Leah 4 Year Old Pictures

Such a little model...

Leah - 4 Years Old

4 Years Old!!! As that number continues to grow, it's so amazing to watch what a beautiful, loving girl Leah is turning into. She is definitely our soft-hearted, caring little girl. She is also so thoughtful. She will be the first to tell you how beautiful you look when she sees you in the morning or compliment you on your outfit or hair. Her big heart  of gold melts her mommy's.

She also hates to get in trouble and when she gets yelled at she will break down quickly, it always follows with a heartfelt 'sorry.' This trait is probably why she is on the top ('on pink') of the behavior chart at school EVERY day. 

Leah is silly, she loves to sing and dance, make funny faces and if others laugh, she will repeat it over and over. She can be shy with her friends but you get her at home or when she is comfortable with people and she talks and talks and talks.

Your caring traits extend to your sister. When she crys, you will go over and comfort her, especially at bedtime and you can usually calm her down even at her worst. You give her hugs every day when you go to your different classrooms at daycare to get your good byes in. You are the best big sister and we are so proud of you for that and how much you look out for Karlee. Watching the love between you two is the most special thing.

There are so many wonderful traits about Leah, I could go on and on. You have a heart of gold. You fill our lives with so much joy and we are lucky to be your parents.

Here's a few fun things to remember about you being 4:

