Happy 1/2 birthday to Kenzie! How is she already five-and-a-half?? I can't believe that!!! She is growing up so fast. Sometimes I look at her and can't believe that we are lucky enough to be her parents. (Other times I want to send her to her room before I start banging my head into the wall because she is driving me crazy. But it's all about balance.)
At 5-and-a-half, Kenzie:
Is the sweetest kiddo ever. She has such a heart for others. Kenzie loves to make other people happy. We often joke that if you are ever having a bad day, hang out with Kenzie. Her happy view on life is contagious. We love that she lives her life viewing the world through rose colored glasses and although we want her to be aware of what goes on around her (and she actually is), we want her to maintain that positive outlook and that contagious, fun, sweet, caring, personality.
Is still tall. She is currently somewhere around 45.5 to 46 inches tall. Those are my own measurements and I'm often off some. She is somewhere between the 82nd and 88th percentile in height so she continues to be closer to the top of the percentiles. We expect that she will begin to slow down more and more here as she gets older and she won't continue to have these big jumps in inches. She weighs somewhere around 44 pounds which is around the 63rd percentile. We also learned how to figure out her weight for stature percentile this year and she is around 38th percentile so even though her weight seems higher than it has in the past... this kid is tall and thin. Actually, I think when the doc gives us her percentile for weight, she is using the weight for stature because it seems far more in line with what we are used to.
Wears clothing sizes that drive us crazy. She requires at least a 6-8 due to her height usually for pants, shorts, and dresses. But in her waist, she needs either an adjustable waist or clothes that are made very thin (This kid can still fit well into toddler sizes in her waist... if it wasn't for those pesky long legs that make me jealous). In shirts, she is almost firmly planted in a girls' medium. Sometimes she can get into small but it is becoming more common that we buy her mediums. Her height continues to be in her legs, so shirts can be a bit smaller as she is not long waisted. She wears a size 12-13 in shoes depending on the style. Her new tennis shoes are a 13 (and have real laces so she has now learned to tie her shoes using this really cool method) and fit her well but her boots are still a 12 and they are a little big so really it depends on the shoes. It won't be long before she moves into kid sizes though and that makes me a little sad.
Marches to the beat of her own drum. I wish I were as fearless as she is. She doesn't care what others think and sees nothing weird about randomly dancing or singing even when surrounded by other people. When we have worship rehearsal at church, the music just seems to get inside her and she can't help but dance like no one is watching. I told our worship pastor that if we ever decide to start an interpretive dance group, I know who their dance leader should be. Haha!
Still loves dancing. She is taking a combo ballet and jazz class this year. I think she would still say ballet is her favorite, but we can tell how much she enjoys jazz. She beams ear to ear when she gets to do jazz and loves to "freestyle" at the end of class. She is still coming into her own as far as rhythm goes and sometimes looks like all legs and arms when she dances but this stage is so cute! She is better at ballet right now just because it is more technical.
Is becoming slightly more adventurous in eating. Slightly. She still has her favorite foods but she is becoming slightly more likely to try something different. Just a bit. I keep saying the word "slightly" because it is a very minimal change but it is still something I have noticed as her Momma. She still prefers chicken nuggets, bacon, cheese (specifically cheddar), and pizza. BUT... She likes some new things now that have opened up a whole new world for her. Such as eggs. Something she loved as a baby but wouldn't touch for years and is now one of her favorite breakfast options.
Is a social butterfly like no other. She continues to be friendly and talkative. She will tell the world her life story... even if they don't ask. She told a lady in a gas station in South Florida all about our trip down, why we were there, and what our plans were for the weekend. Honestly, I don't think the woman understood a lot of what she said because of a language barrier, but props to her for smiling and nodding so Kenzie felt good. Kenzie makes new friends everywhere she goes. While I still worry about a stranger danger thing sometimes with her, I love that she is so socially adept. Especially since neither Steven nor I were anything like that as kids.
Keeps us on our toes. All. The. Time. She is always asking a question that we are not 100% sure of the answer to it seems. I have learned more having her as a daughter than I think I did in school at this point. She is analytical and observes and questions everything. So she has a lot of questions. Then she has a memory like I still rarely believe and can remember all the things we tell her when she asks these questions. Then eventually her social fearlessness jumps in and she tells others these crazy things she knows. She is hilarious with all the random facts that no 5-year-old actually needs to know. She just has a thirst for knowledge and rarely accepts us telling her we don't know the answer to something. She will ask someone else or bother us incessantly until we figure out the answer. She even randomly just tells me to "Google it." when I don't know the answer to a question.
