As of tomorrow... It's official. Kenzie will be closer to 5 than she is to 4. I can't believe our little baby is going to be turning 5 and becoming an elementary schooler/kindergartener in just a few short months. She is such an amazing little girl.
Kenzie at 4-and-a-half is....
... around 42.5 inches (81st percentile) tall and weighs about 40 pounds (71st percentile). We don't have any formal doc appointments on half birthdays any more so these are my estimates. If they are fairly accurate, they keep her on about the same percentile markers she has been on for the last 2 or so year. Either way, the kid is tall. She is firmly planted in at least size 6 to 7 dresses and pants. She wears a small to medium shirt in kids' sizes. We still have the issue that she is skinnier than she is tall and all her height has remained in her legs it seems so we have to have adjustable waist pants or fold things down if we can to keep them on her hips. She has a couple of pairs of size 5 pants that fit her waist but she has to wear them as capris because they don't make it halfway down her calves usually. Haha! Her weight increased significantly (sort of) a few months ago but she has been holding strong at her current weight for a while. Her weight seemed to go up with her height though and then she got even taller without gaining any more so it didn't help much with that itty bitty waist issue. She wears a size 10-11 shoe depending on how it is made.
... still doesn't always eat what we want her to at dinner but at least will eat some veggies again. That was a long 2.5 years of her refusing anything green. She actually really enjoys green beans and peas but they have to be the frozen kind (cooked, of course.) She won't eat fresh or canned. It's not that she doesn't like them because we don't know that since she doesn't even want to try them. In the last week she has decided that she likes lettuce. Well, she really prefers it as a salad but she doesn't like any of the other things that are usually included in a salad (except cheese and croutons). She is still iffy on a lot of meats but will eat most chicken and sometimes meatballs or meatloaf (which we have to call "meatball" to make either kid try it). She loves hot dogs, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, mandarins, and pizza. Typical 4-year-old stuff, really. She still loves fruit. She eats it with every meal and sometimes it is all we can get in her. Oh. And cheese. She loves cheese. She can be sort of particular about it, but she is constantly asking for cheese sticks or slices of cheese. She will also pass up just about any food for chips... or fried pickles (even just the pickle portion). Definitely my kid.
... still in possession of some envy inducing blonde curls. When reigned in, they are amazing. They are awesome when they aren't too because it is so "her". Her new nickname is "Curls". She acts like she doesn't like it, but I think she secretly loves it. Her girly girl nature means that she lets me try new hairstyles on her all the time. She loves all of them. (She loves everything...) and she tries to name them so that she can ask for them again. We have things like the standard Elsa or Rapunzel braid, the triple flippy pony, the criss cross piggies, etc. It's funny to hear her name these things. Sometimes though she is a "palm" (half up style) kind of girl and absolutely refused to let me do anything else. This is her overall favorite and we call it her signature look.
... loving school. And she is rocking it. It is amazing to us the changes in last year and this year. She can identify all her letters about 90% of the time and knows many letter sounds. In some simple words, she can identify the letters based on their sounds so she can spell some simple words (like "cat" or "dog") with some help segmenting the sounds. She can also write almost all of the letters without any guidance. Every now and then she needs help. She writes her full first name like a pro, is working on her last name (which she can write with a guide but has difficulty remembering how to spell it or how to write each letter without seeing it in print in front of her), and can write most numbers. She can easily identify 1-10 and can count to at least 49. She can count higher but she forgets the next 10s (as in can count to 49 but forgets 50 comes after). She can also add some simple numbers less than 10 together with minimal help. She is constantly trying to rhyme words and has gotten pretty good at it. One day a few weeks ago she randomly told us that she could spell her name backwards and then proceeded to spell Mackenzie backwards. We asked if she did that in school and she said no so we aren't sure how she learned it but we were fairly impressed. She loves for us to give her words and she counts the syllables in them while clapping each syllable. She did this for the duration of a 45 minute walk a few weeks ago. I was running out of words. While on the subject of school, she is so excited that she is only a few months from being in "big school". I'm lamenting the loss of my baby girl, but she is so ready to spread her wings and fly (for lack of a better way to put that...)
... still a dancing fool. She has been in dance for almost a year now and she has grown so much in her skill level. She loves to show us new moves (using the right terminology most of the time too).We can see her coordination getting so much better too. The same kid that couldn't skip 6 months ago without turning it into a gallop can now skip forward and backwards. Have you ever tried to skip backwards? I have. It isn't that easy. Haha! When her class did their Christmas dance this year, she barely even needed to look at her teacher for guidance as she was able to remember the dance without help. In addition to dance, she is still super active and always seems to be on the move. She still runs a bit crazy, but once she runs more than about 20 feet her stride evens out. She is excited at the idea of running the 200 meter dash at the Disney Princess Kids Races next year and wants to make sure that she "practices" so she can run the entire thing.
