FIVE (and a half)!
As I've said at least 146,234 times - this working full time thing is making me super-forgetful. As in, I forgot to blog about FIVE! Our sweet little girl isn't so little anymore. In fact, she just celebrated her half birthday at school last week. While I don't have her official 5 year old stats, she has been to the doctor recently. She weighs about 38 pounds (25th percentile), and is about 42 inches (also 25th percentile). She continues to be tiny, but not SO tiny, which is good. She is a MUCH better eater, with her favorites being mac & cheese (especially from Panera), peanut butter on a spoon (like her mama - I ate it every day that I was pregnant with her), and sushi! Go figure - a 5 year old who likes sushi. She takes it apart and eats each part individually, but either way, she eats it!
Kate started Kindergarten at the same school as Brett this year. They're even in the same building, which has helped her transition. They go to Bridges (after school) every day, and she LOVES it. She has made so many friends, and it's been great to see her grow into this sweet little girl and leave the toddler stage behind. She absolutely adores her teachers, and has learned so much. Last week she read the board book "Are You My Mother" all by herself! Wow! She was just so proud of herself - it was well worth the 20 minutes it took to get through it :)
Not much else has changed - she still loves to talk, a lot, about anything! She loves gymnastics, and tolerates soccer. She does 10 push-ups a day to help strengthen her "wussy" arms - she usually does it in just her underwear. It's hilarious. It makes me laugh every single time (but not in front of her, of course)!
We love watching her continue to grow and mature - can't wait to see what the last 6 months of 5 bring to our house!
July 29, 2011
FOUR!
I cannot believe that my "baby" is four years old. One year away from Kindergarten. Last year of preschool. It still hasn't sunk in yet, and I don't think it will until I'm sitting in the carpool line next August and not making the daily trek from the parking lot, past 3 buildings, to the preschool. At least I have one more year :)
Kate has grown tremendously this year... maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally. She started playing soccer with her brother; she started gymnastics; she learned how to write her letters; and she has grown into a sweet little girl and not so much of a "toddler."
The official stats from last week's well check are here:
Height - 39.25 inches (45th percentile)
Weight - 29.5 pounds (10th percentile)
Her weight fluctuates more than mine does! A few weeks before this well-check, she weighed in at almost 35 pounds in the same office!! Go figure. They were not concerned at all, so neither are we. She is as healthy as can be and has (almost) always been on the small side. The fact that she's on the chart at all for her weight is a good thing! Her eating has gotten SO much better, as long as we're feeding her what she wants to eat, but what preschooler isn't like that?
Other than the "stats" we also had the annual ASQ, which she passed with flying colors like always. It's amazing what a big brother can do for a girl! She tries her best to keep up with everything that he's doing and she does a pretty good job of it! Here is a run down of Kate's happenings:
- Talks, a lot, non-stop, about anything!
- Loves to play on the playground and hang from the bars in a V (thanks, gymnastics!)
- Has great fine-motor skills - can easily write her name and is learning other letters; loves to cut paper, and colors almost completely in the lines
- Knows all of her colors and shapes
- Knows full name, address, and phone number (most days)
- Loves to play with her school friends, and her big brother when she's in the mood!
- Dresses herself and has a strong opinion as to what she's wearing everyday! (I can't wait until Kindergarten when she has to wear a uniform every day!)
- She loves Barbies, princesses, dolls, dress-up, her play house, coloring, cutting, and anything else super girly!
- She loves gymnastics and has improved tremendously since she first started! We no longer have to go out there when they call all of the parents :) Yay! She can technically age up, but we'll pull her for a few months for soccer and start back sometime in November most likely.
March 29, 2011
It's about time...
Finally, at 3 years and 8 months old, Kate hit 30 pounds!! It was really almost 2 weeks ago, but I had to put it on this blog so I can go back later and remember it :) Another one of those "more for my info than your info" kind of posts!
January 22, 2011
Mid-Year Conferences
So, about 2 weeks ago, in the middle of the worst ice storm we've seen in several years, the kids had their conferences scheduled. Of course, we follow WCPSS, so classes were cancelled. After a few days, they finally got to a 2 hour delay, which threw the conference schedule out the window. We went for Brett's scheduled conference and ran into Kate's teacher, Ms. Mary Grace... she was nice enough to let us have Kate's conference while we were at the school together, sans kids!
