Four-Year-Old Lasalove

The littlest Brown turned another year older this weekend! 

Her daddy met her in the morning before work Friday to present her with her fave - blueberry muffins.

Anna made her a birthday crown and we took our traditional birthday pic out back.

We let her open one gift on Friday and saved the rest for Saturday when Josh would be home.

She picked the biggest one to open and it made her day - an Elena of Avalor dress up gown.

Then she picked pizza for lunch - Pie Five hit the spot!

Saturday she sorta helped Anna make her rainbow princess cake.

Josh had to help Anna because my help comes with raised blood pressure and who needs that??

Didn't it turn out sweet?

Lasa chose Rainforest Cafe for her birthday dinner - which is so funny because it still kinda scares her.  This is her third time ever going.  She IS getting braver when the lights flash and the animals roar, but she is still pretty clingy up in Josh's lap for it all. Ha!

Back at home for the birthday honors.  Cuteness overload as always.

This girl.  Gosh, we love her. She is such a neat kid and she has grown up SO MUCH this last year.  She rocked being three and she is all kinds of ready for four.

Some snippets of life with her this past year that I have collected to save forever - slurping up all her little ways and words.

• "Look at the voo (view)!" she exclaimed as we neared the mountains in East Tennessee.
• When we wondered who died one day when the flags were at half mast, she piped up from the back seat, fresh off Easter weekend, "Jesus died!"
• Weawized (realized), zuzzert (dessert), sit next to side me (sit beside me), swake (snake), Eena (Anna), ice lolly (for popsicle), Alfa Alfa (alfalfa), snoovie (smoothie), headmelmet (helmet), hakuna minatata (hakuna matata), bowgot (forgot), Ms. Mataka (Ms. Lataka)
• She says Eek! a bunch ... usually when she is excited about something about to happen
• She became such a capable swimmer this summer ... in her puddle jumper or life jacket of course.  She also learned to hold her nose and close her mouth under water when she jumps in.
• She is still working on nighttime potty training ... dry about half the time.  
• She quotes movies now and it's, like, my favorite thing.  She has perfect timing and context when she does it.
• She is just plain loud.  And she still tries to manipulate things with her tears.
• To Josh one day, "I didn't know your toes have hair!"
• Telling us her life plans, "I gonna have a husband and a cat and a dog and a bunny."
• Waltzing into a bathroom she'd never seen, "I'm new here."
• And then in same bathroom, "Wow, dis seat is soft!" (it was a cushion type lid - ha!)
• First few times going potty fresh out of the pool, "I have hot pee!!"
• She keeps a rock collection, but always sneaks in pine cones, leaves, and flowers she finds.
• She orchestrates Quiet Mouse/Still Mouse when we are all in the car and then says, " I am da judge ... Noah you're out!"
• "I had a crunch in my tummy and it was rewy huhting why I was swimming."
• "Speaking of buckles, I need to learn to buckle my shoes." What stole my heart was her perfect use of the phrase Speaking of.
• She wants to talk to Siri all the time. 
• "I don't wike waiting or sweeping (sleeping) or walking."
• "I do wike pwyaing and all the fun summeh fings (summer things) why saying in da gwass."
• "I wuv dis house and dis day da Word (Lord) made."
• "Anna, guess what! Buhds (birds) can poke you eyes out!"
•  "My back is huhting wite now but I don't feew it but I feew it now." Clear as mud.
• When she couldn't find something she was looking for, "Daddy, I know where my stingray is - it's somewhere awound da house."
• She has fixated on 5 minutes.  So like, when I say it's time to go, she asks for 5 more minutes holding up five fingers pleading for more time. What's funny is that she does this even when I have given a 10 minute warning or half hour warning ... she begs for 5 instead.  😆  I usually have to translate my times into how many 5's they are and then she relaxes.  Ha!
• Doesn't need naps anymore but takes them just fine if I make her, which has been about half the time this summer.  She even puts herself down all by herself, which is awesome.
• She's wearing size 4T and moving into 5T's this fall.  Shoes are toddler size 10 these days. 
• She's 39 1/2 lbs (81st %ile) and 42.5 inches tall (95th %ile).  
• She is a rock star about getting shots.  But she has demands ... for her flu shot this year, she says, "I want tweats AND coins."  She let me know this when she was disappointed she only got a milkshake for her well-check vaccinations.  Ha!
• She loves, loves, loves to get the pages from the printer when I print things.  She will come running from across the house when she hears it.
• She adores her Anna and is gaga for any and all playtimes she has with her.
• Quality time is this child's love language, hands down!
• She listens and learns SO MUCH in her bible study with Josh and at Sunday School at church.  It's kinda amazing to hear her discuss her lessons.
• It's like pulling teeth to get her to eat dinner anymore. 
• She plays some car game looking for yellow cars.  "Yewow cah, I win!"
• When she got out of bed one night and smelled popcorn in the air from the movie we were watching downstairs, she protested much, "Is popcorn here?!!!!!"
• She still calls for me to come wipe her bootie.  I try more and more to encourage her to do it herself.  She whines, "But I am too tired of wiping my bootie!"
• She mostly shouts at Noah and/or tattles on him.  In her defense, he has trained her well to know how annoying he can and will be toward her.  It's a frustrating season between her and him for us all.
• She is so proud to make her bed and present it to me when she does.  She is so capable!
• She is Josh's partner in crime in all things. They are quite the pair, those two.
• Proof of their bonding?  She knows all sorts of gardening terms no four year old should know.  It's astounding.  Walking into a business recently, she commented on the landscaping, "Wook at dose begonias!"
• She is my partner in pistachio eating.

