Kylie Kristen -- 4.5 Years Old

Kylie Bean is 4.5 years old, and still just as sweet as ever. In fact, if I had to choose one word to describe her, it would definitely, without a doubt, be sweet. She is so caring and loving and kind. She is sensitive and says the sweetest things on a daily basis. My favorite being, "I love you no matter what." She is social and loves to talk about and play with her friends. She loves to snuggle and hug. If I had to guess her primary love language, I would say it's physical touch. You can almost not walk by her without her asking if we can snuggle, and she hugs EVERYONE! If she is sad or hurt, a simple hug and kiss will cure it all. She is always thinking of other people. She loves to make pictures for others, and she likes to check on how the people around her are feeling. She makes our lives so much sweeter, and I love spending my days with such a thoughtful, caring little girl!

She is quite the optimist, so it sort of seems like she likes everything. Yesterday as we were driving to get ice cream, we drove past an old and kind of run down building called the Ohio Craft Museum, and I sarcastically asked Jon if he would like to go there. Before he could say anything, Kylie was enthusiastically saying that she'd love to go there. She thought it sounded like the best thing ever! She is always excited for an adventure, no matter what it is! I've hinted at some of the things she likes to do, but here is a list of a few more. She loves gymnastics, running, biking, crafts, coloring, legos, princesses, having her nails painted, going to the park, and swimming with a flotation device. She LOVES preschool and her teachers and is so sad that it's over for the year. Her best friends are Danny, Lucy, Cristian and Annie. She likes to help me out around the house by sweeping, setting the table, and cooking/baking with me. Her favorite TV show is Doc McStuffins and her favorite movie is still Frozen. She has been planning her Frozen birthday party for the past 2 months...Only 6 more months to go! She loves the colors pink and purple, and her favorite foods are chocolate, ice cream, pizza, PB and honey sandwiches, corn dogs, peas, grapes, apples, applesauce, cheese, milk, and water. She also enjoys writing her name, learning how to write new words, and reading books.

As I said, there are not too many things that she doesn't like, but she does have a STRONG fear of all bugs. I have never seen fear so clearly in anyone's face as when a bug lands on her or near her. It is sheer terror. She also doesn't like when she gets rained on, but who does! Unfortunately this spring has been a rainy one, so she has experienced it a few times. She doesn't love to share with her brother, and she is definitely not a morning person, especially by preschooler standards. She is woken every morning at 8am by either me or Brooks. She also really doesn't like feeling like she has been forgotten or left alone. One time, I left her alone in the car for a minute because my hands were full and I couldn't open the door until I set a few things down inside the house. When I got back to the car, she was crying and convinced that I had forgotten about her. She still talks about it, "Remember that time you forgot me in the car."

It's harder to track milestones as they get older, but here are a few new things that she can do since her last update. I would say her biggest accomplishment is that she no longer sucks her thumb. I thought this was going to be more challenging than it was, but I asked her to stop and she just did. She got some rewards for it, and she still sleeps with her lovey bunny, but the thumb sucking is done! In other news, she can clearly write her name, as well as Brooks, mom, and dad. She knows all of the letters and letter sounds, and is starting to sound out words. She recognizes a few sight words (the, and, etc...), and can count to 29 by herself (for whatever reason she gets stuck at 30 every time). She can do some basic addition as long as the sum isn't bigger than 10 because she counts on her fingers. :) She dresses herself completely, can zip her jackets, and buckle her seat belt. She can do forward rolls, and a basic cartwheel. She can run really well and gallop, but she is still working on skipping and hopping on one foot. She really wants to be able to skip, and practices almost daily. She is wearing size 11 shoes and size 5T clothes, and I have just started to buy some size small girls' clothes for her. She is tall (I think about 44 inches), and weighs between 42-44 pounds.

Kylie has been such a bright light in our lives! We love her so much, and feel so blessed that she is ours!