Olivia's treasure shelf at times and found the old key. She decided it must go to a castle and wanted to bury it in our backyard (she did ask me first and since I didn't recognize the key, I told her it was fine). Fast forward to a few days ago when CK was trying to get into his dresser and couldn't find his key! Then it all fell into place and I told him the story. We ended up borrowing a metal detector from a friend, thanks to Facebook, and found the key! So, I now check her little treasure shelf for other things that have gone missing and CK has hid his key!

Before bed I love to tell her that I have a favorite 8 year old and she's my favorite 3 year old, so the day before she turned 4, I told her she would soon be my favorite 4 year old. I continued by telling her that she would continue to grow and would always be my favorite 5, 6, 7, etc year old. She got very quiet and then was a little sad when she said she didn't want to grow up and be my age. When I asked her why she said "because when I'm your age I won't play with mermaids and My Little Pony." and for days after, she would point out other things that she wouldn't do when she's "my age" and grows up. Every time I assure her that she'll grow up and be interested and able to play with things that she enjoys.

Right now, as school is about to start for her, we don't have her involved in any activities although I'm thinking of getting her involved in gymnastics or something. We meant to sign her up for soccer, which started last Saturday, but somehow I never did it even though I had it in my mind that I'd signed her up. Sofia isn't playing soccer so maybe it's a good thing that we don't all have to go to the soccer field. I do want to see if she likes it in the Spring though. I think she'd enjoy it and I love the idea of a team sport and teaching the enjoyment of activity. She's growing up so quickly and is such a delightful little girl! We are so lucky!

Looking at the mermaid she painted with Sofia before Father's Day