• Favorite foods: cottage cheese, chocolate, breakfast bars, ice cream (or yogurt from Cherry Berry), butter (you will eat it by the spoonful if we would let you and often just like to lick it off the top of things - Karlee does that too)
• Hates 'spicy' food. So tell her something is spicy and she is not interested.
• Likes to eat her banana's like a monkey (only open and leave hanging on the sides) - "I'm going to eat it like a monkey does."
• Likes to drink hot chocolate and pretend it's coffee like mom has
• Often will just finish supper and ask for a snack immediately and doesn't understand why she doesn't get one.
• You are big helper in many different ways but one of your favorite things to do is help mom or dad or grandma cook. You will ask all the time if you can help us cook. Unfortunately mom isn't a very good cook so I let you do some stuff but you aren't going to get cooking skills from mom.
• We started a sticker chart with the chores being things like picking up your toys before bed, not being sad at daycare drop off (when you first started your new room), going to bed by yourself and filling Ziggy's water bowl. All I have to say is sticker chart = awesome! You do a great job with chores and love the reward of a sticker and it's helped us getting into some good habits. Definitely recommend.
• You are our little princess. Everything about you is girly, girl. You love dresses (but hate when we make you wear pants under them), looking pretty, make-up, favorite colors are purple and pink and loves shopping (especially at Wal-Mart). Despite what we would want, you are definitely all girl.
• You love acting out princess stories. Your favorite ones are the Cinderella story and Little Mermaid and you will assign everyone in the room as a character
• You started playing with Barbie's often. You just got into it one day and now you love them.
• You like to pick out your own clothes, mom avoids that whenever she can.
• You love mermaids. They are one of your favorite things and you wish you were one.
• You love putting make-up on. Mom lets you even if I shouldn't, but it's just for play when you want to be a princess, which is often. You are getting pretty good at it.
• You are fun to take shopping now - even grocery shopping. Mommy would rather go with you than by herself.
• You have your daddy's memory - meaning it's really good! You will go back and tell me "remember when..." stuff from like a year ago. It's pretty impressive.
• Wants to brush her own hair and getting better at it
• You like to hide things behind your back and make us guess what you have
• Great at brushing her teeth, never argues and does a great job by herself
• You still love opening blind bags.
• Likes to bug her daddy
• Goes around singing all the time, often making up her own songs
• Loves going through car washes.
• Out of our two girls, she is the early bird and most often gets up first on the weekend before Karlee.
• Likes to do "challenges" including guessing different foods or having someone tell her what to do and she completes it
• LOVES swimming, really, really loves. Definitely our little fish. Did swimming lessons for the first time and sailed through your first class with flying colors.
• Went through a phase where she was scared of the garage door opening.
• Loves when Karlee chases her. "Come and get me Karlee."
• Your favorite toys include - barbies, shopkins
• Has a lot of favorite songs including: " Say Geronimo"; "Hello" by Adele
• You are all about racing (and winning). Every morning you race to get your seatbelt on before Karlee or race to get your coat on first. If you don't win, you usually freak out.
• You love to take your clothes off and run around the house naked.
• Says her teachers call her buttercup at school or the one boy teacher she has calls her Princess Leia
• You still absolutely love it when Grandma D eats your jello. You will laugh and laugh.
• Doing so well at school and has learned so much since going up to preschool. A few things include:
• Can spell out first and last name
• Counts high - not sure how high she gets for sure - 30 maybe
• Can write first name well. Writes: Leah, mom, dad and some other random words
• Likes to write out letters and words with mom and go over different letter sounds
• Love to use scissors - not mom's favorite thing but you are getting better with them
• Identifies letters and starting to tell the first letter of words
• Really good at coloring now and coloring in the lines.
• Great at putting puzzles together
• When ask her to name something, will name 2 of the same word like "horse, horse"
• You frequently tell mom "Mom - you are the best mom ever" or "you are the best mom in the whole wide world"
• Likes to talk about the cool "details" of stuff
• Some of our favorite sayings - you say so many funny things at this age, I wish I could get them all on video. 
• Loves to use the word "disgusting"
• "Stop saying that!"
• "Why are you looking at me like that?"
• "No thank you!"
• Anytime you see someone else eating something "what are you eating?"
• Leah - "There is money under my pillow."   Mom - "Why is there money under your pillow?"   Leah - "So the tooth fairy can come" (think she got it a little messed up and we aren't close to losing any teeth but she's been watching Parker lose teeth and get money)
• Holding her stethoscope on Grandpa D  - "Let me listen if you are too old"
• "Close your eyes, so I can show you a surprise"
• Grandma D - "I'm going to miss you, will you come to visit me in AZ?"  Leah - "Sorry, I have to go to a princess party with Chas."
• "It's cool"
• While drinking a fake cup of coffee - "I'm old."
• "Boooorrrriinnggg"
• "Why can't I get any toys??"
• "Guys, talk quiet so I can hear" (most likely watching t.v.)
• "Get away fly, you're naughty"
• Going to give Karlee a kiss good night. "I can't give her a kiss, she has a booger nose."
• While Karlee is crying - "Karlee, that hurts my ears"
• "Guys, settle down!"
• Leah - "Mom, how many minutes?"   Mom - "xx minutes"   Leah - "That's not a lot"
• "What can I do?"
• "Mother, you don't have to worry about me!"
• "Mom, what would you do if I got a single scratch?"
• "You're hurting my feelings"
• "I didn't like pizza because it has the lemons on it" (referring to pineapples)
• "How many dollars is this?"
• "Daddy, I think someone is going to share a treat with you.... it's me... I'm going to share a treat because you've worked so hard."
• "Hey... my poop smells like Christmas."
• "Santa... I wish I saw you everyday."
• "Mom - pop is bad for you"
• "I don't need pants! I'm Elsa and the cold doesn't bother me anyway."
• "Why do you have play doh in your mouth?"  (Gum)
• "The sun always comes. She's so nice to me."
• "We are slimmer's, we are going to slime Dad."
• "Karlee, stop crying... you are going to pop my ears off!"
• "I don't want you to say that!"
• From the movie Descendant will go around singing "I'm rotten to the core, I'm rotten to the core...."
• Someone toots and Leah will say "Did you hear the ducks??" - this was definitely something she learned for Grandpa D.
• "Do you know how much I love you? I love you 100 x 15 x 2 x 3,000." (or whatever random numbers she chooses that day)
• "Mom, remember when we watched that nuts movie?" (The Peanut Movie - Charlie Brown)
• "I've got a secret for you..... don't tell ANYBODY!" - you love to tell secrets.