Before Christmas break, we had an impromptu chat after school one Friday about Kate's maturity level and how she doesn't like to try new things - the most prominent example from that particular day was her unwillingness to trace the letters of her name. We're not even talking about writing her name... just tracing the letters on a little laminated card with a marker. She also would not perform the counting exercise they were doing that day - coincidentally the exercise they were using as a "check-off" for conferences. We talked in length about Kate being the youngest in the class (her birthday is only 6 weeks before the cut-off) and most of the kids had already turned 4 before the Christmas break. We talked about whether it would give her extra confidence being the oldest in the class instead of the youngest (i.e., holding her back a year before Kindergarten). We talked about her less than stellar enthusiasm about art work, which is just weird because Kate loves doing art work at home, and is very detail-oriented doing art work at home. So, it gave us some things to think about, and a chance to really talk to Kate about trying new things. At no point were were considering holding her back to have her repeat the 3 year old class - it was only after next year's 4 year old class.
So, I was interested to see what her teacher had to say at the conference, a full month after the conversation. She was quick to say that she has seen good progress in Kate even since Christmas, and that when "re-tested" (they don't really "test" but they want to see which kids know which concepts) she knew almost everything they expected her to know, with the exception of a triangle... who knows what that was all about! She said Kate is exactly where she should be, if not slightly above, which was good news. Kate is still very hesitant to try new things, and we still need to continue to push her to help her develop more confidence in herself, which is part of the reason we started her in gymnastics this month.
Overall, it was a very imformative conference and much more positive than what I was expecting. Apparently Kate saves her defiance for our amusement at home and is a "joy" to teach in class! Here are the highlights from her conference:
Spiritual Development: Kate enjoys listening to GOD AND ME stories. She makes the sign of the cross at Morning Prayer, snack and lunch. Kate enjoyed participating in The Feast of St. Francis, Advent and Epiphany activities, especially when we followed the star to find baby Jesus.
Social Emotional Development: Kate enters the classroom each morning with a smile. She shares nicely with her firends. She uses her words to express her needs. She follows routines and rules. Playground is a favorite part of her day - she loves running and laughing with her friends.
Physical Development: Kate is competent with gross motor movements such as jumping, running, and marching. She enjoys climbing on all the playground equipment, especially the tunnel. She actively participates in music class.
Cognitive - Language Development: Kate enjoys talking with her firends at lunch and on the playground. She identifies and sorts by color. She recognizes letters in her name and is beginning to write some letters. She pretends to "read" books after snack and lunch everyday.
Cognitive - Mathematical Knowledge: Kate is able to rote count to 10. She is beginning to demonstrate one-to-one correspondence to 5. She can identify most shapes. She copies simple patterns using art materials and body movements. She enjoys matching and sorting objects by categories or shape. She demonstrates and increasing understanding of directional and positional words like in, out, in front of, behind, over, and under. She can complete age-appropriate puzzles.
Cognitive - Scientific Knowledge: Kate enjoyed the engaging activities like recycling, learning about air, and fingerprinting. Kate asks many questions about the world around her and answers questions based on her experiences. Kate enjoys when we do graphing and making predictions, i.e., which apple skin will you like best - red, yellow, or green? Now after tasting which one do you like the most?
Creative Expression - Music and Art: Kate enjoys clapping, singing, and playing instruments. She is beginning to copy rhythmic patterns and recognize familiar melodies. She learned about finding the beat iwth sticks, and used the b alance beam to walk on a straight line. She uses paint, markers, and crayons in a responsible manner.
July 15, 2010
THREE!
Holy cow batman... my baby is THREE?!?! How did that happen? Something about 3 years old just sounds so much older and grown up compared to 2 years old. I mean, she can feed herself, dress herself, and even go potty by herself. It has been a BIG year to say the least! Kate's tantrum days have turned into days of pretend and make believe and "I can DO it!" moments. Don't get me wrong - the tantrums still exist, quite often in fact, but they are more controlled and thought out than the previous ones that mostly involved her throwing the first object she could get her hands on. Feisty? Oh yes. Otherwise cute and funny and charming? Definitely.