... super perceptive. She notices everything. And remembers it all too. We have to be careful what we say around her even if we aren't talking to her and think she isn't listening. She is constantly amazing us with random things she understands or remembers that we think she is unaware of. She is also really great at making inferences based on what we say. She doesn't need details to figure much out. It's amazing to me how her brain works sometimes. And yet, the kid can't remember where she left her shoes 90% of the time. Kids' minds are weird.
... still honest to a fault. We have caught her in a random lie a couple of times but 90% of the time, even if she knows she is going to get in trouble, she tells us the truth. I hope that never changes... but I know it probably will. My favorite was earlier this month when her and Will were arguing in the playroom and he randomly started crying. When asked what happened she said she pushed Will out of the chair and onto the floor because she wanted to sit down. Um. Way to get away with that one...
... crazy polite. She says "please" and "thank you" almost all the time (at least to other people as she sometimes thinks we are exempt from using these words. She will say "excuse me" if she wants to start talking or needs to get by someone in a tight space. She also says "hello" and "bye" to almost everyone she meets. She loves to wish people a nice holiday. For instance, she spent the last month telling people either "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year" when she walks by them. This isn't a new behavior for her, but I love that she continues to be so polite. (Her teachers also love it. LOL)
... equipped with a serious imagination. She loves to use her legos and build houses or cities for dolls. She loves her doll house and playing with little figurines. Her babies are like living things for her. She often tells me that we need to be quiet and her room has to stay closed because her babies are sleeping. They apparently require frequent naps. She can make a box so many different things, like a house, car, etc. She is constantly playing make believe with Will too. She loves having a playmate and her want to play with him has made his imagination skills so much better so much earlier than we saw it with Kenzie so she is obviously a good imagination using influence. They play a lot of "restaurant" together. She loves to have all of us sit down and pretend to serve us at a restaurant. She likes to play school with Will and makes him do things like random center time or sit down to pretend like they are at story time and she "reads" to him.
... into art (finally). She loves to color, use markers, paint, glue, make things, etc. She asks to "do art" almost every day. She loves for us to do it with her too. As in, if she is coloring, we color the same page with her. Though lately she has been more likely to let me color something on my own or work on my own project. She also loves to help me with any craft I'm working on. One of her favorite things to do is go to Hobby Lobby and choose some new craft to do. She would craft with me all day long if we had the time (and I had the energy).
... still loving books and is into more complex ones now. She asks questions about the stories a lot or makes inferences based on what we have read. She loves to get new books at the library. She is in school on story time days usually but anytime she gets the opportunity to go, she loves it. She just likes being around books and reading. She especially loves reading her Bible because she knows so many of the stories now. She tells us about hearing them in church or at school.
... still super into Disney Jr. She loves Elena of Avalor, Imagination Movers (I love that one too), Octonauts, and Doc. She is getting more and more into the slightly older preschool age PBS shows too. She liked them when she was about Will's age but then got out of it. Now she loves to watch Wild Kratts, Ready Jet Go, and Dinosaur Train.
... seriously attached to Daddy. She is okay if he is at work but when he is home, she wants to do everything with him that she can. Definitely a Daddy's Girl. The best was last week when she woke up in the morning before her clock turned green and she knew she couldn't come out yet. She started calling Daddy because she wanted help getting her SnuggieTail back on and we both showed up. She looked at me and said, "What are YOU doing here?..." then proceeded to inform me that her Frozen light was off so if I was in the room I might as well make myself useful and turn it back on. She didn't use all those words but her voice gave her intentions away.
... sassy as all get out. (See above comment about Frozen light) The sass is strong with this one. She thinks nothing of throwing her hand on her hip or in the air and telling us about something with the most sarcasm she can elicit. Good thing it is usually pretty funny or it would get old fast.
... able to launch a crying fit at the drop of a hat when told to do something she doesn't want to do. The drama is ridiculous. If told to clean her room and she doesn't want to, it isn't surprising to see her throw herself on the floor in a ball and cry. That stopped for a while but has gotten bad again as she has hit the drama stage. Thankfully, she usually avoids these outbursts in public. She gets sent to her room frequently to chill out and is allowed to return when she stops crying. She usually returns pretty quickly but doesn't let her stop her from doing it again. She wants to get her way all the time (typical) and lately lets us know when she is not happy when she doesn't.
