Dear Olivia, August 19, 2018
I write you this letter over a month past your 5th birthday. I am sorry this letter is late but we had such a busy and fun summer! We just got back from camping with your Grammy and Papa and Auntie Dawn's family. You had a lot of fun. This year I watched you grow so much as a person, academically and physically. You became aware of other people's feelings more and grew much more empathetic. You continued to cultivate and grow your close friendships with Lauren, Savannah, Kennedy, and Adelaide at school and your bestie Addie away from school. You seemed to get along with your friends a lot better this year and there has been less conflict and drama (maybe because Ms. Lincoln won't tolerate it and nipped it in the bud!). You are quite social and even grew close with some of the girls in your dance and gymnastics classes although it took you a bit to get used to them. You can be a little shy at first with people you don't know.
Academically you grew so much this year. I was scared to put you in Ms. Lincoln's kindergarten class barely being 4 but you have learned so much. You went from barely recognizing some of your letters at the beginning of the year to knowing all of your letters, sounds, being able to sound out words, knowing 40 or so sight words, and writing and reading on your own. You also learned how to add and subtract and did some fun science experiments throughout the year. You got to learn with your close classmates and under the strict guidance of Ms. Lincoln. While I wouldn't say that you were doing everything Brandon was doing at the end of kindergarten you did complete about 75% of it and all while being only 4. What I love watching the most from you is your love for learning. You love to ask questions and work on learning.
Physically, you grew 3 inches this year! That is a lot of for a little girl, you are now 43 3/4" tall and in the 76% in height and was 43 lbs (70% in weight). You are wearing a size 11 shoe although in 12s for Nikes. You are still a whopping 15 lbs lighter than your brother at 5 and 3 inches shorter than your brother Your brother was your weight at 3 years 4 months but you were his height when he was a little over 4. Dr. Armsby predicts you will be quite tall as well. You have not lost any teeth yet and none of your teeth are wiggly yet. You are wearing all 5T and size 5 clothes and some 4-5T size although you wore your 4T clothes pretty much all the way until your birthday.
You are still quite active and enjoy being active. We tried soccer last year with a coed team that had kids that were quite older and it didn't go quite as well. We are trying again this year and hope that you will have some kids from your school on your team. Daddy and Taylor (Addie's dad) are going to coach your team. You love gymnastics and teacher Stephanie. You did so well in gymnastics that they moved you into an accelerated gymnastics class in the summer and the school year-Shooting Stars. You were determined to learn a cartwheel and practiced over and over again until you perfected it, you were so proud of yourself. You also did dance and did quite well in that too and got placed in an advanced dance class this year too where you get to do tap, jazz, ballet and Acro. You love performing and loved doing your dance class recital. You also grew to love your teacher Jessica in dance too and made friends with some of the girls in your class.
Your favorite foods are pasta, mac and cheese, corn, cheese, bagels with cream cheese, you love most fruit including apples, bananas, peaches, strawberries, raspberries and blue berries. You have become a little more picky with foods but generally are quite a good eater. You love unicorns still, all blind bags, Shopkins, coloring, any craft project, and really got into your dolls this year. You love animals and have really grown close to CiCi's labradoodle Pumpkin this year. You also love playing with your cousin Bianca who's the same age as you and your younger cousins Jasper and Sierra. You are generally a good sleeper but gave up on naps entirely this year. You typically go to bed at around 8:30 and sleep until 7:00ish.
As the summer dwindles down, you have been a bit more moody-new dance and gymnastics classes with new kids, new school looming, saying goodbye to Lauren your best friend since you were 5 months old, and getting ready to say goodbye to the school that you have gone to almost every day since you were 5 months old is hard. I am so proud of you for adjusting and know that you will do great. I am so sad my baby girl is growing up but so proud of you. I know you will do great things this year in your new big girl school. I love you so much Olivia.
Love,
Mommy
Some of my favorite pictures of you over the year you were 4!
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| This was taken just after you turned 4 at Sun River in early July-you loved that Elsa and Anna swimsuit and loved jumping off of the side of the pool into the deep end |
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| Timothy Lake the first time we camped there you loved swimming in the lake in August |
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| Total Solar Eclipse in August |
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| First day of Kindergarten in Rocking Horse |
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| Writing your name during Brandon's soccer practice in September |
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| Mommy and Liv selfie in September |
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| Pulling Pumpkins in Lee Farms in October |
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| Costume fun at dance class |
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| Costume fun at gymnastics class |
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| Thanksgiving November fun with Brandon at Grammy's house |
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| Hanging with baby Sierra in December |
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| Twinsies for Christmas! |
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| Giant snowball in January! |
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| Little Valentine in February |
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| First pedicure in March before Mexico |
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| Out in our balcony in Mexico |
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| Sunbathing on the beach in Mexico |
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| First time in a warm ocean |
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| Beautiful sunset |
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| Hammock fun in Mexico in March |
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| First time on a mule |
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| Suspension bridge |
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| Rock climbing! |
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| You love to jump |
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| Photos taken in Mexico so sweet of you |
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| Easter 2018-you loved your kinder surprise egg you got |
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| So much fun at the Woodburn tulip festival although we got stuck in a terrible traffic jam for hours |
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| Recital practice |
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| Hiking Mary's peak with CiCi in May on Mother's day weekend |
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| Strawberry picking at a local farm in late May |
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| First Mariners game with cousin Bianca in Seattle in late May |
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| Mini Olympics fun in June |
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| Last day of kindergarten at Rocking Horse-photo taken before dance class-she looks so old! |
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| Kindergarten and pre-school graduation-so proud of her! |
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| First dance recital-all ready to perform |
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| She did awesome on the big stage! |
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| Girls weekend fun with Addie and Brooke in June |
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| Such a fun birthday party at Pump It Up! |