There is just so much to love. Thank you for the joy you bring into our lives and the many, many laughs. We love you so much.

Karlee 18 Month Pics

This was a challenge - you are just at that age but still happy with how they came out.. we love your beautiful smile!

 

 

 

 

And one with your sister, just for fun!

 

 

Karlee - 18 Months Old

Karlee you definitely have your own personality at 18 months and are officially not a baby anymore. You are talking so much more, smiling just as much but have developed a face full of expressions. You are definitely a stubborn little one, you know what you want and you let us know, but it's all okay after you start laughing and smiling.

Here's a few of the fun facts about you the last few months:

• Favorite foods: cottage cheese, yogurt, Cheetos, anything chocolate, ice cream, knephfla soup, breakfast bars, oatmeal, oreos (only the white part, you leave the cookie part)
• You use a spoon pretty well now - still kind of messy but much better
• You love trying to drink out of a glass and are getting better at that too. You definitely prefer a glass over your sippy cup
• You like to put things into containers and take them out, one day you spent an hour putting one sock in each shoe you found. This also includes putting things in and out of bags.
• Bedtime has been a cluster - you started only listening to daddy now all you want is mommy to put you to bed, just depends on your mood. You are very particular about bedtime though. You need 2 blankets, water in sippy cup, stuffed animal and pillow before you will even lay down.
• You also had a stretch of sleeping where you got up multiple times during the night - mom would walk into the room and you would go back to sleep instantly. That's stopped for the most part and you sleep through the night almost every night.
• You like to sleep in and on days you can, Leah is usually up before you.
• Biting record at daycare: 2 Received; 2 Given
• You love sunglasses, not wearing them necessarily but holding them and putting them on and off or on your head
• You love slides
• You love shoes - especially Leah's shoes
• You know tons of animal sounds and love to say them. You especially like to "roar". But also know, cow, cat, chicken (with the arms flapping), duck, dog, horse, lion, tiger, bear, sheep
• Some of your new words (I'm sure I'm not catching them all) but you are speaking much more clear now: more, me, no, hi xxx, help, yeah, ouch, shoes, mine, wow, wa wa (water), boom, bop, good boy, on, uh oh, baby, hat, I don't know, ni ni (blanket), grandma, grandpa, bar, please, thank you, owie, book, Dora, I don't know, bath, love you
• From the above list you can see you have even starting putting some 2-3 word phrases together now
• You will put both your hands up and say 'I don't know'
• Started learning sign language as school. Mom and dad don't know it but we've learned that waving your hands when you are done eating means 'done', putting your fingers together means 'more' and hitting your chest means 'please'
• You still love balls but you have starting taking an interest in Leah's toys more. You two fight over magic click princesses a lot
• You got a new glass tea set for a Halloween gift from Aunt Nikki and you LOVE it! You play with it every day and will sit and put the cups on the saucers. Super cute and you've only broken like 3 cups so far :-)
• You have a lot of tantrums - that whole wanting what you want when you want it - they usually result in you screaming and then you kicking and screaming from the floor
• Because of these tantrums we have starting doing time outs with you. Just short ones and they don't really work too well - usually just to calm your frantic crying
• You love books. You really love people reading them to you but you will also just sit and flip the pages and look at the picture on your own
• You definitely know the word 'no' now and use it often. You will tell us when you don't want something and usually shake your head frantically back and forth too
• You give great kisses and on command - except for when we ask and you say no and run away
• You get very attached to things and don't want to let them go - first it was a stuffed dog then it moved to another stuffed animal and then a ball with a stick. You will hold on to them for days and not want to let them go for anything. This attachment also includes your blanket (ni ni) if you see it anywhere.
• You are starting to learn body parts. You know your nose very well but others you get right or wrong depending on the day. You know belly, feet, head, eyes, ears.
• You follow commands - so you can take things and put them in the garbage or put away your toys, you get your own snacks out of the pantry and get your milk from the fridge - when it is low enough
• You like puzzles
• You need your blankie to sleep but you don't like your feet covered
• You can get on and off the couch by yourself now
• You favorite toys: tea set!, kitchen, Little People castle, ariel car, balls, weeble wabble slide, magic clip princesses, babies
• You do well playing by yourself now and playing with Leah, you will do much longer stretches of playing by yourself which is really nice
• You have started having more interest in t.v. You will watch a whole show if it is one you like.
• Both of those 2 things (playing by yourself and t.v.) have given mom and dad a little break, made you happier and a little more likeable
• Your favorite shows: Dora and Umizoomi
• You love Ziggy and he puts a smile on your face when you see him
• You like putting buckets on your head and hats too
• You will throw things when you get mad
• You seem to prefer rap music over any other kind. Your favorite song is: Watch Me - Nae Nae
• You love music and dancing - so, so cute
• You are scared of the garage door when it opens (Leah is too)
• You really like stuffed animals and have that attachment to them - which is weird for me as Leah never really got to attached to any stuffed animal. You also have a tendency to bite their noses - you really love the TY purple kitty that Leah picked out for you
• When you see something that you know is Leah's, you will pick it up and give it to her. Like you know when blankets are hers and which ones are yours
• We took the gate down and you do stairs as you want - you are good at them as long as you don't try to bring too many blankets with you, then you sometimes tumble. You love going up and downstairs as you please
• You follow Leah around a lot and she loves it when you chase her
• You have a temper and you will drop to the floor if you want something and don't get it. You hate hearing the word 'no'
• As everyone knows, mommy loves taking picture and when you are crabby you will yell 'no' as soon as the camera comes out
• You can open doors by yourself. You often go around room to room closing all the doors
• When you see something of Leah's (esp. her blankie) you will pick it up and bring it over to her - with a big smile on your face
• You will ignore people and put your nose up and turn around if you don't like what someone is saying (let's hope that goes away) and you also will roll your eyes at people
• You have been obsessed with your small stuffed animals- especially this little purple kitty you got. You even bit a kid at school when he tried to take it away from you
• You don't just cry now - you will call for momma - especially at bed time 
• You really like brushing your teeth and would just stand by the sink with your toothbrush for a long time
• You prefer holding 2 toys at one time - one in each hand
• When Leah starts to laugh at something, you will just start laughing to be like her
• You love playing kitchen
• You like to wipe your own nose, you HATE when we wipe it and you always have a runny nose.
• You will follow commands now and put things away when we tell you to or pick between 2 things.

