Happy Birthday Kayla!

Happy 4th birthday to my sweet, precious, baby girl! Ok you're long past the baby stage, but really - you'll just always be my baby girl!

I thought I could mention how much you've grown this last year, but guess what? Most of your size 2T shorts that you wore last summer still fit you this summer! You have grown though as your shoe size increased and you do at least wear size 4T shirts! I think your shorts still fit because last year you were in diapers/pull-ups and you had some cushion back there...now you don't so they fit you just fine.

You woke up crying at 430 this morning. I put you back to bed and stayed by your side until you fell back to sleep. I went back to bed but couldn't fall back to sleep right away (I'm not like your daddy who can fall asleep when he closes his eyes!) It seems fitting that you woke me up early this morning. The specific time wasn't significant, but 4 years ago I was in and out of sleep in the early morning hours. I was "uncomfortable" with some "mild cramps" which would turn into full-blown contractions. You were born at 3:45 that afternoon.

How did you go from this:


to this:

in a blink of an eye? I can hardly remember you as a baby anymore; it's like you flew right by that stage and grew into this spirited little girl.

There have been so many changes and experiences that you've had just since last year when you turned 3!

You:

...are potty trained! Yay! You do wear pull-ups at night (although you are dry 95% of the time when you wake up.) It's just neither your daddy nor I feel like dealing with the occasional accident you're bound to have in the middle of the night and changing sheets! You sleep so hard throughout the night I don't think you would wake up to go to the bathroom.

...don't need swim diapers this summer! It was so nice not having to buy those this year!

...learned to recognize your numbers and then to count

...started preschool! I can't believe last year I was already sending you off to school! You had a little tough time with transitioning (didn't like me to leave in the morning) but you enjoyed being there and stopped crying as soon as you were in the classroom.

...started taking the bus! I'll never forget the sight of my little girl getting on that big school bus. You loved it though! You didn't cry once to get on the bus and wave to me from the window; it made going to school much easier.

...learned how to jump - finally! You tried so hard to jump before. Had all the motions; you would crouch down and fling yourself up, but just couldn't get both those feet to leave the ground. Last year you finally got some air under those feet and you now love to jump.

...had an explosion with your vocabulary. You started saying so many words in this past year! No longer do you primarily communicate with signs, now it's with the spoken word. While I do miss watching you sign I love hearing your verbal conversations!

...had your 3rd set of ear tubes and also a cardiac catheterization procedure. At least you are now being cooperative at the ENTs office and letting them look in your ears without a fight anymore.

...figured out you could drag your little kid-size chair around the house so you can stand on it and reach things (and even having it tip over and falling off it hasn't deterred you from still doing this!)

...discovered that cereal is your absolutely favorite food. You could, and would, eat it all day if we let you!

...started to become a picky eater; you just don't seem to have much interest in eating anything for dinner (which is frustrating to us you know!)

...can be a sassy little stinker. You have started crossing your arms over your chest and saying 'not yet!' when we ask/tell you to do something.

...are such a big helper and like to get your broom when you see me sweeping (but why, oh why do you have to sweep the exact same pile of dirt that I just swept?)

...learned your left foot from your right foot; thanks to daddy teaching you that!

...call out "daddy" first thing when you wake up and go looking for him, then come back to me saying "daddy at work." You love seeing your daddy when he's home for lunch or the end of the day. But then something happens after 5pm and you become my little shadow. You have to follow me all around the house and if I leave a room it's "wait mommy!" At night we ask you "do you want daddy to read you a book before bed?" and your answer is "no. mommy read."

...have an imagination that blows me away sometimes. I love to sit and watch you when you're playing by yourself in your room.

...figured out how to open doors. You couldn't do this before; you just don't turn your wrist enough in either direction - so you figured out your own way to turn the doorknob. You grasp the knob from the side and pull down and voila - the knob turns enough that the door opens. We finally had to buy doorknob covers for 2 of our doors.

...still love your books and being read to. Except now you're 'reading' your books as well. After we finish reading to you you'll take the book and say, "I read it." I love sitting next to you and listening to you "read" the book as you turn the pages and recite bits and pieces from the story. Or sometimes you'll just flip to the last page and say, "the end!"

...took a cross-country road trip and did amazingly well with all that time spent trapped in your car seat!

I know these are only snippets of things you've done and learned over the last year; my memory can't capture each one that I know I must be forgetting.

I can't wait to see what this next year brings as you continue to grow and learn and amaze us every day by just being who you are.

By the time you turn 5 there will be a new baby in the house; you'll be a big sister. I know you'll be such a big help taking care of your brother or sister, and I can't wait to watch your interactions.

Happy birthday to my little girl and many, many, more to come! I love you!