... a Disney-loving kid. She wants to ride every ride she can and visit any character she sees even if she isn't sure who it is. Princesses are her favorites though. Speaking of rides, she has been telling us more and more lately she she is afraid of heights. We aren't sure what provoked this but she won't ride a ferris wheel with us or anything because she said it goes too high. She is perfectly fine with rides like Dumbo though. We keep asking her but don't push her to ride things. She lets us know if she is okay with it or not. We wonder if she will eventually grow out of it. Same kid that didn't like slides a year and a half ago now goes down any slide she can find... so who knows?
... rarely sick anymore. This year we seem to have finally gotten through the initial always sick thing that comes with starting school. I think the fact that she has been going to church and being with other kids since she was about 7 months old has also helped us with all of the sickness. She has also helped us out by being a carrier and bringing each and ever cold home to her brother so maybe he won't be as bad when he starts school next year... but we will see. She has had a cold or two and her seasonal allergies flared up once or twice in the last 6 months, but there is nothing really major going on often anymore. (I'm sure I just jinxed us by saying that though.) Her nose still runs more than it doesn't but that is related to her allergies and she is finally better at wiping it herself. Thank goodness.
... loving having her brother as a playmate but also loves to argue with him. The sibling fighting has gotten a bit crazy in recent months. They run hot and cold with each other all day long. They can go from playing like the best friends ever to literally wrestling on the floor in a second (and not in that aw! how cute! kind of way) and then (even without parent intervention) back again to BFFs. She is in the tattling stage so we are working on that. All that being said, dealing with the annoying sibling arguments are worth it (most of the time) to watch them get along and play together. We are working on them learning to figure a lot of it out on their own. We will sit in another room and wait to see if they can work out their issues on their own before we get involved. Kenzie usually ends up running in to tell us what Will is doing wrong though. Haha!
... super social and has a ton of friends at school and church. We joke that she has never met a stranger. (And yes, we are aware of the difficulty that causes with the whole "stranger danger" concept but we are working on that...) She finally remembers her friends' names too. Last year she had difficulty telling us the names of her classmates but this year she can tell us all of them, plus the other class, and name the people at church even though she sees them less often. If someone comes to our house for something (like the washing machine repair guy last week), she decides that it is her mission to make a new friend and follows them around talking their ear off. Luckily, most of the people we have had over lately for something have had kids of their own and they are used to it.
... seriously sweet. I can't imagine having her any other way. She pushes my buttons like no other and sometimes is so much like me in her stubbornness that it's irritating, but she is such a joy. We are excited to see what the next 6 months brings. Though I often still wish I could slow time down and enjoy the good moments a little longer.
Happy half birthday to our fun-loving, ball of energy, dramatic, friendly, loving, amazing little girl. She will always be our baby girl. =)
Kenzie at 4-and-a-half is....
... around 42.5 inches (81st percentile) tall and weighs about 40 pounds (71st percentile). We don't have any formal doc appointments on half birthdays any more so these are my estimates. If they are fairly accurate, they keep her on about the same percentile markers she has been on for the last 2 or so year. Either way, the kid is tall. She is firmly planted in at least size 6 to 7 dresses and pants. She wears a small to medium shirt in kids' sizes. We still have the issue that she is skinnier than she is tall and all her height has remained in her legs it seems so we have to have adjustable waist pants or fold things down if we can to keep them on her hips. She has a couple of pairs of size 5 pants that fit her waist but she has to wear them as capris because they don't make it halfway down her calves usually. Haha! Her weight increased significantly (sort of) a few months ago but she has been holding strong at her current weight for a while. Her weight seemed to go up with her height though and then she got even taller without gaining any more so it didn't help much with that itty bitty waist issue. She wears a size 10-11 shoe depending on how it is made.
... still doesn't always eat what we want her to at dinner but at least will eat some veggies again. That was a long 2.5 years of her refusing anything green. She actually really enjoys green beans and peas but they have to be the frozen kind (cooked, of course.) She won't eat fresh or canned. It's not that she doesn't like them because we don't know that since she doesn't even want to try them. In the last week she has decided that she likes lettuce. Well, she really prefers it as a salad but she doesn't like any of the other things that are usually included in a salad (except cheese and croutons). She is still iffy on a lot of meats but will eat most chicken and sometimes meatballs or meatloaf (which we have to call "meatball" to make either kid try it). She loves hot dogs, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, mandarins, and pizza. Typical 4-year-old stuff, really. She still loves fruit. She eats it with every meal and sometimes it is all we can get in her. Oh. And cheese. She loves cheese. She can be sort of particular about it, but she is constantly asking for cheese sticks or slices of cheese. She will also pass up just about any food for chips... or fried pickles (even just the pickle portion). Definitely my kid.
