April marked 4 years old and June marked one year home for our little Leena! However, you are not so "little" anymore my dear! How amazing it has been to see you grow this year- 4 inches and 8 pounds in 12 months. Not to mention a head of the most gorgeous hair that is now down your back.
For your birthday in April we had a huge celebration with family, neighbors, friends and classmates. Thankfully the weather cooperated and we enjoyed the deck and backyard including the big bounce house we rented. It was Moana themed and you seemed to cherish every second of it. Knowing that it was the first time your birthday was ever celebrated, I just wanted everything to be as special as it could be! We got it catered by a restaurant and everyone seemed to enjoy the yummy Indian food. You were spoiled with a lot of amazing gifts and had a big smile on your face the entire day.
You are a ray of sunshine Leena. You are giggles and pure happiness and a true optimist at heart. Friends sometimes ask me if you are ever NOT happy after being around you. I decided I could only think of a few situations that would put a frown on your face- 1) ponytails. You hate all of your hair pulled back so much that it has only been done for one minute before you ripped it out. SO much that we may have to drop out of the gymnastics class you are excited for because you need to wear a ponytail for safety. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with finally having hair after the orphanage shaved your head for 3 years. 2) riding your balance bike. We have this adorable pink balance bike but you just refuse to spend any time trying to figure the thing out. You are definitely not taking after your brothers in wanting to ride a bike! 3) Being forced to wear anything you don't want to, especially costumes. Themes at preschool are NOT your thing, despite enjoying dressing up with your brothers in the comfort of your own home. But other then those three things, life is all peachy in Leena's world!
So what are you up to now?
- You can recognize and write all capital letters very well, we are working on lower case now:)
- You are speaking very clearly and using big hilarious words. You actually think "chillaxing" is a word and use it often thanks to Daddy.
- You are SWIMMING- literally you can jump in a pool and we can just watch you swim. You taught yourself on vacation in the outer banks and have been getting better and better at our pool ever since. You even went down the water slide at the pool. Lessons for stroke mechanics come this fall:)
- You talk a lot. Like all the time. Like Mommy and Daddy have to sometimes ask you to stop so we can hear ourselves think. So then you start singing:)
- You still come into our bed around 3-5am the majority of most nights but we upgraded to a King sized bed finally so it doesn't really bother us at all. In fact, I kind of love waking up to your face every morning.
- You exude love. You live for snuggles, kisses and hugs. You ask in the car ride home from errands if we can "go home and snuggle." I wake up with a million kisses in the morning (Luckiest Mommy in the world)
- You have crazy strong upper body strength! You could climb street poles and "skin the cat" on our swingset trapeze bar when you were still 3 years old.
- Your manners are quite impressive. You thank Mommy/Daddy all the time for making your meals, taking you places and playing with you. It is endearing. I'm sure just a phase:)
- You love helping grown-ups do anything. Hanging stuff in your classroom with your teacher, putting laundry away with Mommy, cooking with Daddy- "Can I help you?" "Can I help you?"
- You and Grant are in full sibling petty fighting mode and know how to push each others buttons. However, when he was gone for a week in Rochester you missed him the most. You guys are so silly together and SO loud!
- You and Auden have the cutest relationship that I want to document every single day. The 4 year age gap is so sweet. You climb up to his bunk when he's reading and give him "massages" or just lay next to him until he pays attention to you. He plays awesome imagination games with you and you can convince him to play dolls often. He thinks you are "the cutest thing in the whole world!"
This summer has been a little hard with the change in routine that summers naturally bring. Although you still are at Appletree with your same buddies they change the teachers for the summer and every week is a different fun "theme" to make it feel different from the school year. We had the week long vacation in late June in NC, been to the lake twice for longs weekends, you've had you first sicknesses in the last month so missed some school days for that- so needless to say routine is lacking which makes you a little anxious and sad for drop-offs after so many days at home. It will be nice to get back in the fall routine next week. Luckily the teachers say you bounce back quickly and we always pick you up with a smile on your face. We are so lucky to have such a great school with a staff so invested in you. After your school show on the high school stage in May, all the teachers and parents just commented and complimented on how amazing you are doing and just can't believe how much you have caught up with language and confidence.
