Happy 4th Birthday, Abber Dabbers!

Dear Abby Kate,

You turned 4 this month, and before I add another baby into our family, I wanted to tell you what you are like at 4 years old!  Your little personality continues to grow and shine.  Your confidence, humor, expressiveness bring so much joy to our family every day!  You are so smart, and remember everything you hear.  You have started to tell us something you learned in Sunday School or school, and then you add your own little commentary to it, sometimes explaining it correctly, and sometimes missing a few points.  It's really funny to hear you explain the story of Joseph, and you are so sweet saying, "Guess what??  God has a plan for me," out of the blue after you've been to church.  I just love the way your little mind works!
This year has been a little different since Christa started school.  You and Elizabeth have really bonded.  You still love to play with Christa, but you are relishing being the "big sister" to Elizabeth while Christa is away.  When Elizabeth gets upset, you will go to her and hug her and say, "Do you want Abby Kate?" in the sweetest, most caring voice.  You just love it when Elizabeth wants to sit next to you in the car or play with you or when I'm trying to get her to go to bed, and she says, "I want A-eeee Kate."  We are working on striking a good balance between encouraging your kindness for Elizabeth while not making Christa feel left out when she's around.  I'm hoping Thomas's arrival will help this dynamic to work itself out, because I know that you and Elizabeth do not mean to hurt Christa's feelings, and yet Christa realizes she is gone all day while you two are playing together without her.  You've done a great job of making an extra effort to play with Christa when she's home, though, and this is one of many adjustments we will face as you guys get older, I'm sure.
You are starting to get really embarrassed when we laugh at something you say or draw attention in any way to you if you are talking in the car or playing.  I try not to react, because I just love watching you and what is going to come out of your mouth next, but sometimes you are just so cute and funny, I can't help but laugh or say how cute you are before I can stop myself!
You are loving school, and you especially like singing the Spanish alphabet.  You like to talk about which countries speak Spanish.  You are starting after-school soccer today for a few weeks.  I've always thought you might be my girl who likes more athletic activities, so we're going to try this low-key mini-course, since it only involves me picking you up about 30 minutes later than usual once a week.  You love your teachers and love to walk Elizabeth to her class on the days she goes.
You love Rapunzel, although you are not dressing up as much as you used to.  You like to color, cut paper, and help yourself to any messy activity you can find.  You like to pull out the board games and play with the little pieces in them.  You are great at puzzles and will pull those out and work on them all on your own.  You are starting to get stronger opinions on what you want to wear, so we are trying to pick out your clothes the night before on school days. 
You are a very light sleeper, and always wake up when I go into your room to wake Christa up for school.  It's really easy to get you ready in the morning, so this usually works out just fine, even though you could sleep about an hour later some mornings.  You are starting to ask to pray on your own at night, which is so sweet.  You also like to "read" (recite what you've memorized) the Sneaky Snake story from the bible.  I have got to get this on tape soon, because you look at the pages and say the words as if you are easily reading it, and you even hiss through the snakes part.
You also like to talk about the "sneak thief."  The sneak thieves were in the Flat Stanley story we had to read with Christa over the summer, and, apparently, they made a big impression on you.  Every morning if you can't find something, or something is out of place, you will say, "That stinky sneak thief stole my jewelry box."  Or sometimes you say, "That sneak thief moved this toy!"  It's adorable!

I love you so much, and I can't wait to see who you become over the next 4 years of your little life!
Love,
Mommy