Egg Hunt

Today was Katie's Easter Egg Hunt at school.  She couldn't wait to go and has been talking about it all week.  We have several Easter baskets at the house so she picked out the one with pink and polka dots.  I dropped her off at school and planned to return when it was time for the hunt.

Ms. Beth, one of Katie's teachers, gave the ground rules for the egg hunt.  They all walked to the grassy area outside their classroom.  As soon as they heard the word "go", all of the kids started running toward the eggs.  There are 14 or 15 kids in her class.  Katie was off and she was picking up eggs quickly.  She didn't follow the rest of the kids but just went after the eggs.  After all of the eggs were picked up, the kids headed back to the class.  They all left their baskets outside.  The teachers wanted everyone to have the same amount of eggs so a few parents made that happen.

Next up was the party in their class during snack time.  They were having pretzels, an Easter lollipop and ice cream sundaes.  Katie waited in line for her turn very patiently.  When it was finally her turn, she decided that she didn't want any of the ice cream and just wanted to sit with me.  After a few minutes (and when most of the kids were done eating), she wanted to eat her ice cream then.  She enjoyed it and ate some of the lollipop too.  As soon as we got in the car after school, she wanted to eat all of the candy she had gotten at the hunt!  Guess she wanted to have it all to herself.  Looking forward to the next hunt on Easter.

Katie's 4 Year Checkup

Today was Katie's annual well visit.  Todd and I were both able to go to the appointment, which I find is better when there are going to be shots involved.  Luckily, the pediatrician's office has changed the schedule on which they give shots and she only got 2.  I remember Michael getting 4 or 5 shots at the 4 year checkup!

Katie is 44 3/4 inches tall (99%) and weighs 40 lbs (82%).  I was surprised that her weight percentile was so high since she looks so long and lean.  This is the same size that Michael was at his 5 year checkup.  Her BMI was 14 (11%) and her BP was 90/62. 

She did not get the vision test, which they typically do at the 4 year checkup, since she already wears glasses.  Unfortunately, she failed the hearing test.  The doctor would like for her hearing to be at 20 decibels and the lowest she could hear was 30 decibels.  He would like to see her back in one month for a hearing recheck.  The reason that she failed the hearing test probably had to do with the fact that she had a double ear infection!  She didn't complain about her ears hurting at all and wasn't running a fever. 

Since we have a water filtration system in our house, the doctor also gave us a prescription for a vitamin with fluoride in it.  This will help her to get the fluoride that she needs without getting too much and damaging her teeth. 

Everything else looked good with Katie.  She is on track for her developmental milestones and we talked a little bit about her sleep issues.  We told him about the sticker chart and getting a reward for going to sleep by herself in her own bed.  So far, so good.  Once we get the bedtime down, we will work on keeping her in her bed all night.

Even though there was a little bad news with the hearing and the ear infection, it was a good appointment overall.

4

Today Katie turns 4!  I did really well with this birthday.  I think it's because it's not a milestone, like 3, where she turns into a preschool from a toddler, or 5, where she will be starting kindergarten in a few months. 

The past year has been a whirlwind of excitement as she experienced her share of firsts.  First day of preschool, first night away from home without Mom or Dad, first time writing her name by herself.  Katie's vocabulary is ridiculous and it's easy for me to forget that I am talking to a 4 year old.  She uses words like stylish and ingredients in everyday conversation.  Katie does a lot of listening and chooses her words carefully.  Even if you think she is not listening, she is.  She just takes her world in and gives it back when you least expect it.

Katie loves Hello Kitty, Max and Ruby, reading books to herself, Legos, coloring, playing dress-up (whether it be princesses or Batman), and spending time outside riding her scooter or bicycle.  She can get dressed by herself and loves to pick out her clothes.  She has quite a fashion sense, often pairing lavender rain boots with a pink outfit.  The only shoes she will wear to school are her sneakers, unless she knows that they are not going outside because she doesn't like to get sand in her shoes.


Preschool has been a wonderful learning experience for Katie, even if she wasn't so crazy about it at first.  I think she has made a few new friends and gets to play with the friends that she already has.   She still loves learning new things and we practice writing letters at home, as well as reading books to her.  She really likes to get some of Michael's books from school and "read" them to herself.

One of the things that Katie is still working on is sleeping by herself.  Ever since she moved out of the crib, sleeping through the night has been pretty elusive.  Someone has been laying down with her to sleep since shortly after she turned 3.  We have been preparing her for turning 4, when she is going to fall asleep by herself.  Keeping our fingers crossed that this transition goes smoothly.

The relationship between Katie and Michael is one of typical siblings.  She wants to be near him and do what he does.  I think it's hard for her at times to understand that she isn't the same age as him.  When they are not at each other's throats, they can be found playing nicely together.  Michael is very protective of Katie and will go out of his way to make sure that no one does anything to her that he doesn't like.  Of course, it's OK if he does the same thing.

Katie is the daughter we always wanted and makes our family complete!  Happy 4th birthday Katie....Mommy, Daddy and Michael all love you very much.

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

Today was the day that Katie was going to celebrate her birthday at school.  I asked her if she wanted me to make cookies or cupcakes for the big day.  She asked for cupcakes with icing.  I had already bought Hello Kitty icing decorations.  I did vanilla cupcakes with pink icing and put the Hello Kitty in the middle.  She was so excited to take the cupcakes to school to show her friends and teachers.

When I picked her up from school, one of her teachers told me that she did not want to blow out the candle after everyone sang Happy Birthday.  Apparently, Katie told them that it wasn't her real birthday on Friday (it's actually tomorrow) so she wasn't going to blow the candle out.  This kid is a trip.  I mean, how many kids do you know who don't love more than one birthday celebration?

Anyway, she did eat a cupcake and we had a few left over to enjoy at home as well.  Here they are:

Katie's Birthday Party

Yesterday we had Katie's 4th birthday party.  We had it this weekend even though her actual birthday isn't until next Saturday because we are going camping with the Cub Scouts next weekend.

Katie has been anxiously awaiting her birthday party for a few months now.  She was really excited about getting to celebrate with family and a few close friends.  Every week she would give me a verbal list of who she wanted to invite.  After she told me the list, then she would ask who was coming.  It ended up being a low-key event, which I now prefer for the birthday parties.

The theme that Katie wanted was Hello Kitty and she had asked for a pinata too.  I decided to make a 3d Hello Kitty cake on top of a half sheet cake.  This was far more ambitious than anything I had done in the past but I felt like it was time to broader my horizons.  Katie loved the finished product.

We set up the bounce house outside.  The weather was perfect for a party.  It was sunny and warm but not hot.  March's weather has really been unpredictable this year so we were thankful for a beautiful day.  The kids played in the bounce house, sandbox and out in the yard while everyone ate lunch

It was time for the pinata next.  All of the kids lined up to get a chance to hit it.  After several rounds of hitting Hello Kitty, she started to break apart.  Surprisingly the kids did not run to get the candy when it fell to the ground.  I guess that's the difference between mostly girls hitting the pinata and mostly boys hitting it.  When it was done, all of the kids calmly collected candy into bags.

We did the cake after that.  Katie was so ready to eat her cake after she blew out the candles.  She had quite a few different kinds of candles on the cake.  She requested a piece of Hello Kitty's body.  After cake, she opened her presents.  Her excitement at opening her gifts was so cute.  She really enjoyed seeing what she had gotten and couldn't wait to open everything. 

After the party, she wanted to know how long until her next birthday party!  I would say it was a success.