... still in possession of some envy inducing blonde curls. When reigned in, they are amazing. They are awesome when they aren't too because it is so "her". Her new nickname is "Curls". She acts like she doesn't like it, but I think she secretly loves it. Her girly girl nature means that she lets me try new hairstyles on her all the time. She loves all of them. (She loves everything...) and she tries to name them so that she can ask for them again. We have things like the standard Elsa or Rapunzel braid, the triple flippy pony, the criss cross piggies, etc. It's funny to hear her name these things. Sometimes though she is a "palm" (half up style) kind of girl and absolutely refused to let me do anything else. This is her overall favorite and we call it her signature look.
... loving school. And she is rocking it. It is amazing to us the changes in last year and this year. She can identify all her letters about 90% of the time and knows many letter sounds. In some simple words, she can identify the letters based on their sounds so she can spell some simple words (like "cat" or "dog") with some help segmenting the sounds. She can also write almost all of the letters without any guidance. Every now and then she needs help. She writes her full first name like a pro, is working on her last name (which she can write with a guide but has difficulty remembering how to spell it or how to write each letter without seeing it in print in front of her), and can write most numbers. She can easily identify 1-10 and can count to at least 49. She can count higher but she forgets the next 10s (as in can count to 49 but forgets 50 comes after). She can also add some simple numbers less than 10 together with minimal help. She is constantly trying to rhyme words and has gotten pretty good at it. One day a few weeks ago she randomly told us that she could spell her name backwards and then proceeded to spell Mackenzie backwards. We asked if she did that in school and she said no so we aren't sure how she learned it but we were fairly impressed. She loves for us to give her words and she counts the syllables in them while clapping each syllable. She did this for the duration of a 45 minute walk a few weeks ago. I was running out of words. While on the subject of school, she is so excited that she is only a few months from being in "big school". I'm lamenting the loss of my baby girl, but she is so ready to spread her wings and fly (for lack of a better way to put that...)
... still a dancing fool. She has been in dance for almost a year now and she has grown so much in her skill level. She loves to show us new moves (using the right terminology most of the time too).We can see her coordination getting so much better too. The same kid that couldn't skip 6 months ago without turning it into a gallop can now skip forward and backwards. Have you ever tried to skip backwards? I have. It isn't that easy. Haha! When her class did their Christmas dance this year, she barely even needed to look at her teacher for guidance as she was able to remember the dance without help. In addition to dance, she is still super active and always seems to be on the move. She still runs a bit crazy, but once she runs more than about 20 feet her stride evens out. She is excited at the idea of running the 200 meter dash at the Disney Princess Kids Races next year and wants to make sure that she "practices" so she can run the entire thing.
... super perceptive. She notices everything. And remembers it all too. We have to be careful what we say around her even if we aren't talking to her and think she isn't listening. She is constantly amazing us with random things she understands or remembers that we think she is unaware of. She is also really great at making inferences based on what we say. She doesn't need details to figure much out. It's amazing to me how her brain works sometimes. And yet, the kid can't remember where she left her shoes 90% of the time. Kids' minds are weird.
... still honest to a fault. We have caught her in a random lie a couple of times but 90% of the time, even if she knows she is going to get in trouble, she tells us the truth. I hope that never changes... but I know it probably will. My favorite was earlier this month when her and Will were arguing in the playroom and he randomly started crying. When asked what happened she said she pushed Will out of the chair and onto the floor because she wanted to sit down. Um. Way to get away with that one...
... crazy polite. She says "please" and "thank you" almost all the time (at least to other people as she sometimes thinks we are exempt from using these words. She will say "excuse me" if she wants to start talking or needs to get by someone in a tight space. She also says "hello" and "bye" to almost everyone she meets. She loves to wish people a nice holiday. For instance, she spent the last month telling people either "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year" when she walks by them. This isn't a new behavior for her, but I love that she continues to be so polite. (Her teachers also love it. LOL)
... equipped with a serious imagination. She loves to use her legos and build houses or cities for dolls. She loves her doll house and playing with little figurines. Her babies are like living things for her. She often tells me that we need to be quiet and her room has to stay closed because her babies are sleeping. They apparently require frequent naps. She can make a box so many different things, like a house, car, etc. She is constantly playing make believe with Will too. She loves having a playmate and her want to play with him has made his imagination skills so much better so much earlier than we saw it with Kenzie so she is obviously a good imagination using influence. They play a lot of "restaurant" together. She loves to have all of us sit down and pretend to serve us at a restaurant. She likes to play school with Will and makes him do things like random center time or sit down to pretend like they are at story time and she "reads" to him.
