Ainsley - 4 years

"You'll never believe this news!  I'm going nite-nite in my earrings!"

Ainsley at 4 years old:

Weight:  35 pounds (50th percentile)
Height:  43 inches (greater than 98th percentile!!)

-Wakes up between 6:45-7:30 and goes to bed around 7:30/8pm.  She has a rest/quiet time everyday for about 2 hours and will typically end up napping 2-3 times a week during this time.

-She knows all her letters and their sounds but has some trouble matching uppercase with lowercase.  She can write all the letters in her name but cannot do it independently.  She still fluctuates between writing with her right and left hand which is my excuse for why she still struggles with her handwriting.  Ainsley mostly recognizes the numbers 1-10 and can count to 30 with the exception of the teens... she gets a little tripped up here and usually ends up putting an 'eleven-teen' in there somewhere.  :)

-Ainsley really loves to sing and belts out songs at the top of her lungs during quiet time, when we are in the car, or when she's swinging.  In the car, she often asks for the same song to be played over and over and over and she just sings her heart out.  It is so cute and definitely reminiscent of my younger days.

-She has a sweet encouraging nature with Bailey and is such a nurturing big sister.  He is always asking her to 'watch, watch' and she always obliges with patience even if its the 100th time and she is in the middle of something else.  She will then follow up with claps and saying "Yay, Bailey.  I'm so proud of you. You are such a big boy."  It warms my heart every time!



-Her little doll figurines are still her favorite toys and she is still obsessed with anything princess, mermaid, or fairy.  She spends most of her independent play time playing with these little dolls in her dollhouse.  The rest of the time she is typically dressing up in all her dress up clothes, 'reading' her books, playing with her new LeapPad that she got for her birthday, or doing other random puzzles or games.  She doesn't play that much with her babies and baby care stuff, although I'm sure that is about to change.  :)

-We recently got a swing set in our backyard and she loves to swing!  At least once a day she will announce that she needs to swing and will independently run outside to do so.  She says that she likes swinging because it makes the wind blow in her hair.  After swinging for a while she will often run back inside or over to us and excitedly tell us different things that she has seen, ie. she watched a dragon fly land on the slide, or she saw a mama bird feed a baby bird.  I love that she gets so excited about nature and that she enjoys this time by herself.

-As much as she loves her accessories, Ainsley prefers her hair down and wild.  She will allow me to put a bow or small ponytail in her hair for school and other activities but resists and refuses whenever we are just at home.  And as soon as she gets home from things, almost the first thing she does is yank her bow or hair tie out.



-Ainsley still has a very social, friendly nature and when we are in public she searches out social interaction with other kids and adults.  This is a trait that she has had since she was much younger.  It is interesting to watch Bailey in these similar circumstances not be interested in other engaging and playing with other kids at all, while Ainsley now, and at his age, seeks it out.  I love this quality in her and I think it is a real gift and I can't wait to see how the Lord uses it throughout her life.

-Even the social little bug she is, she loves to have time by herself.  When we are at home, she often requests for us to leave her alone so that she can play all by herself.  I'm thankful that as much as she loves to be social she also loves to be independent.

-Ainsley sweetly and openly prays to God about all sorts of things randomly throughout the day.  "God, please make Bailey feel better.  Thank you, amen."  "God, please make me a mermaid when I grow up."  "God, please put a baby sister in mommy's tummy."  And she always finishes up with, "Ok, God said that he would."  Cross that off the list and move on.  I wish my faith was that trusting.

-She loves to play imaginative pretend games where there is a story line that the characters have to follow, both mimicking movies she's seen and making up her own stories.  She likes all the typical girly story lines about princesses, fairies, babies, and mermaids, but she also loves to play imaginative story lines with pirates, superheros, and chasing games with monsters and dragons.  Anyone who plays these games with her will tell you that she does tend to be kind if bossy about how the other people play and likes to have the story go like it does in her head.  :)  I'm looking forward to the day when Bailey can play a more active role in these games.

-The poor girl still bawls like its the end of the world when she gets put in a rare timeout.  She has developed a bit more sass in the past year but is still very sensitive to when she gets in trouble.  She will often come and apologize, or re-apologize, for something that she did earlier that day or yesterday.  I'm thankful for her generally obedient and repentant spirit but it breaks my heart a little at the same time.  Most of the time she tries so hard to be good and I have to remind myself (often!) to give her grace because she is only 4.

-Just as when she was a baby, when Ainsley gets really upset about something, she tends to have a difficult time calming herself down.  This is even more true when she is over tired or hungry but in general it still seems like a struggle for her to control her emotions and at times (a few times a month but sometimes there are a few in a week!) she has crying fits that can last 30+ minutes.  As any parent would, I hate seeing her so upset but I try my best to remain calm and give her compassion while not condoning her behavior.  It is my prayer that as she continues to get older she will learn to control her emotions when she feels upset or feels disappointed.

I love my Ainsley girl the whole world and I can't believe that she is already 4 years old!  She is growing so fast!!  I'm so proud of the thoughtful, kind-hearted girl that she has become.  I  often tell her that I want to put her in a bubble so that she can't get any bigger.  The first time I said this, she looked at me innocently and asked why.  And then she told me that even when she got bigger, she would still give me hugs and kisses everyday.  So, I'm holding her to that!  We love you Ainsley!!