Anna

- seems like such a big kid in so many ways!
- loves LOVES loves school! The teachers love her too. They say she is always very good and polite and thoughtful of others.
- I wouldn't say "always" at home, but she is a pretty good kid. She listens and obeys pretty well for an almost 4 1/2 year old.
- Has really started using her imagination alot. I always hear her making things up to play with Emma. She likes to pretend that she is Emma's mother a lot lately. When they do this, she calls Emma "kid". As in "hey kid, do you want something to eat?"
- is nicer to her sister with each passing day it seems. She had a long way to go, but these days the conflicts usually come from the 2 year old in the relationship.
- seems to really pay attention to the things I try to teach her. It really helps for things to be reinforced at school and even on TV shows. The idea of eating healthy was on one of her favorite shows recently, so she's always telling me that we have to eat healthy food before we eat sugar. She REALLY loves sweets, but is very good about eating healthy and not asking for more sweets than the limited amount I allow. I am VERY thankful for this!
- can write her name pretty perfectly. She's not super interested in writing many other letters, but she does really like E's and m's (so she can write Emma's name).
- doesn't nap more often than she does nap. When Emma is asleep, I spend a little time with her doing something educational. I got a wonderful toy/game from my dad to practice sounding out words, and she loves it. I have to do a lot of coaching still, but I'm just thrilled that she enjoys things like that.
- loves to run. Sometimes she will go back and forth between the fence in the backyard "practicing her running".
- loves to swing. She's been swinging by herself for about a year I think. She can even get going when she can touch the ground. She also likes to swing a lot when we go to playgrounds. I don't really get that since we have a swing in the backyard, but it's fun to see her happy.
- is kind of like her mom with the bike. That means that she gets nervous on it. I know this probably comes as a shock, but I didn't ride my bike without training wheels until I was 8. Tony had her riding without training wheels a while back, but I think she must have wrecked and gotten scared so she back with the training wheels. She's very good at it, but doesn't love it like say, Emma or Anton as a child. Of course we'll all hoping this will change with gentle encouragement!
- likes to talk about God. The other day I read a Bible verse (Isaiah 41:10) and paraphrased it to say "and I will hold you in my strong right hand". She said "so God has one strong hand and one not strong hand?" HAHA!! I told her both of his hands are strong. I think she must have been pondering that because about an hour later she asked me - "Mama, is God stronger than Gaston?" (the big buff handsome but not so nice guy from "Beauty and the Beast"). I told her yes, he is. He is stronger than everyone". So God being strong has been on her mind a lot lately and it comes up in conversation often.
- likes to say she is strong, curl her arms up in a flex, and tell me to feel her muscles. She's always cracking me up!
- is still tall and skinny! I think she's still wearing pants that used to be capris and are now long shorts from 2 summers ago. I have passed some capris/shorts down to Emma, mainly because Emma needs them, but Anna could still wear. Anna is bearly wearing a 4 in several things, but things like short sleeve shirts and dresses are a 5. It doesn't help that different brands fit so differently! Even at the Children's Place, where I buy about 1/2 of all their clothes, the style of something makes a big difference in what size will fit them best.
- has been asking me a lot lately to take her to gymnastics. I've looked around and luckily the best schedule/most flexible is right around the corner. I'll be able to put Emma in the same class. We'll start soon I think!
- says she wants to be a mama like me when she grows up. I've explained that she needs to have a job first before having kids, so she wants to build airplanes. Tony takes her to a little place near the airport that is close to the end of a runway. She likes to watch the big planes fly close over her head. I'm thinking that's where the idea came from. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we end up with 3 engineers.
- loves to color. She has gotten pretty good at coloring in the lines. I think crayons and coloring books are a fabulous invention!