Our little Lucy-love is officially four, and she is rocking life as a four-year-old. She is funny, stubborn, independent, and so loved by each member of our family. I'm so proud of her and everything that she has accomplished in her life. She's learning and growing each day and it's amazing to see how much personality, vivaciousness, and love can fit into one little person.
Official Stats:
Weight:
Height:
Mostly Size 3T things with a few 4T thrown into the mix.
(Her at her 3.5 half birthday and then her at her 4-year-old birthday party.)
Some things that I want to remember about Lucy right now:
-She's just so darling. Everything about her is darling, and whenever she says something or does something particularly charming, I smile and think "She's just so darling."
-She is seeing SO well and as long as I remember to bring her sunglasses (we have piles of them in our house, in each car, in my diaper bag) she does fine outside. At her optometrist appointment this year, they recommended getting her glasses even though the prescription was very low because they just wanted to give her the best chance that they could. We decided to go ahead and do it, mostly for the opportunity to have her glasses turn into sunglasses. It would be so helpful for her to get used to wearing glasses, so she could have sunglasses anytime - even in those middle times like walking from the car to the store and such. We made sure that she had polarized goggle lenses for swimming at the pool and that was helpful, as well.
-She prefers to pick out her own clothing and usually does a pretty good job of it. If I need to convince her to wear something different - Lydia tends to be the most successful one. She will overhear me trying to get Lucy into an outfit and will come in and offer assistance, "Please favorite sister-will you wear this for me?" And Lucy obliges, because she would do anything for her big sister.
-Lydia started calling her "Favorite-Sister" and it was so sweet when Lucy started calling her "favorite-sister" back. They can do this because they only have one sister, so that sister is clearly the "favorite", but it comes across as more of a pet name. A nick name. And the boys have started to pick up on it. They have started calling Lucy "favorite sister", too, which makes Lydia feel bad sometimes and I just try to explain that 'it's only because Lydia calls her that and not because it's true'. But it is true that Lucy is the favorite little sister ever, and cute to hear the kids call her that.
-She loves music. Maybe more than any other of my children ever have. She loves to listen to music. She loves to sing. She loves to dance.
-She loves dolls, babies, princess dresses, pink, jewelry, dress-ups and all those things. She plays with her babies, puts them in bed, feeds them, changes their clothes, etc.. She regularly changes into princess dresses and comes downstairs, then heads back up to change into a different princess dress, and then sometimes (especially whenever we go somewhere) she says "I will go change into my day dress" which means changing into her regular clothes, usually a skirt or a simple cotton dress.
-She's so polite and says "Thank you Mom" whenever I help her with something and I love it so much. It is a tiny flash that reminds me that the things I do matter to her and to my family.
-She loved the snow and especially sledding this last year! It was SO fun to have a four-year-old as our youngest child because we were able to go and do so many winter activities that we've just not been up for ever before. We went sledding many many times, snow adventures in the mountains, snow in the backyard, and Lucy loved it all. She was big enough to climb on the sled (on her knees, backwards), rock her body, laugh as she slid down the hill, pick up the sled and carry it back up the hill. It was so fun to watch her.
-She loves swimming with the same carefree abandon as she loved sledding. Jumping in the side of the pool over and over, swimming back and forth, giving it her 100% energy. She is swimming SO well this summer, and as long as I am in the pool with her she can take off her puddle-jumper/life jacket and swim on her own. She swims from the wall to me and back again over and over and over. She can almost swim the entire width of our pool, which seems incredible for a four-year-old! She lasts for approximately 1 hour and then is happy to get out and sit on the side of the pool, wrapped in her towel and eating snacks, until the other kids are done.
-As a fourth child, she has to be vocal about what she wants and Lucy fills this role well. She is persistent, stubborn, and extremely unhappy if she doesn't get her way. She knows how to push her siblings buttons and bug them if they aren't paying enough attention to her. In fact, I find that if she is being particularly buggy (trying to knock over their tower, trying to take what they are playing with), it's because she's feeling a lack of attention and if I come in and give her the attention that she needs she is happy again. It happens with me, too, and it's a lesson I am learning over and over. If I am busy working on something and she comes in and starts to knock things over or pull things out of drawers, my first reaction is to pick her up and set her on the counter to distract her (doesn't work anymore because she'll knock everything else off the counter and then climb down) but the only thing that is really effective is to stop what I am doing and give her the attention that she so clearly is seeking.
-Hilariously, she loves chickens. We are working our way through all of the chicken books that our local library has in stock. Every time we go we get a different book about a chicken, or chickens, or a rooster if we are desperate. I don't know why she has latched on to loving chickens so much, but it's so fun.
-We've read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (and are working our way through the Narnia series)
-At night she asks me to snuggle her "until she says to go". So I lay there until she tells me that she is ready for me to leave. (Usually just saying "go" or "go now".) Most of the time it's several minutes that I get to lay by her and snuggle her before bed. Sometimes it's only 30 seconds or so. Sometimes she wants me to lay there so long that she falls asleep and I have to sneak out after her breathing evens. (and sometimes when I try to leave she wakes back up and says "I didn't say go yet.") It's such a sweet thing and even though I'm usually relieved when she only needs me for a few minutes - I'm trying to hold on to these snuggles because she is growing up all too fast.
Here are some pictures from the past months:
Summer Range Camping
At home:
General Conference with Aunt Amy.
We love Lucy snuggles.
Christmas!
SNOW Adventures
She loves whipped cream and prefers to put it on herself.
Spring! She's doing so great on her bike.
I posted this on Instagram with these bike pictures:
“When I get big, will I still be called Oo-cy?” (me, “Yes, your name will still be Lucy”) “Thanks mom, when I get big I will have ten babies because I love them.”
I don’t doubt it little sweetheart, you’re going to be a great mom.
Today we walked around the block “free times” and I was soaking in the last few days of Lucy as a three year old. She dressed herself, including a shirt over the top of her romper, a jacket, a sun hat, one sandal, and one slipper. I love her so much.
A trip to the gardens (and what her eyes look like if we forget sunglasses).
All her cousins love her, and it's such a great childhood to grow up with this cousin crew.
She attends co-op with us in lieu of a regular preschool. She's learning and growing so much.
Hat Day at Coop.
She's silly and fun and can do incredible things with that flexible body of hers.
Spring hikes.
More spring fun.
We took a weekend getaway to St George and loved it.
-She's not always happy (no one is, right?) and when she's upset, she's extremely upset. We are learning and growing in all areas, including how to act when we are mad.
Easter.
(I posted this on Instagram with the Peep Bunny Picture above:
Lucy- “Look there’s a little one and a big one.”
Me- “You’re right. A little peep bunny and a big peep bunny.”
Lucy- “No, they are Pikachus!”
(clearly we are doing the Pokémon thing around here)
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One of the sweetest moments today was when during the Easter program at church, Lucy dropped a dark purple jelly bean on the floor. It blended in almost perfectly with the carpet, and I had a twinge of sorrow as I watched her search for her lost candy. (Her eyesight is most significantly impacted in the sun and with depth perception.) Finding something tiny that is the same color as the background is tricky. Her initial diagnosis would have said that this task would be impossible for her at age three.
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But she found it, and not just by reaching her hand out. I saw her see it and smile before grabbing it. She was so happy.
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The messages from the pulpit were of the enabling power of the atonement, of miracles, of the love of a Savior who knows each one of us. Tears came to my eyes as I thanked God for the miracles in Lucy’s life, for the opportunity to see His hand, and for the gift of His Son.
Me- “You’re right. A little peep bunny and a big peep bunny.”
Lucy- “No, they are Pikachus!”
(clearly we are doing the Pokémon thing around here)
.
.
One of the sweetest moments today was when during the Easter program at church, Lucy dropped a dark purple jelly bean on the floor. It blended in almost perfectly with the carpet, and I had a twinge of sorrow as I watched her search for her lost candy. (Her eyesight is most significantly impacted in the sun and with depth perception.) Finding something tiny that is the same color as the background is tricky. Her initial diagnosis would have said that this task would be impossible for her at age three.
.
.
But she found it, and not just by reaching her hand out. I saw her see it and smile before grabbing it. She was so happy.
.
.
The messages from the pulpit were of the enabling power of the atonement, of miracles, of the love of a Savior who knows each one of us. Tears came to my eyes as I thanked God for the miracles in Lucy’s life, for the opportunity to see His hand, and for the gift of His Son.
Singing "I'm a little teapot", one of her favorite songs from her music class.
She LOVES her music class, which is just some moms in the neighborhood that get together to do a music class for the littles.
She's creative and imaginative and so fun.
More pictures.
She loves her dad a whole bunch and he treats her like a treasure.
New glasses!
She's the perfect height for the stairs and likes to lay on them. Sometimes that means playing on them with her friends (pictured: Amelia Perkins), sometimes that means almost getting stepped on when I am coming down the stairs, and sometimes that means taking a nap right in the middle of the stairway.
We spend every Thursday afternoon with Cal and Sue. They both love Lucy so much and it's a blessing that she gets to spend so much time with her grandparents. They give her a fruit snack every time that she comes. She watches movies with Sue and Cal teases her and pretends to be a tiger chasing her until she reaches "Saftey Mommy" or "Safety Grandma". It's good to be loved by your grandparents.
She loves donuts almost as much as her mom.
She does NOT like me to do her hair. It's a battle and I haven't quite figured this one out yet. Her hair is so thin and straight that even if we comb it and it looks nice in the morning it looks tangly within a few minutes. So I try to pick my battles and hope that we will gradually evolve into a good hair solution.
Her friend Amelia has the most spectacular birthday parties every year and we both look forward to them. This year was an ocean/mermaid theme and after seeing how much work Amy (Amelia's mom and my friend) was putting into the party, I ordered a mermaid dress on amazon for her to wear to the party. Lucy loved it!
From a post on instagram: We went to the most darling birthday party for Lucy’s friend this afternoon. I am GIGGLING over how much Lucy looks like the cake in this picture. The purple of her shirt-the purple vase layer. The teal sleeve puff-the 3D wave wrapping around the cake. All the way to the fish tail coming off the top of her head with the purple wave behind. It’s tickling my funny bone. The party was amazing (as expected), but I also wanted to document how much I love spending time with Lucy right now. She’s such a sweet girl. We’ve been going to a neighborhood music class each week and I love spending that time with her. (favorite songs: Matilda the Gorilla, Three Little Ducks/Snack song) She also has a thing for chickens right now and we have been rotating through every picture book the library has with a chicken as the main character. 😂 Tonight she asked for a “long snuggle” and after about 39 seconds she said “that’s enough, you can go” and I just feel like I want to hold on to her at this age forever.
My favorite thing that came out of this party is that she decided that she loves mermaids, but something got lost in translation and she calls them "Narwhals" and it's seriously the most darling thing ever. Sometimes she can tell that she's saying something wrong because people laugh when she says it, but I will never- ever correct her. I love it too much. Someday she'll realize that they are called memaids (probably all too soon) but until then, we have officially renamed mermaids as narhwals at our house.
We decided to have a Mermaid-themed birthday for Lucy, too! Cookies and Donuts and chocolate coins were her cake this year and they were beautiful. I love this little mermaid romper that she is wearing in the pictures, it's my very favorite outfit of hers right now.
Happy Birthday Lucy Darling. We love you so incredibly much and we are so grateful that you are in our family.
