Hannah is 4!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

You are four years old! Wow! What a big girl you have become...but you are still my sweet, tiny girl, too. You have learned and grown so much this year!

You learned to read this past year. Below is a story you read several weeks ago--all by yourself!In the last few weeks, you seemed to have lost interest in reading though, so we are taking a break for now. You used to ask for a "reading lesson" almost every day.

You are very opinionated about what you like to wear. It ALMOST always involves a skirt or a dress. But every now and then you are practical and decide that jeans or leggings are best. You especially love looooong skirts and dresses. You really don't care if I think its impractical.

You love, love to read Bible stories each night. We often read 2 or 3 stories out of your Bible before bed. My favorite Bible is The Jesus Storybook Bible. I pray that you will come to know and love Jesus through these stories!

You love to have ANY book read to you. If it is a book about fairies, princesses or ballet you are particularly attentive.

When the mood strikes you--you like to pray out loud. A very typical Hannah prayer goes like this..."Dear Jesus, Thank you for this lovely day. Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Natalie. Thank you for _________. (changes each time) Please help me and Mommy and Daddy and Natalie to get a good night's sleep. Amen!"

You have an amazing imagination. You can play with your Ellie (elephant lovie) or dolls for hours...making them talk or act a certain way.

You speak very well --very clearly and with a great vocabulary. But sometimes when you are feeling self-conscious or want to be difficult you talk in a "baby voice" that is really hard to understand. I find myself often reminding you to "talk like a big girl!"

You love to dress up. Especially like a princess or a bride. Often a blanket becomes a veil or a long skirt or a train for your dress.

You have taken ballet now for a whole year. You don't always want to go to class (It is in the late afternoon--a bad time of day for you). But you enjoy it when you are there...and then when you get home from your class...you can hardly stand to take off your ballet shoes as you want to dance around the house. You are the youngest in your class (some of the girls are in 1st grade!) and yet you do so well keeping up with them. You are a graceful, sweet dancer.

Hannah's dance class-she is 2nd from the left

You are fairly quiet and shy in a large group. You are not likely to participate in singing, etc. in your classes. BUT if called upon to do something by yourself, you seem very eager to comply. I have noticed this particularly in your dance class.

You still have a hard time with transitions and sometimes new situations. Your dance class, gym childcare, church class, school....these are all places that I drop you off and leave. And you HATE that I leave. It has been better the past 2 months but much of the past year it would not be unusual for you to literally kick and scream as I forcibly bring you into the classroom, lay you on the floor and walk away. It has broken my heart many a time. Your teachers/childcare givers assure me that you are just fine and even very happy once I am gone. I can't wait for you to outgrow this!

You LOVE flowers. You have told me at least every other week for MONTHS that we need to plant flowers around our house in the Spring. Anytime we walk by flowers in a store you will BEG me to buy them for Daddy. If you find flowers growing outside you are drawn to them--you must smell, touch and admire them.

Ellie, your elephant lovie, is very, very special to you. If you are tired or not feeling well, it is important for her to be close by.

You have been potty-trained at night for 10 months now. You haven't had an accident in MONTHS! (hooray!) BUT. You wake up at night, thrashing about, calling out...not completely conscious...because you need to use the restroom. So Daddy or I get up and practically carry you to the bathroom. I hope someday you will go to the potty all alone at night...

Angelina Ballerina and Busytown Mysteries are your all-time favorite TV shows to watch. For a while you began to speak with a British accent--thanks to Angelina Ballerina. Now you are on a Busytown kick and whenever we are searching for something that is lost you tell me excitedly, "Mama, it's a MYSTERY!"

You love to play with friends! Natalie is your best friend (and worst enemy, at times). Your cousins, Summer and Ashton, are both very special friends, too. Kaitlyn, Chloe, Hannah T., Hannah M., and Genevieve are other friends that you mention by name and ask to play with.

You have learned to ride your bike (downhill) without training wheels! You can pedal and brake without toppling over. Kudos to Daddy for being such a great teacher!

At your 4 year check up you weighed in at 35 pounds and were 40 inches tall. You were 50th percentile for both weight and height.

We had a very small "princess party" on your birthday. Just a couple of friends came and dressed up with you. You made tiaras and sugar cube castles together. We all ate pizza and cupcakes together (per your request). You especially loved the pink and purple balloons and streamers we decorated with. I have a feeling there are many years of pink and purple to come...

Hannah M. modeling the tiara she created at your birthday party

You have told me several times lately, " The days go by too quickly" You seem awfully young to notice how quickly the days are passing by but I'm glad that you are loving life.

I agree with you that the days are going by too quickly. In some ways I'm sad that you are not a baby or toddler anymore...but I'm also excited to watch you learn and grow this coming year. You are such a sweet, intelligent, lovable little girl. I am blessed beyond measure, my Hannah Goose!