Seriously notices everything we say even if we aren't speaking to her. I know this is common with a lot of kids but it still surprises us sometimes with her because she will remember things we talked about when we thought she was totally engrossed in something else, like watching a movie. She also drives me to my brink because she constantly asked questions about what we are talking about when we are clearly not talking to her. She wants to know it all and can't help herself, even when she knows she isn't part of the conversation and has no business being involved.
Has started to move farther and farther away from dress up games. She still does it randomly, but she is definitely outgrowing it. It's weird. I thought she would be into it for far longer but she would rather do other things now. Her interests are more "big kid" now and include more reading (and actually reading not just reciting or looking at pictures to tell the story), puzzles, legos, art, and more involved and thought out pretend games.
Is our little artist. She is constantly coloring, drawing, or doing something artsy. She has an entire box of art supplies in her room (minus things like paint which I hold on to and let her use with permission only) and it isn't surprising for her to disappear for an hour at a time only to find her doing something artsy in her room by herself. She loves to write and illustrate her own stories or make cards for people. She is at an age now too that we don't have to be on top of her so she has free reign of crayons, markers, scissors, etc in her room that we don't sit on top of her while she uses them. She is responsible enough to take care of them and everything else in her room. She doesn't color on walls or anything so I'm thankful for that. She loves her art teacher at school and I'm pretty sure that is her favorite person right now. She talks now about being an artist or art teacher when she grows up. When she isn't talking about teaching dance.
Loves taking photos. Specifically with my "big" camera. She knows her way around the more basic features of a DSLR. She has her own point and shoot camera but I have a tendency to forget it when we go places so that is on me. I need to remember it more because the picture taking seems to just be an even bigger extension of that art streak.
Is still rocking all things school. She is right on track with reading and writing. She has a serious want to learn more which is half the battle. She loves to read and write and I wouldn't change that for anything. She can handle her homework almost entirely on her own now though I still hang out close by for help and to check her work. Math is definitely her strong point. She is her Daddy's daughter. She LOVES doing math and playing games with math. She has aced every "test" she has had for math this year and is already doing skills that they haven't even considered tackling yet. She just gets it. Wish it was that easy for all of us.
Loves to play outside. We put her training wheels back on her bike after some discussion because we know her personality and we knew it would work better for her than to continue trying to push her to learn without them right now. And she loves it. She loves to ride around on her bike. She also likes her razor scooter and is getting really good at it now. She can color with chalk all day if you let her. She also loves to play soccer and teeball with her brother. We have quite a few other kiddos near her age as neighbors and she really likes when they come over. They can often be found playing pretending games. She really enjoys learning new sports in PE in school and will usually come home and show me how to do the skills she has learned. She has also decided to take up running to a point. She wants to run a 5k with us eventually but we are focusing right now on getting her through a half mile so she can run the "Smile Mile" in March. She is sort of rocking the "training" and seems to be enjoying doing something that Mommy and Daddy really like doing.
Is sleeping more like a teenager lately. While she is still an early riser overall on average, there are a lot of days that I have to get her up. At least on school days. I have to fight her some days to get up. She goes to bed around 7:30 most nights and wakes up anywhere from 7 to 8. She has to be up for school by 7:15 and I often have to get her up for that. She is just tired after school each day. She is still having some night terrors periodically. They aren't super common but in the last six months she has also sleepwalked once. So, that is new. We've heard it can be hereditary though so it makes sense as this was something I dealt with as a young child. She should grow out of it and we just have to wait it out. Thankfully she hasn't done anything crazy while sleepwalking and we hope that she doesn't do it again.
Is one adorable Daisy Girl Scout. She loves being a Girl Scout! She is always wanting to know what our troop is doing next and she is loving making new friends (but keeping the old). =)
Has officially lost 3 teeth! THREE! It's crazy. We are still amazed at how early she is losing some of these and this is the first seriously noticeable one since it was a top one. I love her little gap tooth smile.
We are so proud to be Kenzie's parents and we can't wait to see where the next 6 months brings her. Happy 1/2 birthday, Kenzie Baby!