In the past month or so alone, Kate's eating has actually progressed nicely. She eats normal kid-size bites of the foods that she likes, when she wants to. In other words, we know that she CAN eat like a normal 3 year old. Now it's just a matter of getting her to do it all the time. I think her weight will still be an issue, but we'll find out when we go for her well check in a few weeks. I know that she weighed 25 pounds when we took her to the doctor for pneumonia the beginning of June. She was 24 pounds at her 2 year old well check. I don't think that a pound a year is what they're aiming for in an already-petite-little girl, but she is otherwise as healthy as can be.
Developmentally, she's doing extremely well, as always.
She knows her body parts, and is especially excited to point out all the things she shouldn't... you know, her boobs and her "junk." She knows the correct anatomical terms and isn't afraid to use them, loudly, during inappropriate times.
She talks, ALL the time. If you interrupt her, she will yell, "No, be quiet! I was talking first!"
When reading books, she has to point out all of the things going on for each page... "Mommy, that girl is happy. She is playing with her dog." Nevermind that the girl playing with the dog has nothing to do with the story being read.
She likes to get herself dressed, and she wants a say into what she wears, whether it is which PJs she's wearing that night or which dress she's going to wear on Sunday. She can get undressed by herself very easily. She struggles a little bit with getting herself dressed, but can do it with a little patience. She always wants to wear socks at bedtime, just like her dad. I think they're both weird. It's like 105 degrees outside people!
She is going to start playing soccer with Brett this fall - she is sooo very excited to get included in whatever the older kids are doing, so this is right up her alley! I'm still thinking that she'll be the one sitting in the middle of the field picking flowers, but we'll have to wait and see. She's definitely not the most agressive little girl when it comes to gross motor skills, so it will be entertaining!
She has impecable fine motor skills. She shows great attention to very little details when she's coloring or doing other crafts. She likes to peel the backing off of the foam stickers to make pictures with construction paper. We're working on her cutting ability and coloring in the lines.
She's starting to climb on things to get what she wants... a stool in the bathroom is good for getting lotion or kleenex for the nine-zillionth time, a barstool in the kitchen is good for reaching M&Ms, and Mom's desk chair is good for reaching the vase of flowers on the desk.
Some of her favorite foods include fruit snacks, pineapple, strawberries, cheese, guacamole ("green dippy"), Cheetos, and anything chocolate.
She still takes about a 2 hour nap most afternoons. Some days she sits in there and plays with her animals and reads books rather than napping.
She LOVES Dora the Explorer and the Disney princesses - all of them.
She loves to push my buttons and see just how far she can go before I'll break. I think she's learning that it's not very far :) We spend a lot of time talking about listening the first time, not throwing, not hitting, and being a good helper.
February 24, 2010
Two and a HALF!
Now that it's so long in between doctor's visits, I figured I should at least take the time to document some of what Kate is doing lately.
Obviously, our biggest concern with Kate is her weight. I actually don't know exactly what she weighs, but last time she was playing on our scale in the bathroom, she was around 25 pounds. While it stresses me out that she's not gaining weight, I have to remember that Brett also didn't gain even an ounce at this age either. Granted, he weighed 30-something pounds already! We'll see...
Developmentally, she's doing great as always. She runs, skips, hops, and spins in circles just like any other 2-3 year old I know. She talks ALL the time - full out paragraphs, saying things like "first of all..." and "actually..." When did she become this little person instead of my little baby? She has a little bit of a stutter when she first starts talking, especially if she is excited to tell you something, but she should outgrow that. She still has some difficulty with the pronunciation of some letters - for example, instead of "stool" she'll say "school", which Brett is very quick to correct her on, even when we remind him that she is younger and still learning to say things correctly. She still continues to show great attention to detail, which is definitely evident by her artwork. I need to scan in a picture that she did the other day. It had all these little foam stickers and she lined up about 15-20 in a perfect little line. She kept at it for over an hour. I was impressed!
She loves to pretend - dress-up like a princess, pretend to be mommy, put her babies in time out, change her baby's diaper, cook dinner, iron, talk on the phone, etc. The other night we saw her singing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to one of her dolls. Very cute.
Kate is definitely more independent than Brett at this age on many things. She plays well by herself, especially if he is not home. She can put on her own coat. She tries to put on her own pants and socks. She tries to brush her own hair and teeth. Mostly, she tries to do anything that Brett tries to do! Monkey see, monkey do!
Kate has all of her teeth except for her 2 year molars on the top. We go to the dentist next week, so we'll see what they say about that!
August 1, 2009
Drum roll please...
