Lainey - Update

Favorite things:

• She's been very fixated on Heaven and how Grandfather is there. I tell her we can talk to him whenever we want. She wanted to talk to Grandfather and wrote him a letter (verbalized to me). "Dear Grandfather. I hope you feel better soon. And maybe you can come down from Heaven. But if you can't, that's okay. I might miss you. Love, Lainey."
• She LOVES Reagan. Reagan is her newest obsession. She carries Reagan around the house, showing Reagan "[her] closet," "Daddy's office," and "Daddy's chair," "Mommy and Daddy's bed," and the list goes on and on. Poor Reagan. She's searching for a noose to end it all. 
• She loves "doing homework" in Daddy's office. This "homework" is drawing pictures and writing the few words that she knows how to spell. :)
• She dances all the time. Constantly. Always posing, always trying new moves.The girl can "shake it." She does gymnastics when she's not dancing. She has a pretty good "run run skip cartwheel." She is moving all the time...she's not even really watching TV much these days. She'd rather be moving. Eek. 

This picture depicts the both of them perfectly. Lainey looking happily at Reagan, Reagan timidly looking for an escape route.

Funny quotes:

• “Back when you were 32 or something, you did ______.” She has a hard time with time...thinks that I was 32 years old many, many moons ago. 
• "I wanna watch him get docted." (She wanted to watch Walker get examined by the doctor - hence, he was going to get "docted.".)
• "Back when I was 3-1/2 or something, I saw/did_______. It was a long time ago." 
• Frequently tells "stories" about things - we have to distinguish between what really happened versus what is just a pretend story. 
• God has a watering can...that's how he makes it rain.
• "How many more naps until ________." Fill in the blank. "...until I turn 5." "...until I start Kindergarten." (And she counts daytime naps and nighttime naps...anytime she sleeps it's a "nap.")
• “I thought I went poo poo in my pants, but I really just blowed in them.”
• "Shoot it!" (Instead of saying "Shoot!" when she's made a mistake, she says "Shoot it!")
• "Don't see me! Don't see me do this! You'll never see me do this ever again." (She usually says this when she  has done something wrong and is about to clean up a mess that she's made...whether she's colored on something she wasn't supposed to color on (a plate) or if she's made a mess at the sink with her Barbies...but at least she tries to clean it up so I won't see what she's done!)
• "Look! Reagan threw up a heart!" (Reagan threw up some yellow liquid and it took the shape of a heart on the carpet.)

Frustrating things:

• She is a true sass-pot. Talks back, whines, argues, cries. You name it. All of it. Four has been a hard year for us.
• Bye-bye naps...she's officially given them up. She will take one about once or twice a week. I hope that this continues because a tired Lainey is an unhappy and mean Lainey! :( All of us suffer if she doesn't get sleep!
• She gives me unreasonable ultimatums. Example: "Mommy, if you don't let me walk in the store, then I'm never going to ride in the cart again." "Mommy, if you don't let me have a cookie, I'm never going to let you put me night-night again." ?? Just crazy talk.
• She doesn't understand when her new love (Reagan) wants some space. Reagan will snap and bite and protect herself and Lainey gets SO upset about this...but I always tell her that Reagan can't communicate with us to explain her feelings/frustrations so when she starts to act feisty, we need to pay attention to that...and give her space. Lainey HATES it. She would like to carry Reagan all over the place, up and down the stairs, in and out of rooms. She would like to put her under the covers, on top of the covers, on the bed, on the couch, in her lap, on the blanket, in her bed...everywhere. 

I'll be surprised if Reagan doesn't sustain another injury from Lainey's manhandling.

We love you Lainey Lou! You are bright, silly, active, athletic, creative, loving, and kind. And a little sassy at times. I wouldn't have you any other way; you are unique and special and we LOVE you!