... into art (finally). She loves to color, use markers, paint, glue, make things, etc. She asks to "do art" almost every day. She loves for us to do it with her too. As in, if she is coloring, we color the same page with her. Though lately she has been more likely to let me color something on my own or work on my own project. She also loves to help me with any craft I'm working on. One of her favorite things to do is go to Hobby Lobby and choose some new craft to do. She would craft with me all day long if we had the time (and I had the energy).
... still loving books and is into more complex ones now. She asks questions about the stories a lot or makes inferences based on what we have read. She loves to get new books at the library. She is in school on story time days usually but anytime she gets the opportunity to go, she loves it. She just likes being around books and reading. She especially loves reading her Bible because she knows so many of the stories now. She tells us about hearing them in church or at school.
... still super into Disney Jr. She loves Elena of Avalor, Imagination Movers (I love that one too), Octonauts, and Doc. She is getting more and more into the slightly older preschool age PBS shows too. She liked them when she was about Will's age but then got out of it. Now she loves to watch Wild Kratts, Ready Jet Go, and Dinosaur Train.
... seriously attached to Daddy. She is okay if he is at work but when he is home, she wants to do everything with him that she can. Definitely a Daddy's Girl. The best was last week when she woke up in the morning before her clock turned green and she knew she couldn't come out yet. She started calling Daddy because she wanted help getting her SnuggieTail back on and we both showed up. She looked at me and said, "What are YOU doing here?..." then proceeded to inform me that her Frozen light was off so if I was in the room I might as well make myself useful and turn it back on. She didn't use all those words but her voice gave her intentions away.
... sassy as all get out. (See above comment about Frozen light) The sass is strong with this one. She thinks nothing of throwing her hand on her hip or in the air and telling us about something with the most sarcasm she can elicit. Good thing it is usually pretty funny or it would get old fast.
... able to launch a crying fit at the drop of a hat when told to do something she doesn't want to do. The drama is ridiculous. If told to clean her room and she doesn't want to, it isn't surprising to see her throw herself on the floor in a ball and cry. That stopped for a while but has gotten bad again as she has hit the drama stage. Thankfully, she usually avoids these outbursts in public. She gets sent to her room frequently to chill out and is allowed to return when she stops crying. She usually returns pretty quickly but doesn't let her stop her from doing it again. She wants to get her way all the time (typical) and lately lets us know when she is not happy when she doesn't.
... rarely sick anymore. This year we seem to have finally gotten through the initial always sick thing that comes with starting school. I think the fact that she has been going to church and being with other kids since she was about 7 months old has also helped us with all of the sickness. She has also helped us out by being a carrier and bringing each and ever cold home to her brother so maybe he won't be as bad when he starts school next year... but we will see. She has had a cold or two and her seasonal allergies flared up once or twice in the last 6 months, but there is nothing really major going on often anymore. (I'm sure I just jinxed us by saying that though.) Her nose still runs more than it doesn't but that is related to her allergies and she is finally better at wiping it herself. Thank goodness.
... loving having her brother as a playmate but also loves to argue with him. The sibling fighting has gotten a bit crazy in recent months. They run hot and cold with each other all day long. They can go from playing like the best friends ever to literally wrestling on the floor in a second (and not in that aw! how cute! kind of way) and then (even without parent intervention) back again to BFFs. She is in the tattling stage so we are working on that. All that being said, dealing with the annoying sibling arguments are worth it (most of the time) to watch them get along and play together. We are working on them learning to figure a lot of it out on their own. We will sit in another room and wait to see if they can work out their issues on their own before we get involved. Kenzie usually ends up running in to tell us what Will is doing wrong though. Haha!
... super social and has a ton of friends at school and church. We joke that she has never met a stranger. (And yes, we are aware of the difficulty that causes with the whole "stranger danger" concept but we are working on that...) She finally remembers her friends' names too. Last year she had difficulty telling us the names of her classmates but this year she can tell us all of them, plus the other class, and name the people at church even though she sees them less often. If someone comes to our house for something (like the washing machine repair guy last week), she decides that it is her mission to make a new friend and follows them around talking their ear off. Luckily, most of the people we have had over lately for something have had kids of their own and they are used to it.
... seriously sweet. I can't imagine having her any other way. She pushes my buttons like no other and sometimes is so much like me in her stubbornness that it's irritating, but she is such a joy. We are excited to see what the next 6 months brings. Though I often still wish I could slow time down and enjoy the good moments a little longer.
Happy half birthday to our fun-loving, ball of energy, dramatic, friendly, loving, amazing little girl. She will always be our baby girl. =)
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