How in the wide world is this girl nearing FIVE?! That statement makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry. At times Addie seems so grown up to me, and others I realize just how little she still is. She's gaining, and asserting, more independence, but she also still really needs her mama.
Having two baby boys around this house has been a little challenging for my girl, but she's mostly taken it in stride and tried to be helpful every step of the way. She is a sweet, sensitive girl who always aims to please. She loves her baby brother so much and he adores her. Same goes with Hutch! She, mostly, sets such a good example for them both. Occasionally she lets her wild side fly.
Addie finished up the Butterflies class at Warm World where she had an amazing year with the best teacher we could have ever hoped for. Other than being academically advanced, we constantly heard (and saw) her desire to be kind and helpful to everyone around her. Sometimes that meant when she got home, she had run out of "nice" for her family, but her mama knows exactly what that feels like. She loved being the "handy helper" at every turn, loved when mom or dad visited school and completely adored her teacher. She is really making strides with her reading and is awesome at sounding out and spelling words. I think her mama's love of learning totally rubbed off on this girl. We are so excited she's returning to Warm World next year for their Kites program, which is a transitional kindergarten.
Addie had a stellar soccer season, scoring several goals and being the superstar defender on her team. Everyone wants to play with Addie! She loved being with her friends but sometimes declared soccer to be too hard and too much work! She's getting ready to try basketball this summer - we'll see how it goes! She loves any kind of craft or art project and has been asking to learn more about cooking this summer. She's always been a big helper with baking, but so far she's also tried her hand at grilled cheese and eggs (a little terrifying for her mother, but I'm trying to be a cool mom!) She's obsessed with ladybugs and now has a habitat for them. She learned all about what they eat, how much water to give, etc. and loves watching them in their little home. She is always sad but good about letting them go after a few days.
Addie's loving our new pool, and while we haven't had much non-life jacket time yet this summer, I know the swimming will come back to her easily. She also just loves to be outside, especially if roasting marshmallows and making s'mores is involved.
Weight: ~39 poundsLength: 40 inches New things:
- More reading! She's great at her BOB books and is starting to try some other easy readers, too.
- Writing all her lowercase letters and many numbers.
- Sounding out words to spell
- Cooking! Her eggs and coffee for Mother's Day were excellent.
- Basketball starts in a few weeks
- New glasses in about a week. Her prescription has increased a bit and she selected a pretty turquoise frame.
- Performing songs for us in the evenings. She's pretty serious about it and sure she's going to end up on The Voice.
- Ladybug collecting as mentioned above.
- Asking every day for a new cat. Mama can't handle it just yet.
- Encouraging and helping Hutch with his potty training. I've already told the two of them that they are going to be totally in charge of Weston when it's his turn.
- Learning where babies come from. She wasn't very impressed and pretty quickly asked if she could have her cartoons back on
- Dancing to Watch me Whip. She can do all the moves.
Likes:
- Watching movies, with her favorites being Cinderella and Tangled. And watching the funny show, the signing show, the cooking show or the house show.
- Hanging out with just mama.
- Pedis and manis remain near and dear to this girl's heart. She LOVED going with Grammie and me last weekend to get our fingers and toes beach-ready.
- Swimming. All. The. Time.
- Hula-hooping, jump roping, scootering and any other outdoor activities
- Ice cream. And s'mores making.
- Favorite foods are cheese pizza and macaroni. She will also devour pretty much any fruit, and she loves squash and zucchini. She likes sweets, but definitely didn't get my (crazy) sweet tooth.
- Helping with chores. She really likes to set the table, help with dishes and is always asking "can I do anything for you, mom?" Although when I have an idea or a need, it's often met with resistance ;)
- Playing kitchen with Hutch. Or babies, "Pawpaw and Tabitha," or mommy and daddy.
- School. She's missing it right now. She loved the routine and her friends.
- Being the hostess.
Dislikes:
- Some not-so-nice girls at school ... mean girls start early, y'all
- Getting in trouble. Being in time out.
- Hutch getting more of anything than her ... attention, macaroni, M&Ms ... and you better believe she's constantly sizing up and counting.
Oh this sweet boy of mine steals my heart every day. He is hilarious, ornery, impish, so very smart, cautious, silly and a definite Daddy's boy, though he does love his mama. He wants to do EVERYTHING his sister does. EVERYTHING. I feel like I am constantly reminding him that she's two whole years older than him, which keeps him from doing a lot of things he really wants to do.
Hutch had a great year at school and slowly came out of his shell. He loved his two friends Carson and Bobby, and has even named a stuffed dog and baby doll after each of them. He and Carson loved to ride on little busses every morning together and Carson would always squeal and run to the door when Hutch arrived. He loved music time at school and Gymboree. For his teachers, he pretty much always followed the rules but started to push his luck just a little toward the end of the year.
Hutch's vocabulary and articulation is pretty incredible, if I do say so myself. I've noticed him actually initiating conversation with people around him recently, and he's very intuitive about it. He definitely takes to whining and fit-throwing when he doesn't get his way. He wants to be independent, but he's often very cautious and unsure about it.
He LOVES to swim and has gotten over his fear of jumping in off the side. However, his mama still has great fear he's going to hit his head or other important body parts. He's pretty confident in the water, with his puddle jumper on. And last weekend discovered what it felt like to jump in without it while mom and dad were yelling at him to stop. He doesn't always like to follow the rules.
We are making some strides with potty training. He's been in pull-ups since just before school ended. Our one day of actual underwear ended with a wet couch! So I'm working up my nerve to try again. He maybe has one accident a day, and will go (albeit with whining) most times we ask him to. But I'm debating whether he can actually tell me that he needs to go. So for now, pull-ups it is. And lots of M&Ms when he has success.
Weight: ~29 pounds
Length: 26.5 inches
New things:
- Definitely more success at this whole potty thing. He usually stays dry even during nap.
- Building more confidence while swimming. We'll see how swim lessons go later this summer.
- Lots of singing in the car to songs on the radio. Which makes me giggle every time.
- New glasses coming in a few weeks. His prescription will actually be a little weaker (barely) and he needed new frames for his big boy face.
- Getting better at this whole counting thing. And recognizing all his colors.
- He loves to "read" and sound out words like his sister. Which really just means he's mimicking her. His favorite activity.
- Being pretty sweet with his baby brother. He's generally very gentle and likes to help by declaring when Weston is "frowing up" and bringing me a burp cloth.
- Much more interest in being a "helper" like sister, including opening blinds, getting Lola in and out of her crate, helping with cooking, etc.
- A sneer/scowl for the camera when we tell him to smile, just like someone else I used to know!
Likes:
- His sister is No. 1. It's clear what would happen if she jumped off a cliff.
- Reading books. All books. All the time.
- The color pink.
- Singing.
- Watching basketball with daddy. Also the funny show, the cooking show and the house show.
- Going out to eat, or to get a "pecial tweet"
- Chocolate. He is totally my kid
- Tractors, although he usually corrects me to say "it's an excavator mama"
- Playing with cars and trucks. And baby dolls.
- Playing "daddy and mommy" with sister
- Watching movies. But only for about 20 minutes. Cars and Toy Story are favorites. Along with Frozen
- His mama, especially with this new baby around who takes up a lot of mama's time. But definitely still a Daddy's boy.
- When Daddy stays home on Saturdays and makes chocolate chip pancakes.
- Going to Grammie and Pawpaw's house
- Being outside. Getting dirty. But not too dirty. "Clean me up mama"
- Putting on his shoes. Because that means he can go somewhere.
- Pizza, macaroni and cheese, "ticken nuggets" are favorite foods. But this boy will eat the heck out of most fruits, especially cantaloupe, kiwi and raspberries. And he loves all manner of bread.
- Chick-Fil-A, or chicken role?, as he calls it. He also loves Hideaway Pizza and Panera. Really any restaurant will do.
- Making s'mores outside.
- Having an indoor pic-a-nic
Dislikes:
- Having to go potty when he's in the middle of something important
- Not getting to do what sister is doing
- When sister won't do what he wants
- Sharing
- Time outs
- When no one will put on his shoes
I cannot believe this boy is almost half a year old! He is becoming so chatty and loves trying out new sounds. He's very into grabbing ANYTHING he can reach, usually with the intent to put it in his mouth. He's a professional roller who's also trying out some strange yoga/scooting moves. He does not like to be alone and really prefers to be held at all times. He watches every bite that goes into our mouths when he's sitting with us for a meal (soon enough, baby boy).
He absolutely adores his siblings, likes his dog, loves to see Daddy when he comes home, and, be still my heart, loves his mama best. He often shows his affection by chewing on or licking us. When he's hungry or cranky he will attempt to nurse any bare skin that comes in contact with his face. He's obsessed with the TV, and he loves a good toy that makes noise. He's also pretty happy to look at books, and my phone.
Weight: ~16 pounds
Length: 22 inches
New things:
- Rolling from back to tummy all the time. Occasionally rolling both ways to get where he wants to go, which usually means he gets stuck somewhere and has to cry about it. He still gets mind when he finds himself on his tummy, especially when he gets high centered.
- Trying out lots more new sounds. Current favorites are dadadada and addaadda ... and you can guess which two people in this house love those sounds the most. Like with his brother, I like to say he's giving a sermon series or defending his dissertation when he starts talking because he's not likely to stop anytime soon. He was trying to talk over the minister in church on Sunday ;)
- Sitting by himself for brief periods of time
- Giving "kisses", aka the chewing/licking mentioned above
- Trying to start scooting, which often results in a strange downward dog position and frustrated crying
- Getting baptized. <3 Made for a special Mother's Day for me and mine.
- Wearing brother's 12 month clothes! 9 month stuff still fits (mostly), too. Crazy.
- Going swimming! Our pool has been much too cold, and sunny, so first swim was at Grammie and Pawpaw's warm, shaded pool. He absolutely loved it. Squealed with delight and kicked his little legs as fast as he could.
- Still sleeping from 10pm till 4/5am without a feeding. But the sleep in general has been more questionable the last few weeks. Perhaps tummy troubles or teeth?
- And always sleeping on his tummy now.
Likes:
- Sophie the giraffe is still a hot commodity.
- Eating his toes.
- Sitting in his Bumbo on the table while we eat.
- His jumper. And jumping in general. Although he gets really mad when he tries to eat the sun face and it whacks him in the mouth. Which occurs nearly daily.
- Spatulas, whisks and other kitchen utensils.
- Touch and feel books
- Watching TV with Addie and Hutch
- And anything else his brother and sister are doing. I am constantly having to tell them to leave the room while Weston's nursing because he CANNOT concentrate on eating if there's a chance brother or sister is going to do or say something interesting.
- Trying to remove anything I'm eating, eating with or drinking out of my reach.
- Sucking his thumb, although this usually only occurs mid-sleep. He can sometimes locate his paci and get it in his mouth, but that thumb is easier to find.
- Being outside.
- Still likes taking naps in the swing occasionally. We're trying not to create an addict like we did with his brother ...
- Girls in general. He likes to look at and talk to them. Sometimes be held by them as long as mama stays close by.
- Being out and about. He loves to look at people, other kids and babies especially.
Dislikes:
- Wearing hats.
- Taking naps.
