Family pictures

 This fall we decided to update our family pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

Lucy at 4

 Our Lucy turned 4 in November and she had a great day! Since it was a Saturday we really got to stretch out her celebration. With the pandemic still going on and going strong we decided to forgo a family party. Evan still put streamers up and Caroline and Liam also really got into the party atmosphere and ran around trying to put a birthday hat on everyone, including Archie. 

The Sanckens came over to play outside in the afternoon and Grandpa and Grandma Fink came over the next day to celebrate. Lucy definitely felt the love. 

Lucy, at age 4, is still our very social girl. She loves to be around people and talk to them. Being unable to go to church and play with her friends in the nursery has been hard on her during the pandemic. Thankfully, she still goes to daycare/prek and enjoys it very much. 

Lucy is 3 feet 4 1/2 inches tall and 31 pounds. She is still our tallest kid, already within a 1/2 inch of her big brother at age 5! She wears 4T shirts and pants. 

Lucy loves to make others laugh. She is constantly trying to get her big brother and sister to laugh at her during meal times and at times has to be removed from the table for not settling down. She really enjoys running around with the bigger kids in the neighborhood who come over to hang out. Many times they encourage her to be a monster and chase them around the trampoline, she is very good at roaring and has no problem being loud. 

Lucy loves to watch TV. Her favorite movies are Frozen, Frozen 2, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. She loves to watch Teen Titans Go and Gravity Falls as well. 

She enjoys singing and really doesn't mind if she doesn't know the words. With Christmas around the corner she is very good at singing, "Santa Claus is coming to Town". 

Lucy still enjoys wearing dresses. She really loves to steal her sisters fancy dresses and wear those around the house. She is a girly girl. 

For the last three months or so she has not needed a pull-up at night. She now wears undies to bed and will even wake up and tell us in the middle of the night that she needs to use the potty. She is doing great with that! Sometimes she will wake up just to snuggle in our bed. Sometimes we let her stay and other times we try to get up and take her back to her bed. Most of the time she doesn't fall back asleep when she is with us and squirms quite a bit. When we put her to bed at night we encourage her to stay in her own bed through the night and Caroline tells her that if she is lonely she can sleep with her. (while I do think Caroline means it, I don't think at 3 am she would be at all happy sharing her bed)

Lucy enjoys playing by herself and with others. She loves her toys; Shopkins, Barbies, Princess figurines, Stuffed animals, playing with the kitchen and food and MagnaTiles. She also enjoys playing with Liam's Hot Wheels cars and his legos. 

Lucy no longer naps at home. It is difficult for her to fall asleep at night with many trips downstairs to check on her parents and talking and singing loudly. She has many books that she hides under her pillow that she likes to read aloud to herself and usually has anywhere from 10-15 dolls and stuffed animals in bed with her. On occasion we have had to move Caroline into the playroom so she can get to sleep since Lucy doesn't quite understand the concept of being quiet. At the daycare she does take a nap. So far that has worked fine and we have not noticed it keeping her up anymore than usual. We usually leave the house at 7 am which means she has to wake up around 6:40. I'm sure those days are a bit more exhausting with all of her friends running around, her wearing a mask all day and so nap time at school is ok for now. 

Lucy still enjoys peanut butter and honey sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. She does not eat a lot during meal times which we are trying to fix. She often says she is done eating and then an hour later wants a snack. 

She recently has told us that "we are breaking her heart" when she gets sent to timeout or in trouble. It's very cute. 

We can't imagine our family without our Lucy and thank God for her every day!