We've had an awesome and BUSY summer!
You are thriving our little angel. Thriving in every possible way. We can't imagine our world without you in it. Missing the first three years of your life is hard to grapple with, especially when we look at pictures of you and your old friends in the orphanage and you ask me why you were there for so long. "Why didn't you come when I was a baby?" you ask. I'm so sad to say we didn't know even know you as a baby. But all I can say is we found each other and we are together now. Daddy and I feel beyond blessed to be your parents, it is an honor and a privilege that we do not take for granted when we kiss you goodnight.
Here's to an amazing year of lots of FIRSTS!
- You talk a lot. Like all the time. Like Mommy and Daddy have to sometimes ask you to stop so we can hear ourselves think. So then you start singing:)
- You still come into our bed around 3-5am the majority of most nights but we upgraded to a King sized bed finally so it doesn't really bother us at all. In fact, I kind of love waking up to your face every morning.
- You exude love. You live for snuggles, kisses and hugs. You ask in the car ride home from errands if we can "go home and snuggle." I wake up with a million kisses in the morning (Luckiest Mommy in the world)
- You have crazy strong upper body strength! You could climb street poles and "skin the cat" on our swingset trapeze bar when you were still 3 years old.
- Your manners are quite impressive. You thank Mommy/Daddy all the time for making your meals, taking you places and playing with you. It is endearing. I'm sure just a phase:)
- You love helping grown-ups do anything. Hanging stuff in your classroom with your teacher, putting laundry away with Mommy, cooking with Daddy- "Can I help you?" "Can I help you?"
- You and Grant are in full sibling petty fighting mode and know how to push each others buttons. However, when he was gone for a week in Rochester you missed him the most. You guys are so silly together and SO loud!
- You and Auden have the cutest relationship that I want to document every single day. The 4 year age gap is so sweet. You climb up to his bunk when he's reading and give him "massages" or just lay next to him until he pays attention to you. He plays awesome imagination games with you and you can convince him to play dolls often. He thinks you are "the cutest thing in the whole world!"
This summer has been a little hard with the change in routine that summers naturally bring. Although you still are at Appletree with your same buddies they change the teachers for the summer and every week is a different fun "theme" to make it feel different from the school year. We had the week long vacation in late June in NC, been to the lake twice for longs weekends, you've had you first sicknesses in the last month so missed some school days for that- so needless to say routine is lacking which makes you a little anxious and sad for drop-offs after so many days at home. It will be nice to get back in the fall routine next week. Luckily the teachers say you bounce back quickly and we always pick you up with a smile on your face. We are so lucky to have such a great school with a staff so invested in you. After your school show on the high school stage in May, all the teachers and parents just commented and complimented on how amazing you are doing and just can't believe how much you have caught up with language and confidence.
We've had an awesome and BUSY summer!
You are thriving our little angel. Thriving in every possible way. We can't imagine our world without you in it. Missing the first three years of your life is hard to grapple with, especially when we look at pictures of you and your old friends in the orphanage and you ask me why you were there for so long. "Why didn't you come when I was a baby?" you ask. I'm so sad to say we didn't know even know you as a baby. But all I can say is we found each other and we are together now. Daddy and I feel beyond blessed to be your parents, it is an honor and a privilege that we do not take for granted when we kiss you goodnight.
Here's to an amazing year of lots of FIRSTS!
First Christmas!
New Years! Happy 2018!
Baptism at St. Mark's Church with Godparents Uncle Chris and Ms. Ven
Daddy's little Valentine
Easter fun
Disney World in Florida!!!
Fist time skiing! Liberty Mountain, PA
Spring Break in Colorado