• You love to dance, you shake your bootie so cute when the music comes on
• You fall off things a lot.. you haven't got hurt at all (yet) but you are kind of wreckless and don't pay attention to what you are doing
• Favorite TV show: Dora, Umi Zoomie
• You like playing with Leah's barbies
• You have a very expressive face, you make lots of funny faces at things when you are showing your opinion about something
• You are stubborn when you get something in your mind that you want
• You are a lot like your daddy - I say Leah is more like mom and you are definitely more like dad
• You say owie a lot - even when you don't have anything wrong
• You love to do sticker books. You like pulling the stickers off of anything
• You love watching babies and will laugh at them and say baby over and over (especially in church)
• You hate getting your diaper changed and would prefer we always stand to do that, which isn't easy so we don't do that a lot
• You love looking at your Dora night light on your ceiling before bed and saying 'Dora, Dora'
• You and Leah are definitely like your mom - you get crabby when you are hungry
• When daddy is downstairs you like to yell 'daddy' really load to him until he hollars back 'Karlee'. You will do this over and over.
• You love telling Ziggy 'no' 'no'
• You are a silly girl and are so fun to watch all the things you do
• You are wearing 18mo-2T clothes (mostly 2T), shoe size 5, size 4 diapers
• We love you SO, SO, SO much!

 

Last Baltimore Trip of the Year

Before Mommy leaves pictures, pics of the girls during the trip, pics with mommy's friends and finally the girls getting their mommy gone presents.