Leah Knows Best

Leah was absolutely refusing to go to sleep tonight. She told me she wasn't tired, not sleepy. I was sitting in bed folding another load of laundry and she was on the floor "reading" a book. I said "Leah after I put this load of clothes away it is time for bed. No excuses. " and she says "Mama I said I AM NOT TIRED. I will tell YOU when I am tired." 10 minutes pass and I notice I haven't heard a peep from her. I go look down at the floor and this is what I find:

4 Year Old Milestones

Motor Development: Gross Motor Skills

• running is more controlled; can start, stop, and turn
• turns somersaults; hops on one foot; gallops
• can easily catch, throw, and bounce a ball
• can brush teeth, comb hair, wash, and dress with little assistance
  

Motor Development: Fine Motor Skills

• copies crosses and squares
• prints some letters
• uses table utensils skillfully
• cuts on a line

Language and Thinking Development

• uses a 1,500-word vocabulary; speaks in relatively complex sentences ("Mommy opened the door and the dog ran out.") I am pretty sure that Leah's vocabulary is about twice this in English and half this in Spanish.
  
• understands words that relate one idea to another — if, why, when
• continues to learn through experience and the senses
• understands, mostly, the difference between fantasy and reality Except when related to trolls, fairies and anything involving Princess Annelisse & her best friend Molly.
  
• understands number and space concepts — more, less, bigger, in, under, behind
• thinks literally; starting to develop logical thinking
• begins to grasp that pictures and symbols can represent real objects
• starts to recognize patterns among objects — round things, soft things, animals
• grasps the concepts of past, present, and future but does not understand the duration of time She is starting to ask us about yesterday, tomorrow, last week, last year. Used to be everything was last year but lately she has been realizing when yesterday and tomorrow actually were/are.
  
  

Social and Emotional Development

• takes turns, shares, and cooperates
• expresses anger verbally rather than physically
• can feel jealousy
• may sometimes lie to protect herself, but understands the concept of lying
• enjoys pretending and has a vivid imagination

In addition to all of this she is beginning to read. Her teachers tell me everyday how much farther along she is coming. I suspect that by age 5 she will be more than ready for Kindergarten. Very proud of our little girl.

Tattoos for Good Behavior

Leah's behavior hasn't been the best at home as of late. We've been dealing with the terrible twos & threes in the span of a few months. The kid is 3 going on 16. Worse than a temperamental, hormonally imbalanced teenager some days. We've been trying to practice gentle discipline techniques with her. Trying to deal with her in a logical fashion versus the old school methods (that work so quickly and well) but don't have long term effects.

One thing is rewards for doing things (she should really be doing without argument anyway) but it seems that recognizing her hard work & effort is important to her. It works in school so why not at home. Lately her rewards of choice has been tattoos and stickers...and not just any tattoos as one can see in the following pictures.

She is such a fun child. She decides she wants to have a pretty princess day, so I let her hair down, she puts on a pretty dress, nice sandals and then adds biker, old school tattoos to the mix.





These particular tattoos are quite realistic looking and people did double takes on them all day today. They were a hit with her teachers & kids at her school. Reason 20, 999 why I love her school so much. They aren't generally judgmental stuffy types. They take things in stride and take great pride in each child's individuality, no matter how quirky it may be.

Just another Sunday

Today was an early day. Matt & Leah went out for a bit. Matt ran some errands while Leah played with Lindsay & Ruth & George. Mom stayed home cleaning in peace :) Abuelo & Vivian came over later in the day, had dinner that was grilled on our new outdoor electric grill. The grill's cooking efficiency surprised all of us. It cooks up burgers & hotdogs very quickly, they came moist, not dry. And even had a lil bit of the grilled taste you get used to with charcoal & gas without the chemicals.

Snapped a couple of pictures of Leah before she went out for the morning/afternoon.

Dancing in the front of the house.






This is when she started telling "Mama it is sooooooooo hot! I am melting like the witch in the Wizard of Oz. I'm mmmmmeeeelllttinnnnng."


Face she gave me when I started laughing my booty off.

Good Morning, Good Morning

Our morning routine has improved greatly especially now that Leah can dress herself for the most part. Just another reminder to us that she is not a baby anymore and will really be 4 in a few weeks.

Happy 4th of July

We really lucked out when we moved to the new house, in so many ways. One way is that we have great neighbors. They are nice, generous and get along beautifully with Leah. They are also down to earth and respectful. The kind of neighbors you can count on and also hang out with.

We went to our neighbor's parents' house for the 4th of July. Tons of food, good company, music & fireworks. Leah had a blast.



She fell on her bum about 10 minutes after we got there. We knew the nice, clean white shorts wouldn't stay white for long.


Leah is not a fan of loud noises, noise in general. She also does not care for fire, so put fireworks together and this kid wants no part of it. This of course does not stop us from inflicting them on her :)