Keeps us on our toes. All. The. Time. She is always asking a question that we are not 100% sure of the answer to it seems. I have learned more having her as a daughter than I think I did in school at this point. She is analytical and observes and questions everything. So she has a lot of questions. Then she has a memory like I still rarely believe and can remember all the things we tell her when she asks these questions. Then eventually her social fearlessness jumps in and she tells others these crazy things she knows. She is hilarious with all the random facts that no 5-year-old actually needs to know. She just has a thirst for knowledge and rarely accepts us telling her we don't know the answer to something. She will ask someone else or bother us incessantly until we figure out the answer. She even randomly just tells me to "Google it." when I don't know the answer to a question.
Seriously notices everything we say even if we aren't speaking to her. I know this is common with a lot of kids but it still surprises us sometimes with her because she will remember things we talked about when we thought she was totally engrossed in something else, like watching a movie. She also drives me to my brink because she constantly asked questions about what we are talking about when we are clearly not talking to her. She wants to know it all and can't help herself, even when she knows she isn't part of the conversation and has no business being involved.
Has started to move farther and farther away from dress up games. She still does it randomly, but she is definitely outgrowing it. It's weird. I thought she would be into it for far longer but she would rather do other things now. Her interests are more "big kid" now and include more reading (and actually reading not just reciting or looking at pictures to tell the story), puzzles, legos, art, and more involved and thought out pretend games.
Is our little artist. She is constantly coloring, drawing, or doing something artsy. She has an entire box of art supplies in her room (minus things like paint which I hold on to and let her use with permission only) and it isn't surprising for her to disappear for an hour at a time only to find her doing something artsy in her room by herself. She loves to write and illustrate her own stories or make cards for people. She is at an age now too that we don't have to be on top of her so she has free reign of crayons, markers, scissors, etc in her room that we don't sit on top of her while she uses them. She is responsible enough to take care of them and everything else in her room. She doesn't color on walls or anything so I'm thankful for that. She loves her art teacher at school and I'm pretty sure that is her favorite person right now. She talks now about being an artist or art teacher when she grows up. When she isn't talking about teaching dance.
Loves taking photos. Specifically with my "big" camera. She knows her way around the more basic features of a DSLR. She has her own point and shoot camera but I have a tendency to forget it when we go places so that is on me. I need to remember it more because the picture taking seems to just be an even bigger extension of that art streak.
Is still rocking all things school. She is right on track with reading and writing. She has a serious want to learn more which is half the battle. She loves to read and write and I wouldn't change that for anything. She can handle her homework almost entirely on her own now though I still hang out close by for help and to check her work. Math is definitely her strong point. She is her Daddy's daughter. She LOVES doing math and playing games with math. She has aced every "test" she has had for math this year and is already doing skills that they haven't even considered tackling yet. She just gets it. Wish it was that easy for all of us.
Loves to play outside. We put her training wheels back on her bike after some discussion because we know her personality and we knew it would work better for her than to continue trying to push her to learn without them right now. And she loves it. She loves to ride around on her bike. She also likes her razor scooter and is getting really good at it now. She can color with chalk all day if you let her. She also loves to play soccer and teeball with her brother. We have quite a few other kiddos near her age as neighbors and she really likes when they come over. They can often be found playing pretending games. She really enjoys learning new sports in PE in school and will usually come home and show me how to do the skills she has learned. She has also decided to take up running to a point. She wants to run a 5k with us eventually but we are focusing right now on getting her through a half mile so she can run the "Smile Mile" in March. She is sort of rocking the "training" and seems to be enjoying doing something that Mommy and Daddy really like doing.
Is sleeping more like a teenager lately. While she is still an early riser overall on average, there are a lot of days that I have to get her up. At least on school days. I have to fight her some days to get up. She goes to bed around 7:30 most nights and wakes up anywhere from 7 to 8. She has to be up for school by 7:15 and I often have to get her up for that. She is just tired after school each day. She is still having some night terrors periodically. They aren't super common but in the last six months she has also sleepwalked once. So, that is new. We've heard it can be hereditary though so it makes sense as this was something I dealt with as a young child. She should grow out of it and we just have to wait it out. Thankfully she hasn't done anything crazy while sleepwalking and we hope that she doesn't do it again.
Is one adorable Daisy Girl Scout. She loves being a Girl Scout! She is always wanting to know what our troop is doing next and she is loving making new friends (but keeping the old). =)
Has officially lost 3 teeth! THREE! It's crazy. We are still amazed at how early she is losing some of these and this is the first seriously noticeable one since it was a top one. I love her little gap tooth smile.
We are so proud to be Kenzie's parents and we can't wait to see where the next 6 months brings her. Happy 1/2 birthday, Kenzie Baby!
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