Leah @ 4 1/2

 

My sweet oldest girl is already halfway to 5 years old. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital with no idea what we were doing! And now we’ve already applied for her to get into a Homeschool Kindergarten program in the fall. She is quickly becoming so mature and so smart. She can completely dress herself down to shoes & coat (although she needs work on buttons & snaps), she sits at the table with no booster seat, and she can almost buckle herself into her own car seat.

Leah is 100% girly girl. She is definitely all about princesses—if there is anything with a princess on it, she immediately notices and has to have it! Probably about half her day is spent in a Princess dress, crown, or jewels. The other half she’s playing with her Barbie “dollies”, drawing or coloring (probably a picture of a Princess), or “reading” a book.

This is a girl with extreme emotions. One minute she could be sad in tears because she can’t find a toy or can’t do something she desperately wants to do on he own, and then the next she could be doubled over in laughter. Her anxiety about some situations sometimes worries me—she asks so many questions about new places, and though she’s not fearful about trying new things, she has to know exactly what’s going to happen. She is in NO WAY shy—she will tell perfect strangers in the store about what she got for Christmas, her baby sister’s name, anything! 

She is very dependent upon her “blankie” (one she’s had since she was born) and has been known to stand by the dryer in tears waiting for it to be clean, although she doesn’t really carry it out of the house so much anymore.

Leah loves to play “Mommy” to her little brother and sister and always asks me if she’ll get to be a mommy when she grows up. She get very concerned if we are going someplace and Andrew is getting into things he’s not supposed to or if I threaten to leave him someplace. She hates when one of them gets hurt, and is so tenderhearted she’ll even cry for them. She always smothers the baby with kisses and hugs and does everything in her being to get Abigail to laugh or roll over or whatever other milestone she’s trying to get to.

 

 

Leah is learning a lot in our preschool “adventures,” and is even doing some beginning reading, making 3-letter words. She seems to be better in math than she is in reading or writing at this point. She tends to get easily frustrated when she can’t do something on her own, even if it’s something I haven’t even taught her how to do yet. Every morning she wakes up she asks “What day is today, Mommy?” “And what do we do on ___ (that day)?” She is eager to face the day and whatever adventures it may bring.

This is a picture she drew recently of our family (the black is my hair). It is so interesting to see her drawing develop more and more.

She loves to sing & dance, as proven by this blackmail video:

Leah dancing

Abigail @ 4 Months

 

This little girl is the fastest growing baby ever! I can’t believe how quickly her baby-hood is flying by. She has just moved into her 3-6 month clothes. She weighs about 14 lbs. She still sleeps fairly well at night although she will occasionally wake in the middle of the night or very early in the morning. Her naps are pretty unpredictable although usually she will take a long nap in the morning and two shorter naps in the afternoon & evening.

Being the third-born, her naps tend to get interrupted because we have to go someplace or the other with her older siblings. She sleeps well in the car, but not anywhere else. If we’re out and about, she wants to be awake so she doesn’t miss anything. But she’s rarely ever grumpy and almost never cries when we’re out, so she’s such an easygoing baby!

She is finally starting to smile & giggle more often, although she’s definitely more of an observer and doesn’t smile unless you smile at her first. She also has started squealing at the top of her lungs when she’s happy or when no one’s paying attention to her. I remember this with Leah, but not Andrew—apparently girls start their drama early!

She holds her head up very well. And her big sister is determined to teach her how to roll over. She offers a lot of praise, and what’s really funny is when she demonstrates for her how to do it.

Can you believe she already has her 2 bottom front teeth peeking in? Leah was 7 or 8 months before she had any teeth and Andrew was almost one! They’re technically not in yet, but her gums are white and she has shown other signs of teething. She is already pulling things to her mouth and gumming them! I don’t remember that happening this soon, either! However, she still won’t take a paci (which should be interesting when she’s really all-out teething) and she’s not great with a bottle.

This is how I’ve found her in her crib the past few mornings. We may have a finger-sucker on our hands!

She still nurses on demand although she’s much better now at finishing a whole feeding, so it works out that she usually eats every 3 hours she’s awake. She doubles up at night, though, usually eating 2 or even 3 times within 4 hours—storing up for a long night’s rest.

Now that she has more head control, we’ve tried out a couple different toys. She loves to sit straight upright or stand so these are right up her alley!

 

4 Months Old

 

Dancing Queen

 

Leah’s dance class had Parent Observation Day yesterday. Normally the parents have to wait outside the classroom while they dance, so as not to be a distraction, but this week we got to see what goes on inside! We were told not to interact with them at all so the class would be as normal as possible. They all did so well—I could not tell if they even noticed we were there! Many of my pictures turned out blurry because they were moving so much, and I didn’t have the ideal spot to get good pictures (plus I had to hold Andrew & Abigail), but you get the idea!

They started by stretching at the bar. This was the only “real” ballet they did, using the different positions.

 

They did some dancing in a big circle where they had to hold hands. Leah really did smile like this almost the whole class. She genuinely seemed to be enjoying herself.

 

  

She really seemed to get into it and was by far one of the most energetic. (In fact, she was somewhat of a ham.) She listened so well to her teacher, who seemed to have really great control over the girls (who are all Leah’s age or a little younger).

 

They did one dance on the floor.

Get those hips into it, girl!

Here she was hugging (well, smothering) one of her little friends.

     

Then they got scarves and they were allowed to dance around & do what they wanted (as long as they didn’t run).

 

And at the end of the class they all got stickers. I like how they were all rewarded & praised, and there was very little pressure to perform “correctly.” At this age it’s all about having fun, and Leah really seems to!

Snow Day!

 

Saturday we finally had some real snow (not the ICE we usually get here in NC) and we weren’t even home to truly enjoy it! BUT, my mom & dad were here so we could all go together to a wedding shower for my brother & his soon-to-be wife. So we enjoyed some of the snow on our drive there, and then we played outside a little at the church where the shower was held (this is why the kids don’t have gloves or hats in any of the pictures—we really didn’t come prepared!)

Before we left for the shower, the kids enjoyed some time with Grandma & Grandpa. Their favorite was jumping on their air mattress. Abigail wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t really herself (sorry, Grandma!) but she did enjoy watching her silly brother & sister.

  

 

 

  

  

  

My Valentines