My Little Cailin

My little Cailin, you are 4 1/2 years old. You are loosing your baby face and starting to look like a little kid. You had a growth spurt or something, because toward the end of summer, you suddenly couldn't fit any of your clothes. You even looked taller.

You are so expressive. You make all kinds of faces. You are strong willed. I teeter between encouraging you to follow your own path and speak up and being so frustrated because you speak your mind and are determined to do what it is you want to do. You use words like annoying, frustrating, and humiliating. You haven't gotten it down when to use humiliating though.

You crack me up sometimes. You tell jokes too. You usually start out with, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and I say, "I don't know." And you reply, "Because he was run over by an elephant" And then you say, "You get it, run over by an elephant." This makes me laugh. Ariel says you need a joke book.

You like to know what we will be doing during the day. I will list off the things that we need to do. You like to stay busy. No sitting around the house for you. You will worry me to death. You like to be outside exploring. You dance, this is your second year. You are in a pre-ballet and tap class. You also take swimming lessons. You are a pretty good swimmer. You are an eel (you moved up during the summer from pike). You can use the computer pretty well. You like to play on Nick Jr., usually Team Umizoomi. You also play on Sesame Street.

You like the beach, especially the ocean. You always want to swim.

You are a pretty good eater. Although, you definitely have your preferences. You always say, "I want something yummy." Which usually leads to asking will I take you to the mall to get chicken from the Chicken Man. It's the man that hands out samples from the Chinese Restaurant. Your favorite meal is Chinese. You ask for it every day, despite the fact we only have it every once in a while. You are always asking to go some where or do something. And if I say no, you usually reply that you would be able to just do it, if you were older. I don't know what to say to that. You try to sound out words and can count and do simple addition (thanks to Team Umizoomi). You always ask the time, which I have taught you to read the clock on the stove. You know your left and right. It came pretty easy to you, but then you were able to put your shoes on correctly when you were a year old. We love you Dear Cailin.