• Peppa's still one of her faves! 

• She has grown leaps and bounds in coloring skills.  Anna drew this, but look how well Lasa colored it in!  Watercolor painting is another new love of hers.

• Don't even get me started about the cuteness of her in her first ever ballet class.  She has been a real leader in this group and has attended to her teachers so well. 

• This year she has started processing some transracial adoption grief, if that's what it's called? Totally fair and totally normal and totally something I can't make easier for her, except to listen when she feels it and to validate that it's fair to feel. This statement came after we showed her a picture of Angelique's new baby after a flurry of texts we had with her in March this year. Lasa woke up from a nap and said in her post-nap haze, "Sometimes I don't wike being in dis famiwy." When I asked her why, she didn't know why. Later on, when she said it again, I redirected and asked what family she WOULD like to be in and she said, " I wish I was in a bwown famiwy." Tender  things! I think she must have had a dream stirred up from the pic and the talking about Angelique. I followed up by letting her know it's ok to want that and that it's also ok to want both families.  Adoption is hard!  (Also hard, the fact that Angelique disappeared again and has not responded to texts for months following this even though she asked us to try some more dates on her for visiting.  She didn't even text a Happy Birthday this year.  I am kinda really angry about it for Lasa and so very glad that Lasa doesn't even think to notice.  She did ask if Angelique knew it was her birthday and she guessed that maybe she didn't respond to our texts because "maybe she is having anudder baby."  Oy. I even hate noting this in what should be a fun birthday post, but it's birthday related, so ... for lack of a better plan, here it is. I hate it.)
• Lasa starts 5 day a week pre-K next month and is so excited!  She will go with Josh to Lebanon for this each day.
• For her birthday, she got real make-up to play with, sliceable play foods for her kitchen stuff, a drawing board, two dress-up gowns, two puzzles, a new story bible with people that match her skin color, and an Elena of Avalor scepter.
• Some birthday survey results of Lasalove here as 3 turns to 4 - favorite color/yellow, movie/Frozen, food/cereal, part of the day/getting in the pool wiff a gwown up, friend/Liberty, thing to say/Wow!, restaurant/Chick fu way, book/Princess book, future job/Elsa, game/Mincraft, place to play/pwaygwound, don't like/going under water because it huhts my eauhs, thing you learned this year/balancing on one foot, favorite gift/Elena Scepter.

Lasa, our love, birthday blessings upon you!  We ask the Lord to grow you up in him a bunch this year and we ask Him to show us how best to guide you in your faith walk as your understanding of Bible lessons quickens.  We treasure you, little girl, and we can't even stand how much fun it is to get to grow you up.  You are funny, you are smart, you are gorgeous, you are surprising, you are playful, you are able.  We are so proud of you!  May this year be as stretching and wonderful as three was.  You are our precious joy! We love you to pieces.  Happy 4th Birthday, Lasa!  Four fits you like a glove already. 💖

All the hugs and tickles and chases and kisses, Mommy