Proud Maya

Maya loves standing up while holding on to stuff. It's hard to tell who is more proud here though, Maya or Libbie.

Libbie is 4!

Well, our Libbie is four. She is such a light in our life. She fills my days with songs (many of which she knows all the lyrics to), made-up games (with directions that have many tiers and twists and turns along the way), scripted conversations ("When I say 'Go!' you say 'Where?' and then I'll say 'There' and you say, 'Huh?!' and make that face. Okay? ... Go!"), word substitutions ("No means yes and yes means no," which can mean either that she is playing a game or that she changed her mind and doesn't want to admit it), jokes that tend to not make sense ("Why did the pan go under the table? Because it wanted to be a box!"), jokes that are funny because they're remnants of jokes that are actually funny ("Hey, what's that up there?" "Up where?" "Haha, I made you say underpants!"), drawing, coloring, creations in various media (clay, strips of colored paper glued together in various ways, etc.), and lots and lots of giggles. I love that I get to spend so much time with her. She is a delight.

She is a friend and peacemaker. She brings enthusiasm and excitement over seemingly little joys in life--taking a walk, discovering a new favorite story, getting Maya to belly laugh repeatedly, hearing a favorite song on Pandora, or even just looking out the window and discovering that the boys are walking home from school. She loves her friends, in which she includes her siblings and parents. (As she said to me the other day, "You know who my very very best best best friend is of all? You!") She is almost without fail willing to share, and even surrender, her portion of treats or privileges. She often jumps up to help her brothers with their chores and/or trade them for hers. She loves her brothers and sister so deeply, playing with each one individually in ways that work for them. She asks Aaron about fishing and helps him build or destroy whatever he is pursuing at the moment, according to his instructions. She plays slapjack with and runs errands for Elliot, often exchanging promises with him about who will let whom blow out birthday candles or give up future Halloween candy. She sings to, rocks, carries, and plays pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo with Maya, often for 20-30 minutes at a time. She loves stories and songs and will listen to either for as long as the reader or singer is willing to continue. 

Here are a few pictures that show some of Libbie's personality and what she has been up to recently...

Libbie started soccer this spring season and loves it so far

Libbie loves her dolls and is very creative with how to play with them

She cruises around on her balance bike as often as possible

She seems to be a natural leader. Here she is helping the primary chorister lead the music,

Libbie with friend Grace. These two get along so well, scheming and giggling for hours on end.
 (This is at the Pinegar's house--we have been friends for about eight years, starting as neighbors in NYC, then periodically meeting up in Utah, and now living in neighbor states just four hours apart. The kids are kind of like cousins.)

We love Libbie are so grateful she is part of our family!


We try to save "real" birthday parties for every four years (4, 8, 12, 16) so this was an on year for her. Her birthday was on a Friday, so we were able to have the party on her actual birthday.

We made an artist princess cake together. She wanted a princess cake but I wanted to focus more on the artist theme so we compromised with putting Tiana on as the artist with a pallet cake. It worked. 

Libbie had three girls at the party: Lauren, Ember, and Kate. She also invited Isaiah and Davis but they didn't make it.

 It took about five blows to extinguish the candles.

One of the activities was so paint a happy birthday sign for Libbie. Kate's big sister came towards the end and wrote the Happy Birthday. We also played "Tape the clothes on paper Libbie," where they had to tape real clothes onto a paper cutout of Libbie. It was actually a pretty big hit. We also made balloon animals (Elliot is proficient at the "one twist sword" as well as a dog and a giraffe so he helped.)

Everyone seemed to have a good time at the party and most importantly, Libbie was satisfied and it wasn't too much work for us overall.


Here is an interview we did with her just after her birthday:

What is your favorite thing to do?

Color!

What's your happiest memory?

When we were at New York. 

What did you like about being in New York?

Being a baby.

Why do you like being a kid?

Cause I like to! Cause I like to color so much, and I like to wear dresses. That's it.

What are you like?

A girl. A famous artist.

What kind of animal would you be?

A lion. Cause I want to.

What do you like to do with your friends?

Play with them!

What is your favorite food?

You silly goose! Pizza! 

What is your favorite treat?

Candy!

What do you lke to do as a family?

Dance

What is your favorite thing to do with Tato?

Read books with him.

Now that's all I'm going to tell you. (I didn't get a chance to ask her what she likes to do with the other members of her family.)

Wait. What's your name?

Libbie. 

Whose name is also Libbie?

Grandma Libbie. 

Is she alive now?

No. She died. How did she die? When is she gonna come alive again?

What is your favorite color?

Yellow

What is your favorite movie:

Avatar (As in, Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon series, not the movie with the blue characters.)

What is your favorite song?

I haven't decided yet.

What are some songs you like? 

Just "You Are My Sunshine" and "Woke Up This Morning"

What is your favorite book?

There's Monsters Everywhere

Who are your friends?

Kate, Davis, Isaiah, Ember, Lauren