We don't celebrate 1/2 birthdays in our house, but in Caroline's classroom each child with a summer birthday gets a chance to be celebrated on their half birthday instead, so we kind of got backed into this. Caroline wanted to bring in a treat for her friends and even told me exactly what she wanted to bring: Peppermint Sugar Cookies. Thankfully, this was probably one of the easiest requests she could have made. Ready to Bake Sugar Cookie dough + crushed candy canes = super simple 1/2 birthday treat.
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| Caroline hard at work making her special cookies. |
Caroline's 1/2 birthday is tomorrow and the twins' is next Tuesday. I thought I'd take the opportunity to give an update on each girl. I've included their recent school pictures...gotta get some use out of the packages we bought!
Caroline at 4.5 years old:
At 4.5 years old, Caroline is confident, creative, energetic, artistic and curious. She has seemingly endless amounts of energy; she fights going to bed at night and is up at the crack of dawn every day.
Caroline is the official activities and events coordinator in our house. Whether it be orchestrating an elaborate play scheme for the twins or planning a special day with Daddy, Caroline leaves no details out, and there is no doubt about who is in charge.
Caroline is obsessed with all things baby doll. Caroline never goes a day without tending to her countless number of baby dolls (and more on the way, courtesy of Santa!) as their Mommy or Grandma. And she does it all: diaper changes, feedings, stroller rides, safe trips in Mommy's car courtesy of her baby doll car seats, naps, and even disciplining dolls for being unkind to their siblings. Julia and Margaret are equally enamored with the dolls, and the three girls will often spend up to an hour at a time enmeshed in baby doll play together.
Caroline's other interests include dancing/ballet and gymnastics, all things crafty, puzzles, mazes, and blocks, and last but never least, being pretty. Caroline spends quite a bit of time each morning selecting the perfect dress, hairstyle, and accessories for her busy preschool days. :)
Caroline continues to struggle (as I'm sure all 4 year old do) with whining and losing her temper. Some of her favorite topics of disgruntled-ness are that she is tired (but refuses to sleep), that her sisters are bothering her (totally understandable), or that someone is NOT LISTENING! or is TAKING TOO LONG! (don't we all feel that way sometimes?)
Julia at 2.5 years old:
Julia continues to be a boundary pusher with insatiable curiosity and a penchant for stubbornness. She is our child of many "firsts." She is the first one for whom I needed to call poison control (ate 1/2 a deodorant stick
and then cried because I took it away), the one who throws the longest and most exuberant temper tantrums, she is our biter and hair puller, and she is the first of our children to stick an object up her nose just for fun (this week she sneezed a button out of her nose
that I had no idea was even there in the first place).
Julia is also a child full of joy. Her face lights up, and she shouts, "
Gook, Daddy/Mommy!!" whenever she sees or finds something that delights her (which is often). I never correct her "Gook" because it is adorable, and one day she will correct herself and I will miss hearing her say it.
Julia has a very vivid imagination. She is the only one of our girls (so far) so have frequent nightmares. Between 2 and 5 times a week, Julia wakes up in fear of one of a variety of creatures, screaming "Something get me!" or Dat scare me!!" They all seem to be quite real to Julia, and they often have (supposedly) been in her crib, causing extraordinary terror in Julia. There have been times when she climbed out of her crib just to escape some of these nightmares. Some of her tormenters include a dragon, a mouse, a lizard, a bee, and most recently, a sheep (ironically a very docile creature, right?). Thankfully, a quick trip to the rocking chair is all it takes to lull Julia back to sleep, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't kind of enjoy the mid-night snuggle sessions.
Julia's interests include coloring, blocks, dancing, animals, and taking showers. Her favorite color is red, and her favorite song is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
Margaret at 2.5 years old:
At 2.5 years old, Margaret is still small in stature but big in personality. She is spunky, scrappy, and stubborn, but also snuggly, intuitive, and compassionate. Margaret has quite the temper and will scream until she is shaking if something upsets her enough. Margaret is a bit territorial and often accuses her sisters and friends of trying to take something from her even if they have made no such attempt. :)
Verbally, Margaret has made amazing strides in the last several weeks. She has always been a tad delayed in her language development, but boy, is she covering ground quickly now! Margaret is quite the Chatty Cathy these days, telling us exactly what she is feeling or thinking. "I don't like that!", What dat sound?", and "I do it by myself!" are some of her most frequent sayings. I am a fan of hearing her ask, "Who-body did that?" or "Who-body took my...?" Adorable for sure, and another toddler-ism that I won't be correcting any time soon.
We were recently thrilled to hear Margaret say her own name. Until now, if you asked her what her name was, Margaret would look bashful and reply, "me." Just couple weeks ago, we posed the question to her again and were delighted to hear her quietly whisper, "Marg-net." It was a special moment for sure.
Margaret's interests include Mickey/Minnie Mouse, puzzles, coloring, singing in her crib and eating snacks. Her favorite color is orange, and her favorite song is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
