My first born is 4!! I've been thinking a lot lately about how Jane is likely to remember my mothering mistakes now. She can express to me that when I yelled it hurt her feelings. Of course I always try to he the best mom I can be, but now there's the added pressure that Jane will have permanent memories of the good and bad! She definitely keeps me in check. If I react harshly to Atlas she will tell me not to be mean! Just the other day I was trying to keep Atlas awake on a 5 minute car ride so he wouldn't be cranky when we got there and Jane told me, "He's fine mom, leave him alone. Let him sleep." Which is what I tell her all the time! Haha! She has a really good memory already. We were getting out the inflatable swim toys for this year's swim season and Jane was asking for her turtle ring float which she hasn't seen even in pictures since last summer. I really have to be careful what I say and do and what I let her watch. She remembers it all!
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| Put on all the clothes! |
Jane is so sentimental! She is so sad when she outgrows clothes and shoes. She was looking at pictures with me while I was writing this post and each time she saw a dress or a favorite pair of shoes she would say something like, "MOM! Look! It's my pink dress! Where is it??" I would tell her she outgrew it and she would respond, "awwww, that makes me sad. Please can you just show it to me?" She started pulling all her old clothes she had outgrown out of the boxes I had put away for Xan. I asked her, "How about instead of pulling out old clothes let's get out the box of clothes that used to be too big and see if you've grown into any of them?" She loved that idea and we had an hour long dress up party and every time she put something on she had to run and show dad! She wears 4-5T now. I remember looking through that bag of hand-me-downs we were given a couple years ago and thinking, "It's hard to imagine that Jane will be big enough to fit in to these someday!" She's gotten so big!
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| New experiences don't scare her! |
She loves to do EVERYTHING special! Also while going through pictures she would say, "OH!! Look at that Mom! Please can we go there again? Please please please???" "OH! the fountain place!(Schlitterbahn) Let's go there again!!!" "I love Halloween can we do Halloween again??" She was pretty disappointed when I told her Halloween wasn't for another few months. ;) I normally try to wait to tell her we're going somewhere until just a few hours before we're going to leave because she gets so disappointed if I tell her about it, but we aren't going right then!
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| These girls met at just a few months old. Nicole, Brianna and Jane. |
I love that Jane has a few friends she's known pretty much since birth. After our last get together Jane said, "Her's my best friend!" I asked who and she said Brianna. That makes them 2nd generation friends since I've been good friends with their mom's for more than a decade. So special! She is at the age that she definitely has friends she prefers more than others. Jane's park friend Nathan is her favorite play mate. She asked me why he doesn't come to the park anymore and I had to tell her that they moved too far away and can't come anymore. We can still see them sometimes just not as much as we used to. It made her pretty sad, but she didn't let it keep her down. She is starting to make more park friends and playing well with others most of the time. When it comes to sharing toys at her house is when she has the most trouble. She is very much the rule enforcer even though she forgets the rules apply to her too. ;)
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| First snow for both of them! |
Her family members are her very best friends. At least that's what she tells me all the time! I love it. It makes my heart so happy. Sometimes she'll get mad at me or Atlas and say "You're not my best friend anymore!" but it doesn't last long. The next hour she'll be telling me how much she loves me over and over again. Atlas and Jane are playing really well these days. I can leave them to themselves for a good while before they have a disagreement I need to go referee for. It's usually because Atlas won't come to her room or play the game she wants to play. I love that they love to play together. It will be even more fun when Alexandria is old enough to join in.
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| Sassy little girl |
Now, on to my favorite part of this annual blog post! Growth, first and favorites. I find it interesting that this year has brought the least amount of change in Jane's appearance. Changes in her face are much more gradual now. I love to look back through the year and find at least one "first" from each month of the year. They might not be the most traditional "firsts", but they are still firsts all the same. It's so much fun to watch her grow through the pictures and remember all our experiences over the last year together.
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| 3rd Birthday |
3 Years Old: 29 1/2 lbs
4 Years Old: 34 3/4 lbs
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| 4th Birthday |
Jane has finally decided food is yummy enough to stop and eat enough to gain a decent amount of weight! She is now back in the 50 percentile. She was never an unhealthy weight, but she used to be on the lighter side. Now she's right in the middle of all the other kids her age.
1 Years Old: 28 1/4 inches
2 Years Old: 32 3/4 inches
3 Years Old: 36 1/2 inches
4 Years Old: 3' 3" (39 inches)
Jane is old enough that they take her blood pressure and do a hearing and vision test now. (All is normal) Her well check paper work now lists her height in feet instead of just inches. It makes her seem so old! She's pretty average when it comes to height. Since Sam is tall and I'm pretty short I'm very curious to see what side she'll take after.
Firsts
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| Trip to the neighborhood pool! - June '17 |
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| Torchy's! - June '17 |
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| Riding a full sized horse & visit to Old McDonald's Farm - June '17 |
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| Gymnastics - November '17 |
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| Playset - December '17 |
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| Big kid bike - December '17 |
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| Camp Tejas! - December '17 |
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| Preschool - January '18 |
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| Making breakfast - January '18 |
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| Visit to San Marcos and Mardi Gras Parade! - February '18 |
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| Swinging herself - March '18 |
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| Baby Sister!! - April '18 |
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| First Haircut - May '18 |
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| First Gymnastic Award - May '18 |
Favorites
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| Eggs Jane made herself |
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| Ice cream pizza just like Team Umizoomi |
Jane's tastes haven't changed too much over the past two years. She does eat a lot more these days and we even have to put limits on her now! We've come a long way from me worrying if she was eating enough. The meals we've had to put limits on so far have been cheese pizza, mac & cheese, hot dogs, spaghetti and meatballs, and ravioli. For breakfast she loves eggs and toast, protein smoothies, pancakes and sausage, sausage biscuits, and cereal. She loves all kinds of fruit with strawberries and watermelon at the top. She doesn't love vegetables unfortunately. But she does enjoy some broccoli and ranch or carrots and hummus. Of course she loves everything sweet! Vanilla ice cream with sprinkles is probably her favorite. Her favorite kids meal is chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a.
