Four.

Dear Kendall-girl,

Tomorrow you turn four. FOUR!!! That's so BIG! You are growing into quite the young lady!

Let's see...things I want you to know about this stage of life...

You wake up every morning ready to go. You want to eat breakfast, get dressed, and know what's ahead for the day the moment your feet hit the floor. I have learned that I MUST get up earlier than you in the morning in order to be one step ahead!

I would say that you are definitely inquisitive. You ask "WHY?" about everything. I mean EVERYTHING. We started teaching you to say, "May I ask why?" because the whys became soooo draining, so thankfully Mommy and Daddy have an "out" now! You really are just a curious soul, wanting to know everything about everything, and then soak it all up like a sponge. We are always so amazed at the things you come up with and the things you remember! For example, you are still talking about that monkey that came at the glass when we went to the zoo one time, and that was like two years ago! Crazy!

Lately, you've become very interested in letters and writing. You can write your name and I LOVE YOU with minimal help. Thanks to daddy reading Sammy the Seal, you can recognize the words "cat" and "dog" by sight. Of course, the teacher in mommy is loving this! I have tons of fun working on school things with you and while I'm not pushing it, wouldn't be surprised if you start reading more words in the next year.

One of my favorite things about you lately is how you LOVE to listen to the radio in the car. Listening to you sing along is so much fun! Sometimes you get really loud and really into the song and it makes us laugh so much.

I love how growing up brings a sense of responsibility. Already, you have little chores around the house like unloading the silverware, folding towels, putting the trash bags in the garbage can, and helping with the groceries. I also think it's funny how you've already learned that chores are not always fun and grumble against doing them. We OFTEN have the conversation about what it means to be family and to do our part in taking care of our home. I'm thankful that conversation usually ends in a joyful and willing heart.

You still love Rapunzel, anything arts-and-craftish, playing dress-up and pretend. I am amazed at the stories and costumes you come up with sometimes! HILARIOUS! Another big love is socks. You LOVE funky socks and want to change them (and your clothes, but I nixed that one pretty fast!) about twenty times a day. I am constantly finding random socks all over our house.

Kendall, you are a ray of sunshine in our home and we are so blessed to have you as our big girl! We love you so much and look forward watching you grow even more this next year!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy