Life with Lyla: 4 Year Update
Hey friends!
Wow, I can’t believe I’m sitting here giving you all an update on our FOUR-year-old! Like, how are we only a year away from Kindergarten?! It’s wild! Anyway, I’m so excited to share about what Lyla has been up to this past year. For starters, she is SO silly! The stuff that comes out of her mouth always has us rolling! Below are a few of the things she’s said over the last year that I remembered to jot down:
“That’s the bad guy, alright!” (While watching movies with mom and dad)
“I’m a little teapot short and small”
“Tummy, are you full? See tummy said yeah” (When mom and dad are trying to get her to eat more dinner)
“You don’t see that every day” (This was after she put her Pop-It shaped like a chicken under her shirt)
“Josie’s birth month is Omaha” (When asking her what month her sister was born in)
Daddy: I’m going to call the police on you
Lyla: But you’re an officer…AT THE BANK!
One of my favorite memories of her this year was a conversation she had with a friend at daycare. They all went through a Lion King phase, and Lyla came home and told me her friend thought Rafiki was real. I asked her what she thought about that, and she pondered it for a moment before looking at me and saying, “Rafiki’s not real; well maybe he’s real in her world, but he’s not real in mine!” I was dying with laughter. Like I really have no idea where she comes up with this stuff. She also calls dandelions “dandy flowers” or “lion flowers,” and her magnifying glass is her “spy glass”.
Lyla is very competitive when it comes to games or even just finishing her meals. We had to explain to her that eating too fast could hurt her tummy. I think her teacher told her the same thing, because one day she came home and told Kent, “It’s not a race” when he finished eating first lol. She has gotten a little pickier about what foods she likes, but I think a lot of that stems from her wanting to continue to keep playing. She loves ranch though! She loves it so much she will even dip her apple slices in it. She’s also a mischievous gal. She went through a phase where she would sneak out of the bathtub when I wasn’t looking and giggled uncontrollably when we caught her. Some of her favorite activities are playing monsters with daddy, hide and seek, crafts, and going on walks in her toy jeep. She also loves dancing, and there’s a good chance you’ll catch her showing off her moves in front of the mirror before bedtime.
Lyla has always been my girly girl, and she was very much in her princess era this year. For the longest time, the only things I could get her to wear were sparkly dresses and her high heels. She wore her first pair of heels to the ground. No matter what she was doing, whether that was soccer, playing on the playground, going on walks, you name it, she was wearing those heels. She probably would have even slept in them if I had let her. Lyla has always been confident in knowing what she likes, including how we do her hair. All the fun hairstyles mom wants to try? Too bad. Because Lyla wanted her hair in either a braid like Elsa or wanted to wear it down. Recently, she’s been into nail polish and loves when I paint her nails.
She still loves her music, and some of her favorite songs include “Hakuna Matata”, “Soda Pop”, and the new Taylor Swift song that was in Toy Story 5. Lyla is still a little wary of animals (especially dogs). However, she took an interest in cats this past year. When we went out to the farm, one of the stray cats had given birth to kittens, and Lyla was infatuated with them! I was shocked when I saw her holding one of them. She told Kent and me on the way home that she was going to ask Santa for kittens, but only kittens. She explained that once they got bigger and turned into mommy cats, she would give them away 😂.
The biggest event that happened last year was Lyla becoming a big sister! She truly is the best big sister and does so well with Josie. When Josie was just a newborn, we put Josie in Lyla’s doll stroller and let Lyla take her for a walk around the living room. She says mom, dad, and Josie will be her best friends forever 💕. As Josie has gotten older, I’ve noticed Lyla can be a little bossy towards her, but that’s just what big sisters do, right? 😜
Now for the not-so-fun moments. Lyla had a firework mishap on the 4th of July. She was playing with a sparkler (without shoes on) and a piece of the ash fell off. Unfortunately, because she wasn’t wearing shoes, she stepped on it and sustained a 2nd-degree burn. We felt terrible that we hadn’t made her put on shoes and are thankful it wasn’t a more serious injury. She handled it like a champ though, and it’s slowly been getting better. In addition, she spent her 4th birthday sick. We had plans to do a mommy/Lyla day. Unfortunately, she was not feeling good, so we had to postpone our plans.
It’s always incredible to see how much Lyla learns in a year. At school, she has been learning to sound out letters, to spell her name, and to recognize numbers. The teachers at her school are phenomenal! Sadly, we were recently notified that the school will be closing at the end of September. We were devastated by this news, and it has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. However, we are so incredibly thankful for the amazing staff that has taken such wonderful care of our girls. We will miss them! One night when Lyla and I were saying our prayers before bed, she turned to me and said she had prayed for her school to stay open. My heart broke a little inside, but I was also so proud of her for taking her worry to God. It’s going to be hard to see her split up from all her friends, but I know she’s going to do great at her new school!
Now, for a fun story! Lyla loves Frozen, and Grandma M & M gifted us tickets to see the Frozen show at the Lied Center. Lyla was SO excited! She got all fancy with her Elsa dress and heels. We got to the theater and sat down in our seats. We had only been sitting for maybe 5 minutes when a couple came up to us and told us we were in their seats. Turns out Grandma had the date wrong! Lyla didn’t quite understand why we had to leave, so to smooth things over, I had to buy an overpriced Olaf stuffie… 🙃. On the bright side, she got to bring Olaf with her when we came back on the correct date! She LOVED the show! Definitely a core memory!
That is all I have for this update! Lyla, you are truly a light in this world, and we are so excited to see what you accomplish next! Please don’t ever change, baby girl.
Thank you all for reading!
Love, Brandi