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| Reading to Atlas and me. |
Jane still loves books! If there is a book we've read enough times she'll turn the pages and "read" it too me because she has it memorized. I love it! Some of her favorite books this year have been The Mitten, You Choose, Lift the Flap Body Book, What Baby Needs, Baby On The Way, The New Baby, Berenstain Bears and Little Critter versions. She changes favorites often. She really likes variety, so any book that is new she wants to read over and over for about a week and then she moves on. Of course this year the new baby books were the most popular because of little sister joining the family.
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| Gotta accessorize to watch a show. ;) |
Her favorite shows are always changing! Just like last year, she doesn't stick on one for too long. She has been revisiting some old favorites like Team Umizoomi and Blues Clues. Some other favorites from this year are Bubble Guppies, Dora the Explorer, Tumble Leaf, Power Rangers, Super Girl. Just recently she has wanted to watch some of my shows with me! :D We've watched Dancing with the Stars and Call the Midwife together. Those are two of my favorite things to watch with my mom, dancing shows and period dramas! So it's pretty special. :) Can't wait until she wants to watch Pride and Prejudice together.
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| Watching Guardians of the Galaxy together |
She loves to watch movies! She is starting to really enjoy non animated films actually. One of her favorite movies this year was the new Wonder Woman movie that she got for Christmas. She really likes Guardians of the Galaxy, Speed Racer and Beauty and the Beast. Animated movies still keep her attention the most though with other favorites being Wreck it Ralph, Iron Giant, Big Hero 6, Boss Baby, Little Mermaid and Moana. We rarely watch Frozen these days even though she still loves it and asks for everything that has Elsa or Anna on it. I still remember the days when we watched it almost everyday!
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| Mario Kart! |
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| Dress up! |
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| Lamby love! |
Jane's favorite toy of all time is her Lamby! My co-worker and friend, Janie, gave this lamb to me soon after I told her I was pregnant with Jane. I used to put it next to Jane when she would nap when she was a baby. She never picked Lamby out as her favorite until this year. It's so sweet. She takes her everywhere. Dolphin and kitty were her favorites before Lamby. Other favorite toys are her duplo and mega blocks, her American girl doll and her music toys, guitar, microphone and piano. She adores dressing up and playing video games. She can make it through the whole first level on Sonic 2 on her own with no help or instruction from me. She has gotten 2nd place in the grand prix races against the computer in Mario Kart 8 also with no help. Being a big gamer myself, I'm pretty proud. ;)
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| Jump! |
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| So much energy! |
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| The picnic table diving board. :) |
Jane's favorite thing of all is to be active! So being outside is a huge favorite and I'm glad it balances out her love of movies, shows and video games. She love love loves to jump on her trampoline and swim in Marmee and Pappaw's pool. She can almost do a front flip from her knees on the trampoline and she can swim across the length of the pool with no help and without touching the side. She loves to dance and she asks almost every day if it's park day or time for gymnastics.
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| She was so excited to feed the bird! |
Jane adores going on trips! She loves going to San Marcos to visit Uncle Scott, Aunt Anna and Ellis, and to Austin to visit her 2nd cousins and to Dallas to see Kokoo, Akuya and Uncle Joseph. I think her favorite trip was to New Braunfels and Schlitterbahn. Going anywhere special is a favorite for her though. This past year she really enjoyed going to Urban Air, Splash Pads, Pump it Up and the Houston Zoo to name a few.
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| Is it just me but does she look like she's 5 or 6 here?! |
I just love to watch Jane's personality develop as she grows older. She's a ball of energy that can be hard to contain at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world. She has a huge imagination now and pretending is her favorite game to play now. She likes to be anything from a ninja to a pretty pink princess. She has finally decided to branch out of her dresses only style and embrace her entire wardrobe. It's a normal day when she has around 3-4 wardrobe changes. She tells me blue and pink are her favorite colors. She loves perform either a song and dance routine or her gymnastics show. She'll come up to me and ask if I want to come to her hollywood. I have no idea where she got that! While we're driving in the car she'll ask for a song to be on. One time the song "Celebration" came on the radio and out of nowhere she said, "Wait! Wreck it Ralph! What?" I was impressed she was able to place the song!
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| Happy 4th Birthday Girlie! |
These last two pictures really make me realize how old she is getting. I know... I know... 4 is still very young of course, but she is really becoming her own person and having her own experiences and making her own friendships separate from me. It makes me feel so proud to already see her take those first small steps of independence, but also makes me cry a little. How can Jane only be 9 years away from being a teenager?? That feels too soon. I'll probably be feeling these same feelings then as well. My mom was just telling me tonight, "How is my baby almost 30???" Time is a funny thing, but no matter how much time passes I know Jane will always be my baby. Happy 4th Birthday beautiful Jane, we love you so much!
Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they
Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16; Phil. 2:15
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men,
1 Pet. 2:12
that they may see your good works and
(John 15:8); 1 Cor. 14:25
glorify your Father in heaven.
1 Pet. 2:12
