The girls had an activity that had them add sticker gems to a tiara. After playing with the tiara for a while they discovered they could pull the sticker gems back off the tiara and decorate other things. After having decorated a mailbox and bowls they discovered themselves. I found the girls working together to decorate Julia. Emily had a gentle hold of Julia’s hand as she placed a gem bracelet on her. They had already made a line up on of Julia’s arms and a ring on her ring finger. They were playing so quietly and sweetly. I was amazed at how still Julia sat for Emily to decorate her.

The girls invited me to a concert and this was the performance. The little one was excellent as a drummer and the large one had lots of confidence. The original song is from an episode of Angelia Ballerina that Emily likes, but hasn’t watched in a while. I think her word memory is a lot better than mine. I loved the impromptu concert!

It is spring break for Grammy so we went over for a little playtime and lunch. It was a bit cooler outside than I was expecting so the girls were underdressed for playing outside. So we found a shrug for Julia and Emily got a sweatshirt that looked like a dress on her. They played outside for a long time both on the swing set and picking up leaves and putting them in a pot with water in it. It always amazes me at what keeps kids entertained.

Julia is looking older now days in her photos. I guess she is getting older. I’m not sure she asked permission to grow up.

(4 yrs) Emily loves to dance around the room, especially when she is supposed to be listening or doing something else. She just zones out and off she goes. I love that she enjoys it so much that she puts that much effort into it. I have asked her where she learned different dances and she tells me that one of her Thursday School teachers teaches her. Every day she spends some time twirling around or making leaps and bounds somewhere.

Another game Emily is interested in right now is to play pretend “Goldilocks”. She will get out three bowls, three chairs, and make up three beds. Then she will assign play acting roles for other family members to act out the story with her. Emily likes to play different roles in this story, so you are never sure who you will get to be. If someone tries to be adventurous and like a different porridge or sleep in the wrong bed she will correct you, although she will not make you “do it right”. After playing once or twice, she is satisfied and willing to continue to play by herself eating porridge, sitting in chairs, and laying in beds.

Our Valentine’s Day was a beautiful, sunny and breezy day. It was still cool enough that you wanted to be in the sun, but warm enough you wanted to be outside! For all the snow and cold we had this winter, an early spring was really wonderful to enjoy. We spent the morning at the Knoxville Botanical Garden in our special “Secret Garden”. The kids drank up the sun and loved moving around.

Emily was excited to go for her 4-year checkup. I’m not quite sure why, but she was. She was great about her exam. She enjoyed the eye chart and took a couple of takes at the hearing test. She was just having trouble with reacting, not hearing. Emily is now old enough to get to wear a gown for her exam. She loved it and danced around in it like it was a beautiful dress. Funny stuff!

Her weight was 35 lbs. and height was 41-1/2 inches. Like usual her percentages are low for weight, but high for height. I was pleased that she averaged out to the 50 percentile. This Mama can handle average.

No shots, but we were told that she had a year and half to work the 4 required shots for beginning school. I thought a shot-free day was in order and we put them off until next fall when we would be getting our flu shot anyway. We will not discuss my sadness at just being a year and half away from starting school.

Both girls were thrilled for some stickers at the end. Given that Emily can stay well, we will not go back for a visit until her 5th birthday.