Happiness Is...

 

...having the cutest baby sister in the whole world! I love you, Mia Patricia!

By the way, we are giving this photo in a lovely frame to everyone in our family for Christmas this year.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my actual fourth birthday! I had to go to preschool today since it was a school day. But Mommy made chocolate chip cookies for me to share with my friends and they were delicious. We went to the doctor this morning and I got lots of shots. Ouchie! By the way, I am 34 pounds and 38 inches high. Not too big but not too small. I guess I'd say I am just right!

Since we had a big family party on Saturday, Mommy, Daddy, Mia and I went to my favorite place for dinner. If you guessed IHOP, then you win a prize! Or as I like to call it: HI-HOP. Here I am with Daddy eating my Silver Five pancakes. Yummy!

This was Mia's first restaurant experience. She slept through the whole thing. Mommy says she doesn't have any teeth yet so I don't think she would have enjoyed the pancakes.

Being four is the best! I feel so much older. Bet you can't wait to see what happens during my fourth year...

Brunch with Santa

 

 Today we went to Tutu and Sir's country club for the annual Brunch with Santa. We all love this event and get all dressed up in our Christmas duds. Tutu and I were looking particularly festive, don't you think?

 

 First we all sat down to have a yummy brunch. I had waffles, eggs, fruit...

 

...and of course dessert!

 

 Uncle Mike, Aunt Marisa and Cousin Ella came, too!

 

Soon it was time for the "big guy" to arrive. Tutu and I stood in line for our turn to meet with Santa. I spied him out of the corner of my eye. I'm not so sure about this guy, Tutu.

And of course by the time it was my turn, I was having nothing to do with Santa. I cried as soon as Tutu came within two feet of him. This was as close as I was going to get. Hmmm, déjà vu, maybe? Even though I did not sit on your lap, Santa, I still want you to bring me a big boy Lego set, OK?

 

Since Mia is so small, Mommy thought it best for her to steer clear of Santa this year. This is as close as she was willing to get. Smart move, Mommy. That guy is shifty!

Even though I obviously still harbor negative emotions about Santa, I was not about to turn down a gift from him. I'm cautious but not crazy, people. He gave me a little Transformers airplane that I loved. I also got these nifty wooden cars from Cousin Ella for my birthday. I loved taking them apart and putting them back together again, which I did about 50 times.

Ella, on the other hand, loved Santa. She sat on his lap and told him exactly what she wanted for Christmas. Here she is playing with the princesses he gave her.

 

So even though I did not enjoy the Santa part, we still had a blast at the brunch. Thanks for inviting us, Tutu and Sir!

After brunch, we went over to Tutu and Sir's house to see the decorations. Ella and I both love her animated Nutcracker Suite. I'm sure we would have stood there all day and pressed the "play" button over and over if the adults didn't drag us away.

Before we left, Ella and I took our traditional picture on Tutu's garden bridge.

Cousins are the best!

So I guess the holidays are officially here! I can't wait for Christmas to be here...

My Fourth Birthday Party!

Today was my fourth birthday party! Hooray, I'm four!

We had a Toy Story 3 theme. My cake had both Buzz and Woody on it. So awesome!

We had a pretty quiet family party at our house since my baby sister is still so small. Cousin Jack and I played with Daddy's Transformer while we waited for dinner. Yes, Daddys have toys, too. At least at our house they do!

Everyone had a great time. Here's Sir and Daddy chatting it up.

Soon it was time for cake! I got ready for the singing and candle blowing.

Happy birthday to ME! I love that song.

Here I am blowing out the candles. There were four since I am four.

Then it was time to open presents.

Jack "helped" me, of course. Here are a few highlights. We both loved this dinosaur from Mimi and Pop-Pop.

It roars and moves and everything! Neato!

I was also introduced to Star Wars by Tutu and Sir. Luke Skywalker and Yoda, huh? Interesting...

How many adults does it take to put together the Millennium Falcon? Apparently three.

Gosh, Pop-Pop even had to put on his glasses for this one.

I also got a camera from Mommy and Daddy, a Batman car from Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn, a Maui T-shirt from Auntie Da and Uncle Jimmy and a big bag of goodies and money from Great-Grammy Mary. Wow, right?

Finally, we took some family photos. Here's one with all the Livingstons...

And here's one with all the Dirstines.

 

 You're probably wondering what little Mia did during the party. She slept most of the time and everyone had a blast holding and snuggling her. Cute!

Wow, what an awesome fourth birthday I had! Roar! Let's do it again next year...

What I'm Learning in Preschool: November 2011

In November, my preschool class and I tapped into our creative sides. Ms. Leslie gave us lots of cool art mediums to try out and boy did we make some awesome art! Like this neat fish made with macaroni, pipe cleaners, yarn and pom-pom balls.
We also used art to practice other skills. This cute caterpillar helped me learn to paste, glue and cut as well as review the alphabet.

Colors were also talked about a lot in my class in November. Did you know that green means go, read means stop and yellow means slow down?

Mommy loves this blob painting I made. Sometimes being creative means following directions and making patterns.

This little turtle was made out of tissue paper. I took my time and glued the pieces onto his shell very carefully.

Oooo, marble painting is also very fun. I love to play with paint and see what comes out. Cutting loose and doing your own thing is the best.

We also worked on our lettering skills in November. As you can see from this paper, I traced the G, H, and Is but at the end, I wrote them on my own. I am getting so good at writing!

On this one, Ms. Leslie wrote that I am beginning to hold the writing tools really well. Awesome, huh?

And finally, I am continuing to work on writing my name and made a lot of progress.

So, November school work sure was creative and fun! In December, we are going to work on our coordination and visual skills. That means that we are going to focus on visual differences, like big and small. Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday, Mimi and Daddy!

Today we celebrated Mimi (November 26) and Daddy's (November 27) birthdays! Everyone came up to our house since my baby sister is only 4 days old. Mimi says that Daddy is her favorite son-in-law. Mommy says he is her ONLY son-in-law. Silly! 

Of course there was a big chocolate cake for dessert, homemade by my Tutu. The birthday boy and girl blew out the candles. What did you wish for? I hope it was for a pony.

Cousin Jack and I had front row seats for all the action so we were the first ones to get a slice of the yummy cake. Score!

It sure was delicious! You are an excellent baker, Tutu!

And what did our newborn do? She slept and was held by everyone. My sister is so cute!

 How about a big birthday kiss, Daddy! You are my bestest pal!

By the end of the day, we were all pooped! Here's a picture of Daddy with his two kiddos. 

It sure was a great party for two of my most favorite people. Happy birthday, Mimi and Daddy! Here's to many, many more! We love you!