In the midst of all the holiday business, i really don't want to miss the chance to talk about my sweet 4 year olds. So before beginning the slew of Christmas posts, i am gonna take a minute to celebrate another year with my twins, full of fun memories and a lot of growing!
~Nora Grayce Burns~
Nora is as long and lanky as she's always been, as you can probably tell from above. I wonder if it will ever be easier finding clothes that fit her. Depending on the day and what she ate for breakfast, occasionally she hits the 30lb mark, but has been holding pretty steady around 29 lbs for the past 9 months.
She's still a sweet hearted little girl. She loves everyone she meets. She wants to help me whenever she can and also takes pleasure in taking care of her brothers...even when maybe they don't need it!
She's gotten a little bit better with her eating this year. It still takes her FOREVER to finish eating, she's always the last one at the table. We have had some big successes this year getting her to eat some more meat, especially chicken. She will now eat broccoli and carrots, occasionally rice if its really covered in sauce, and almost all types of noodles. I have had NO LUCK with any type of potato other than thin, crispy french fries--every once in a while. The best news is that she doesn't pouch her food in her cheeks any longer. That alone has made meal-time much more bearable for everyone.
Princesses, Princesses, Princesses-- she plays with them, she talks about them, she watches them, and of course she thinks she's one. Not that it helps that everyone calls her "princess" too. Her favorite one changes daily between Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Rapunzel and Ariel. If she could have her way she would be in a princess dress all of the time and speaking of that, her collection is getting pretty large!
She's not ever been into learning the basics...colors, shapes, numbers and letters. I really have to work with her and drag it out of her when doing those things. The perfectionist in me starts to worry about these things, but i try to remember she's four, she'll be fine, and try NOT to compare her to Holden. What she prefers to do is draw. She's really quite good at it. She's also really good at making things pretty--like decorating cookies, and matching her outfits. She has a good attention to detail already. I have no idea where she gets this from ;)
The girl LOVES to talk. She talks to everyone she comes into contact with. In stores, she is always striking up conversations with people. She does not know a stranger. She shows them her earrings, tells everyone she is four and waves and says hi to everyone passing by. Of course then she looks up at me and tells me she just said "hi" like i wasn't just right there to witness it.
We started Nora in ballet/tap this year. She loves it and i love that she gets to do something so feminine. It seems so much of what we do and who we play with revolves around boys, dancing has been good for her. She loves so much to do "girly" things, this is a good outlet for her and lets her be around other girls like herself.
We have also started going to Cubbies this year. I wasn't sure if i wanted to add on the extra activity to our busy schedule, but so far it has been a great experience. They memorize scripture every week. The first week Nora struggled and i wasn't sure how it was going to go--but since then she's been a pro. She remember them very quickly and doesn't forget them. Each week we review all the past weeks verses and she nails them every time. She have learned 11 verses so far this year.
-Nora has also made her first real best friend this year. Adelyn goes to school with Nora and from what i hear they are inseparable. They of course both love princesses and dress up. They hold hands and giggle and make believe...i just love watching them play together.
-Last year, right after writing her 3 Year Old Update, Nora and potty training finally clicked. It was an easy transition once she was ready, going from still in a diaper to no accidents within about 3 days. We really haven't had any regressions with her either--just occasional accidents from a little girl who doesn't want to stop playing! She has also been doing well at nap time and at night and many times she wakes up dry. It isn't 100% yet, but i don't think we are far off.
Nora's favorite things are:
Meow (her stuffed cat she loves more than anything else ever)
Princesses
Jumping on the trampoline
Playing with her friends
eating Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches and Mac N Cheese and Ice Cream
watching Tinker Bell and Cinderella
Dressing Up
Singing and Dancing
Playing Babies
~Holden Reece Burns~
Holden is my complex child. He's sweet and tender at times. He seems to feel things really deeply and get over emotional at times. Then at the same time he can seem to completely shut down and turn stone cold especially if he has done something wrong and knows he's gonna get into trouble. He can be sneaky and mischievous one day, sweet and obedient another day and then extremely hardheaded the next day. I really never know what i'm gonna get.
He loves to have one on one time with people--both adults and kids and that's where he really seems to thrive. I find that in bigger crowds he doesn't function as well. He starts to act out when he feels left out or else just sit off to the side and do something on his own.
Holden is extremely loving with his family. He is a big snuggler with me, especially first thing in the morning and right before bed. He loves to play with Nora more than anyone else and he is a fabulous big brother. He takes care of Davis and has a lot of patience playing with him.
Holden amazes me with how smart he is. He picks up on everything so quickly. He's know his letters/phonics for sometime now and he's starting to write things now. He picks up anything computerized and understands it immediately. He is fantastic at puzzles and can memorize anything. He has good directional sense and tells me how to get to places all the time.
Holden never misses anything. He notices when i have on a new shirt, he notices if anything is out of place and he can watch you do anything once and he's got it down pat.
I'm still convinced he's gonna be musical. Beats and rhythm come natural to him, he can match pitch and he got a toy piano book for his birthday that he already has figured out how to play some of the songs. As soon as we can i plan to get him into some kind of music lessons.
Holden is also doing great with his scripture memorization at Cubbies--just like Nora, he has 11 verses down pat.
Potty Training was much more of an issue with him and I was worried it may never happen. To my great delight though, this summer, right before school started back Holden finally got a handle on going potty. This has been a LONG process with him, as he started going potty on his own back when he was 18 months. We are still no where near getting him trained at night, but i am proud to say he NEVER has an accident during the day.
Holden's favorite things are:
his rubber sting ray he got this summer at the beach
rescue bots
superheros
planes
riding his tractor and gator
riding his tractor and gator
watching magic school bus, rescue bots, and super why
eating peanut butter, cookies and chocolate
No comments:
Post a Comment