Our Little Girl is Four!

Image0000501, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

I realize that this post is a little behind but I can't believe that our little girl is four years old. Where has the time gone?

Ryla had an amazing birthday celebration this year with three parties! She started off by celebrating her birthday at Pre-K with all her school friends. We brought cupcakes and had a fun classroom celebration. That weekend Ryla also had a birthday party at The Childrens Museum in Denver. She had a great time with her friends. We finished her birthday off on the July 4th weekend with fireworks, Toy Story 3 and a birthday BBQ. We had so much fun!

Ryla also had her four-year checkup at the doctor. She is doing great! She is 41" tall and weighs 37 lbs. She is in the 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. Basically, we have a tall string bean. Ha! She was very aware of her shots this year, she had to get 4! She cried but was easily cheered up with ice cream. The doctor said that these were her shots for Kindergarten and she won't have to get any for a few more years now.

I can't believe our baby will be going to Kindergarten next year. I am still trying to adjust to the fact that she is four.

Ryla's First Dance Recital

Dance_Solo_Picture, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

Ryla had her first dance recital on Wednesday, June 16. This past year she learned both tap and ballet and had a great time learning to dance.

She performed two dances in the recital. Her tap dance was done to The Beatles "Octopus Garden" and the ballet dance was done to the lullaby "All The Pretty Horses". She did such a great job at the recital! You can tell by the way she performed that she really loves to dance.

Ryla is taking the summer off from dance and is doing swim and soccer lessons instead. She will start dance classes again this fall.

This is a picture from the recital.

Starting Pre-K

DSC08440, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

Ryla finished her last day of Pre-School today. She will start Pre-K on Tuesday after the holiday weekend.

I have to admit that I got a tear in my eye today at the thought of our baby growing up so fast. I can't believe that she will be starting Kindergarten next year. Where does the time go?

Ryla's teachers gave all of the kids moving up a farewell party today that included a fun sticker book. Her teachers are so great and they will be missed.

Ryla is looking forward to her new class and a lot of her friends are moving up with her so that makes the transition a little easier. We are so excited to see what she can learn in this new environment!

Spongebob and Ryla

DSC08398, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

One of Ryla's favorite characters and cartoon to watch is Spongebob Squarepants. She gets a big kick out of all of the characters.

When we got a flyer from our local Del Taco showing that Spongebob was going to make an appearance at their grand opening we knew we had to go.

Here is a picture of Ryla with her new buddy Spongebob. She was so excited to meet him and to give him a high five!

S is for Soccer

DSC08070, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

Ryla Maestas, future soccer star!

Ryla just started her 3rd month of weekly soccer classes that are offered at her pre-school. The coaches come to the school every Thursday afternoon and all of the kids that have signed up get pulled out of class for 45 minutes of soccer in the indoor gym.

Ryla loves soccer day and she has learned so much! She is able to throw the ball in the air and run up under it to kick it across the field. She has also learned how to run with the ball and scoot it with her feet. It is quite impressive.

A dad of Ryla's classmate was kind enough to shoot us some video from a practice so we will try to get it uploaded soon so everyone can see her mad skills.

The Art of the Stick Figure

smiley2, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

One of Ryla's favorite activities is drawing. She loves to sit at a table with a crayon, marker or a set of paints. She will draw and paint for hours on end and she always has something special to show for it.

She recently has mastered the art of the "smiley face" so we are now working on the art of the "stick figure". Up until now her face drawings have consisted of only a head. Sometimes she would add arms coming out of the head but that was about it. This past week she drew her first full bodied figure. She even added hair.

We thought this picture was adorbale so we wanted to share it. We just may have a budding artist on our hands.

R-y-l-a

Ryla_name, originally uploaded by roman_tiffany.

Ryla has been learning how to write the letters of the alphabet in preschool and recently she has been practicing writing her name. We think she is doing great! Her teacher said she is developing her fine motor skills at a good rate and that she enjoys writing.

We are so proud of how much she is learning at preschool. Along with writing, Ryla is currently learning Spanish and Mandarin. She can count to ten in both languages and now loves to watch Dora and Kai-Lan. Ryla is still quite the artist and has learned how to draw a complete stick figure. She is always making pictures of her family.

Along with core knowledge learning she has also developed her social skills and has a lot of new friends. We love to hear the stories of her day at school. She always has something to talk about.

This picture shows her latest attempt at writing her name. So cute!

Viva Las Vegas!

Last week we went to Las Vegas with my Mom and Elvis. We used our timeshare and it was fabulous! We kept busy showing Mom and Elvis all the sights and had a great time. Roman put together a video highlighting our trip.

Enjoy!

Vegas 2010 from roman maestas on Vimeo.