Lily is 4 and a half!

As I said in a previous post I'm going to try to bring this blog back to the way it was. So, since I probably haven't really done updates on the girls for at least 6 months, it's time I did one. I'm starting with Lily since she just turned 4 and a half! I can't believe how much she has changed. I think a lot of that comes from going to preschool. We started the school year hoping she would break out of her shell and boy has she ever! I'm not sure want happened to the shy little girl we used to have. She is way more outgoing and social. In fact, when I drop her off at school, she's the one calling out to all her classmates "Hi so-and-so!". It's great to see. We had conferences with her teacher in November and got a glowing report. One of the things that really stuck with me was that Lily was very respectful of her classmates. That means a lot. Before I even had kids, I have always held that as an important value. I vowed to raise kids who were respectful of adults and their peers.

The other exciting piece of feedback we got was that Lily is ready to read! We knew she was heading in that direction because she was starting to recognize words and always liked to point to the words while I read books. So, with a little extra encouragement she is now all out reading! This is one of the most exciting developmental milestones since...walking! She still does a lot of her reading by sight-word memorization, but is sounding out words more and more. She can sit and read whole books to me or Audrey. It is awesome! She received a V.Reader and a Tag reading system for Christmas and does those daily. I'm sure they have also helped her reading ability as well. We also discovered Book on CD and easy readers from the library. Thank goodness for the library (and thank goodness there is not a limit on how many books we can check out!).

Lily has also become quite the leader. Although it borders on bossiness (especially with Audrey) sometimes, I think it will serve her well in the future. She likes to direct play and for now, her sister and playmates mostly go along with it. She can also be a bit of a drama queen sometimes. Maybe she'll end up in the theatre some day!

The funny thing about Lily is that I think she is a budding perfectionist. She often will quit a task because she isn't able to do it well. A good example is handwriting. She gets very frustrated when writing letters when then don't turn out right. We're working on the concept of "practice". I found she even gets frustrated while playing. An example was when we were at a birthday party at Pump It Up. There was a steep padded wall that you were supposed to run up and stick a tag on some Velcro. Lily just couldn't get up high enough and was getting very discouraged. I told her that it isn't always about the goal, but having fun trying. Once she let go, she had a ton of fun.

Lily is VERY into the Disney Princesses. The obsession started last year when we introduced her to them before going to Disney World. Although her first choice is always princess anything, thankfully she still has a love for many other things. She (and Audrey) really like trains (aka. Thomas the Train) and are going through a big doll house phase. The both love Olivia books and shows which I have to admit I'm also a fan of. We also went through a big Lego phase which are still a hit. Lily got a chef's outfit for Christmas and some more play food so we have been playing a lot of restaurant too.

We continue to have many dance parties at the house. Lily has been taking a ballet/tap class through Park and Rec since September. She seems to really enjoy it and even has a recital in May with costumes and everything. I also signed both girls up for a gymnastics class (also through Park and Rec) they enjoy going to it and it gets us up and moving on Saturday mornings. However, my favorite part is that the always have basketball tournaments going at the middle school where gymnastics is held. The girls ask to stay and watch the games every week! It is definitely peeking there interest in basketball which is AWESOME. No pressure of course:)

Life has been much better with Lily since we switched to every other day naps in September. She takes a nap on school days (since they wipe her out) and one on the weekend. On the other days she has quiet time in her room with a big stack of books. Before that we had many naps battles and miserable confrontations and frustration. I tried to completely cut her nap initially, but after 5 days I realized she still needed more sleep. So, now we've settled in a nice pattern which I'm sure will change as soon as I write this:) If she seems to need less sleep, we'll just keep dropping naps until they are gone.

Lily continues to be VERY picky in the food department. After years of telling her if you don't want to eat it than you don't get anything and you just have to sit there...it hasn't improved her eating habits. She has no problem starving herself until the next day. So, we have recently instituted a one-bite-of-everything rule. She also can not get up from the table until she does. So far she has tried a ton more new foods (broccoli, carrots, hot dog, etc.). The downside is that she usually doesn't eat more than the one bite, but at least she is trying them!! Baby steps. She is so different from Audrey who will try almost anything. We're working on it!

Well, that is a snap shot of Lily at 4 and a half years old. She continues to be a joy and we are so lucky to be her parents!