Ashlyn 4.0

I can't believe my little girl is 4. 

Instead of doing the basics like I always do, I asked Ashlyn a few questions.  I love that she can answer my questions.

 

What are your favorite things to eat?

 

~broccoli, grapes, corn, peas, mac and cheese, spaghetti, noodles

 

What are your favorite toys?

 

~my pink stuffed elephant that I sleep with every night, my horses, my new doll

 

What are you favorite things to do?

 

~draw, color, play, have birthdays, go places

 

What are your favorite shows and movies to watch?

 

~My Little Pony, Frozen, Charlotte's Web (she's been watching this a lot lately), Minions, Home, Daniel Tiger, Octonauts, Rescue Bots, Dinotrux, Dragon Tales, Dinosaur Train

 

Who do you like better, mommy or daddy?

 

~both mommy and daddy (but she says if she had to pick one it would be mommy)

 

She doesn't have her 4 year check up for a few weeks but she's somewhere around 40lbs.  I'm not even going to try to guess how tall she is.  She's wearing 5T or girls XS tops, 4T or 5T bottoms depending on the fit, 5T or XS PJs and size 10 shoes.  She's got a long torso and short legs just like her mama.  She's also got a little booty just like her mama.  Makes clothing that fits her a little hard to find.

 

I am happy to announce that she does not come into our bed in the middle of the night anymore.  When we moved into the new house, I decided it was time to break the habit.  It wasn't easy at first but we managed to deal with it. 

 

She always wanted us to sit with her until she fell asleep.  That was the first habit we had to break.  So we started tucking her in and leaving her room.  She would cry at first but we assured her we were just across the hall in our own bedroom (which we were) and we stayed there until she fell asleep.  After a week or so, the crying stopped and she would fall asleep quickly.  Now, she goes to bed and goes to sleep with no problems whether we are upstairs or not.

 

As for the middle of the night issue, I literally just  made her go back to bed.  The first night she cried pretty hard.  But she went back to bed, turned her little butterfly on and eventually went back to sleep.  We had a few more nights like this until, finally, she just stopped waking up and coming in.  Now she might wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom but she always goes right back to her own bed.  It's been so nice having my bed back.

 

We were lucky enough to skip the terrible twos with her but the ferocious fours are really coming back to bite us in the ass.  Talk about 4 going on 14 over here.  The attitude is fierce.  She talks back now.  She rolls her eyes.  She stops doing something while I'm watching only to go back to it once I turn my back.  She asks why when I tell her no.  She argues.  She tries to negotiate.  It's been interesting.

 

She is also the sweetest little thing EVER.  She is so kind.  All she wants to do is help all of the time.  She loves to talk to random people, she loves to make people smile.  We really need to teach her about stranger danger because I really think she would go home with just about anybody.  It scares me so much that she is so social and yet I love to see her so happy making other people happy.

 

She's been wanting to draw, color and write a lot lately.  She starting writing letters about two months ago and she has been doing so well with it.  She does best with capital letters but she's working on lower case letters and numbers.  She can spell at least a dozen words and she can do some simple math (2+1, 5-1).  She's a little sponge lately.

 

Because her birthday is in December, she would have to wait another 2 years before she could go to kindergarten.  We are debating sending her to a private school next year for kindergarten just so that she's not waiting another two years.  She asks about school all of the time and she's so interested in learning so we really don't want to hold her back.  We are still considering homeschool but since we've moved into a good school district, we are also considering public school (after kindergarten).  So many decisions to make for these tiny humans.

 

She and her brother have been fighting a lot more lately.  He's older now she he doesn't take her orders as easily as he once did.  She's not a fan of that.  They fight over toys, they fight over movies, they fight because they have nothing better to do.  It's a fun time.

 

But they also play together.  I love catching them in rare moments of peaceful play.  They always look so cute together.  She loves to help him with things, teach him things.  But she also likes to scold him, a habit we are currently trying to break.  She's been trying to teach him about the potty lately but he doesn't have a strong interest in that yet.

Three has been my favorite year.  Her imagination, her kind heart, how much she is learning.  I can't wait to see what she does this year!

Pictures of my sweet Baby Girl:

 

Baby Girl, I think we have gone from socialite to diva.  You like things a specific way and can get pretty upset when they aren't going your way.  You scream bloody murder at the site of any bug, including ants and spiders.  But you like to go outside and dig in the dirt.  You love your frilly dresses but you also love to get dirty.  You're the best of both worlds.

You love to talk to people.  You love to make people smile and laugh.  You are just like your Daddy in this area.  You're so kind to people.  It's amazing to see how you interact with people.  Zero hesitation towards anyone.  You treat everyone the same.  It's refreshing but also scary as you really have no concept of stranger danger.

You and your bother fight more than every lately.  You're a good big sister but you like things your own way and sometimes you just don't like to be bothered by your brother.  You are usually quite tolerant of him, though, and play well together.

Your imagination has just taken off this past year.  You make your dolls and toys play together and have all kinds of stories for them.  We love to listen to you play because we just never know what's going to come out of your mouth.

You are so smart.  You love to write letters to people and draw pictures for them.  You got some stamps for your birthday for this reason.  We can almost always find you at the dining room table drawing or writing something. 

Mommy and Daddy are so lucky that you are the one who made us parents.  You started us on this parenthood journey and we are so thankful for you.
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My BEAUTIFUL 4 year old Baby Girl: