Fleeting Turkey Feet: Elsie 4 years old

Elsie just turned 4 years old! I really enjoy watching her grow up and develop into this little person. One of my favorite things about this age is that we can do things together that we actually share a mutual interest in. Sometimes we will do a 100 piece puzzle together which is something I truly have to work at....it's not just me helping her. We went on a little mommy-daughter date the other day and we both enjoyed ourselves. It wasn't me taking her somewhere that just she wanted to go to OR going somewhere for myself and dragging her along, we both had fun! Another example......the other day I took her and Cora out for ice cream cones. Elsie and I both finished ours at the same time. Cora took her time, needed help finishing it, and needed me to wipe up her messes. It was just another moment where I was starting to see how Elsie is becoming my big girl.

The first things that come to mind to describe Elsie at 4 would be dramatic, singing all the time, and loving on her family. Another favorite for her right now is to get on her bike that we bought her just before her birthday, I will have to get a picture of that soon!

A month before her birthday, Elsie had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She did great during and after the surgery. She had a difficult time in the days following with not being able to eat what she wanted but that all passed quickly. We've noticed a difference in that she no longer snores and I also think it's affected her speech in a positive way.

A real conundrum we are currently facing is what to do about naps. If she takes a full nap, it's difficult for her to get to sleep at night. However, doing daycare all day, I really need a quiet break to myself or with just Lainey up. I have Elsie go to the office with books and puzzles to have quiet time but she just ends up falling asleep for a nap! Since we don't want her to sleep too long I always end up waking her up which makes for extreme crabbiness or just falling back to sleep in a new location....

Elsie really got into the gymnastics class we just had. I took both girls to the mommy and me class. Elsie was independent and really into everything so she will be going again this summer to the pre-k class by herself. She has been asking to be in dance class but we haven't jumped to that yet.

She loves preschool and always talked about it in a positive way. There were days that she said she would rather stay home and play with her daycare friends but she inevitably was always happy to go. We got reports that she is generally very quiet there. At Spring conferences, her teacher said hashtag things are hit or miss by the day...sometimes she will talk with friends while playing and other days she stays quiet. This is completely different than how she acts at daycare, she is always talking and playing and coming up with ideas on who should do what. It was fun to watch Elsie sing songs with the other kids on her last. Day of preschool. All set to go with the other kids..

Elsie's birthday....her and Cora decided to dress alike...

One of Elsie's favorite things was this new box of candles I bought for the occasion. We have a box and reuse the same candles each time there is a birthday (in the family or in daycare) and I think she thought it was pretty neat that I got new ones for her. She walked around with them and kept showing them off.

We had Godparents and my parents over for dinner. Jon and Sarah came down right after work and Elsie had fun hanging out with them...

She asked for pink cake with purple frosting and she got her wish!

Cora was at the cabin with grandma and grandpa for a couple days so Elsie got some more one on one time. She and I went to the Trader's Market and it was a fun little date for the two of us. She picked out a toy car to buy for $1 and the lady told her she wanted her to have it for free and to pick out a ring as well. It was cute! Elsie loved the ring she picked and said she is going to keep it forever. :)