At her two year well-check, we learned that Kate CAN maintain weight without Pediasure. Yay! She weighed in at 24 pounds, which looks like a little bit of a drop, but she gets weighed on the "big kid" scale now, which isn't as exact as the infant-sized scale.
We talked in length about her terrible eating habits, gag reflex, vomiting, etc.... and she's on the fence of whether or not we should refer Kate to Carolina Dysphagia Clinic. For now, we're going to keep working on it, weigh her in a few months, and go from there. Seriously, keep your fingers crossed!
Developmentally, she's doing GREAT! She thinks she can do everything that Brett can do, and she's pretty darn close! She talks more than most 3 year olds we know, even if we can only understand maybe 80% of what she's saying. She runs, she plays, she screams (loudly), she counts, even in Spanish up to about 5 or 6!
We're so proud of our little Kater-Potater! Send some serious weight-gaining vibes her way (but not mine, thanks!)
May 30, 2009
Double ear infection battle
Back for another sick visit @ 22 1/2 months... and STILL gaining weight! Yay!
Yesterday's weigh-in was 24 pounds, 5 ounces - of course fully clothed, but we'll take it. Anything in the positive direction is a wonderful thing. I get tired of "the look" from the pediatrician. Who cares if we're cheating with Pediasure, right?!
May 4, 2009
21.5 months - Double ear infection
23 pounds, 15 ounces - fully clothed, but I'll take it! She GAINED weight! YAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
January 28, 2009
18 month well check
Better, but not great:
Weight - 21 pounds, 6 ounces (10th percentile)
Height - 32.5 inches (75th percentile), although it's hard to *really* be sure through the kicking and screaming
Needless to say, 10th percentile is not good enough, and we'll be continuing the pediasure supplements to help her get a few extra calories until her next well-check in July.
December 5, 2008
2 pounds in 5 weeks!
I'm beginning to think that our pediatrician's office is just retarded because I find it VERY hard to believe that a 16 month old can gain 2 pounds, 2 ounces in just 5 weeks. Regardless, we're done with weight checks for now!
Yesterday's weight: 20 pounds, 9.5 ounces
October 24, 2008
15 months
She's going backwards!
Weight - 18 pounds, 7.5 ounces (less than 3rd percentile)
Height - 30.25 inches (50th percentile)
We're going back in a month for a weight check - think positive thoughts!
July 22, 2008
1 year old!
She grew - yay, Kate!
18 pounds, 15.5 ounces - about 20th percentile
30 inches tall - about 70th percentile
April 16, 2008
9 months old
16 pounds
5 ounces
27 1/4 inches
February 18, 2008
7 months - sick visit :(
16 pounds
1.5 ounces
January 15, 2008
6 months
14 pounds
9.5 ounces
25.5 inches
November 19, 2007
4 months
13 pounds
24 3/4 inches
September 17, 2007
2 months
10 pounds
14 ounces
22.5 inches
August 15, 2007
1 month old - at home estimate
9 pounds
3 ounces
21 inches
July 19, 2007Weight Check
7 pounds
4 ounces
19 3/4 inches
July 15, 2007
Happy birthday!
7 pounds
10 ounces
19 3/4 inches
Fun Facts
![[brett]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJrcEGaBFg1nEHoxBswGUcVmB6wZjEnPXrHM4oGvJM2YxThc2WgeoZdBTjPUS1VBnc0UO1qcg7M1mv7Escb9UWgDC1SqqTF0zZQj8b3ecErRn03hufhkWNJ9p2X6fWeEmAVIb8jviXsT7/s1600/IMG_6135.JPG)
![[kate]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu743eLJvdG1q3fcd487pfwZU2XpCqy-B9Erj4Yg2wrAaK_79tx-h6lGW8ONkjzZF-2HmXZuG2CFOhQsJhfqFRB8SKmS_4qwLVEyuvY9YFNKmwUmqcLVHIxDt9o2_nIB3AobbpgjS3LsYN/s1600/IMG_6144.JPG)
![[jenn + todd]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBr-v5kJghArqWDfMhoCoTRuH9ElncuP7StxXCM6Li_QSKaRqdJl_KtPlSqgH4a3CXpF8osFgkbFwHQOpYkQLPx3m8U7V-gMrWrIh2vap8bUuKYxxyVUAAKvN8h1dURcLK9PPphS0lbd2/s1600/jenn+and+todd.jpg)