Isla: 56 Months

This girl! She's my needs-no-sleep (or at least she thinks so), non-stop energizer social bunny bundle of joy. I often wish I could approach the world with just a smidge of the enthusiasm and curiosity that she does. She's almost always game for anything (unless it's riding the elevator or her bike without training wheels) and I love that about her. I hate to say she's easily excitable but she is. In a good way. I love that something as practical as grocery shopping - just me and her - or her first "real" haircut (which she had this month) can so easily become a fun mommy date. She wanted it ear-length but Daddy wasn't on board so we settled with just below her shoulders.

It grew even that much more exciting when we learned that the haircut came with a ticket for a complimentary train ride at Bothell Country Village and a lollipop! It was raining and she was the only one on it but I chased the train around to wave and take pictures. After her ride, we played on the playground and then sipped hot drinks at a coffee shop.

The bonus about her freshly trimmed hair is that she is now more enthusiastic about letting me "style" it which really means spray it with water and try to tame it because she only ever wants to wear it down. I did take the plunge and buy a special brush and the product the stylist recommended for her curls. Yes, I spent $22 on hair supplies for my 4 year old (don't tell Graham!) but I am a loss when it comes to curly hair. Just look at my own head and this new postpartum style *cough!* I've got going on. 

Isla has grown so very helpful in recent days. She's been setting the table at dinner and bringing me miscellaneous items throughout the day, even when I tell her I don't need them. She responds with "It's ok Mom. It's ok!" and then forces me to keep them anyway. She LOVES spending time with me and I keep trying to remind myself to embrace it because some day she won't find me so cool. Recently we created "Isla's Kind Words" chart and I'm trying to lavishly hand out stickers when she speaks respectfully or responds with a simple "Yes Mom!" when asked to do something (we are encountering some sass and drama lately...oh joy!) I'm spending a lot of my hours breaking up fights between her sister and her so we're working on ways to manage those challenges too.

 Some days I am so 100% convinced that Isla is an extrovert and then she comes home from preschool and says something like "Emma, I've been around ELEVEN people all day and NEED some time to myself!" I nearly died laughing the first time I heard it but girl, I can relate! On those days when we miss afternoon "quiet time," we pay. for. it.

She still loves dressing up and was in heaven when our pastor's wife gifted us some old flower girl dresses from when her kids were little. The only trouble is that she is so incredibly sensitive to textures be it the seam on her sock, the embellishment on her shirt or the strap on her swimsuit. She refuses to wear denim, buttons, zippers, socks, tights, lace, tulle etc etc. (which basically eliminates, well, everything) and if any of these items are on her clothing, she must wear an undershirt as a buffer which usually helps for about 2 minutes until she insists on changing. I have very little (ok no) patience for this. I took her clothes shopping last week and she ate it up though and picked out a few things (with seems even!!!) that she is actually wearing. Maybe this will be my ticket to clothing her?

She is growing very imaginative and loves being told stories aloud. I'm exponentially grateful for Grandma Crozier and Daddy who are her creative go-tos for this. One day we left the kids with Grandma for a couple hours (a couple hours!) and my wonderful mother-in-law told her stories the whole time.

She often plays pretend that she is a teacher and that she has her "class" of kids. She is almost always creating, be it stories, drawings, beds for her babies, lego houses etc. etc. Recently she's also gotten really into math and grouping up items (often silverware!) to see what plus what equals what. She came back with an excellent spring report card from school and is excelling in almost all areas. She can't wait to start Kindergarten in the fall. 

She also adores her baby brother and is constantly doting on (read: smothering) him. The other day I walked into the room after he woke up just in time to capture this on video:

Oh my word I love her!
So proud to be her mama!