She's 4

What can we say about this amazingly complex little person who took over our lives four years ago?  We love her to pieces, and while I look forward to bedtime for a good part of every day, I am excited to see her when we wake up, and feel so very fortunate that I am able to stay home and watch her grow.

There were a LOT of changes in Hailey's life this year, and the most monumental was becoming a big sister.  She is a wonderful sister, and loves Aubrey more than anything.  She runs to her crib when she hears her stir, and  can't let me leave her school if she hasn't given her a hug and a kiss.  She is very tolerant of her, and is happy to let her play with most of her toys and have whatever she wants.  She wants to be a part of everything to do with caring for the baby, and is a big help to me.  

Moving to Florida was another big change - which she handled like a true Air Force kid.  The move was a big adventure for her, but a bigger change was having me home with her instead of going to work.  I think a combination of that, our new neighborhood, and the sunny Florida weather have convinced her that Florida is the best place ever, and she has asked both Jon and I if we can live here "forever till we die."

Starting preschool was a huge deal for Hailey.  She loved her school in Virginia, and I stressed about moving her in the middle of the year.  I shouldn't have, because her new school is fantastic and she has flourished in the few months we have been here.  She knows all her letters AND what sounds they make and can count to 39 with no problem.  She colors in the lines - most of the time and teaches us the songs she learns at school.  I love when in the middle of playing or eating, or just riding in the car she will tell me something she learned about God and Jesus from Mrs Dawn (her teacher).

Eating her breakfast birthday cake in her new jammies
that the birthday fairy brought her (she really believes 
in the birthday fairy)

Using her new Bilibo as a chair, while playing a recorder and watching her new movie all at the same time

Haileys current favorites:  snacks and treats - she will do pretty much anything for ice cream, and we use this to our advantage.  She loves to be outside - especially out front so she can look for her friends.  She would prefer to always be in a dress and without shoes, and if we didn't have to comb her hair, that would be great.  She loves to "help".  She helps Jon with projects, she helps us with the baby, she feeds the dogs, and she helps me in the kitchen.  Barbies are her favorite toys, and her favorite books are Pinkalicious, Fancy Nancy, Ladybug Girl and several Dr Seuss favorites.

The picture above is of her big girl carseat - which we have had for awhile, but she was not big enough or heavy enough to use.  Jon measured her on her birthday, and miraculously (seriously - she just had a physical and was not even close) she was 38 inches tall and weighed 30lbs.  I knew she was growing, but that was a big spurt.  She still wears her size 3 clothes quite comfortably and is not even close to the size of most 4 year olds, but she was ecstatic to get to use this carseat.  She told everyone about it, and also that she was four.  

The picture below is of her new big girl bike that we got her for her birthday.  I took her to toys r us and walmart and let her try out lots of bikes to make sure we got the right size - given how tiny she is.  She rode MANY 16in bikes just fine in the stores, but the bike we picked out ( I wanted to get one that wasn't barbie or disney so it would last a bit longer) is just too big for her and she can't reach the pedals.  BAD MAMA!  She loves the bike though, and doesn't want to get a different one, so we are still figuring out what to do about that.