Going 'halfsies'

Alright - I am not oblivious to the fact that I haven't updated much on the kids' milestones/cuteness lately, so I thought I'd jump on the fact that Landon was just 20 1/2 months (I'm grasping for straws here, people...but work with me...) and Addie had her half-birthday a couple of weeks ago and is now 4 1/2. Yay! So here goes (and I'm not even going to apologize for the obnoxiousness):

Addie at 4 1/2:

* is still a little peanut. It is becoming more obvious to me how petite she is compared to her classmates, but she seems to be growing fine.

* wears a size 7 shoe and 4T clothes

* seems to have turned her corner of the "f_ fours" :) She still has the occasional tantrum, but is generally very sweet and thoughtful

* is a little smarty pants. We still get comments from her teachers on a regular basis about how smart she is. The funny thing? She pretends not to be at home. For example, her Spanish teacher was telling me how advanced she is in Spanish class and how she helps her friends. But when I ask her to help me with any of the words (even simple ones like colors) she'll tell me she doesn't know. Hmph.

* has outstanding fine motor skills. She has been staying in the lines and able to cut along very detailed lines for a while now. She seems to be quite gifted in art.

* shows ZERO interest in starting to read. She still loves to be read to, but gets upset if I try to have her help me sound out any words (and I swear I am not pressuring her!).

* loves her once-a-week gymnastics class!

* says the funniest, most grown-up things to us - we never know what's next

* is 4 1/2 going on 18

* loooves all things pink and girly (princess, baby dolls) but also loves to get dirty outside and help Daddy in the garden

* has randomly decided she is afraid of kittens (and suggested to Nana that she put their kittens in the car)

* goes to bed around 8ish and is still sound asleep when we go to wake her at 6:30

* is a fantastic big sister to Landon and loves to spend time with him

* would eat chicken nuggets or hot dogs every day if allowed; she is quite a picky eater lately. So frustrating! We have a hard time getting protein into her diet. She loves nuts, thank goodness. She still won't eat any fresh fruit but will eat dried.

* has started testing the waters of fibbing. So far she's finding out it doesn't work so well.

* went to her first sleepover about a month ago, and had her first friend over to spend (almost) the night (her friend got homesick around 10:30 :)) last night. What a big girl!

A little Q&A with my girl:

What are your teachers' names? Miss Emily and Miss Candi

Who are your friends in school? the girls

What is your favorite game to play? Hide and Seek

Do you have any boy friends? Hunter and Holland

What is your favorite color? pink

Do you have a favorite song? Twinkle, Twinkle

What is your favorite book? Cinderella

What is your favorite TV program/movie? All the Princess ones

What do you want to do when you grow up? A cow! [gotta love having big dreams! :)]

And now, the boy...

Landon at 20 1/2 months:

* is growing pretty steadily - wearing 24 month clothes

* becoming a pickier eater

* knows most of his colors and all of his basic shapes

* can count to ten! Sometimes he skips 2 and 4 though :)

* sings an adorable version of the alphabet - he stays on tune/tempo the whole time but misses about 1/3 of the letters. But boy, he sings it with soul ;)

* goes from zero to ANGRY with little-to-no warning; ends up throwing himself to the floor and having tantrums at least once a day

* is putting multiple words together and becoming easier to understand

* seems to understand most everything we say (whether or not he decides to listen... :))

* likes to follow Addie EVERYWHERE and do whatever she is doing

* got his first haircut a couple of weeks ago!

* asks to sit on the potty ALL THE TIME - so far only two "successful" trips. I am trying not to discourage him from sitting on the potty, but it is quite obvious that he is quite a ways off from being ready to really train.

* is still (mostly) a happy, loving baby boy!

"Seriously, Mom - what is going on here?"

First haircut - November 14, 2010