Abbey is 4!!!

Our darling princess turned 4 - I can't believe it! Abbey had a great year. She began to assert her independence, but was pretty good about reigning it in when necessary. She had a great time at preschool. We are constantly amazed at the things she learns and picks up just from being around Ben or listening to conversations we have with Ben about what he is learning in school. She apparently told Mama Kay in New Orleans how to pronounce a word based upon the phonics sounds of the letters in the word - wow! She came home from preschool writing her name very well - I don't think anyone taught her, I think she just looked at the letters and tried it. She is always trying new things and doing things to keep up with Ben. All summer she has watched Ben's swim practices and lessons and now she tries to do the strokes as well. She knows the names and will try to do them across the shallow end of the pool. She also loves going under water like Ben does.

Abbey is such a sweetheart. If one of her siblings is upset, she tries to comfort them. She is the first one to check on one of us and make sure we are ok. If it is her turn to pick a story and one of her siblings gets upset, she will often use her turn to pick whatever book her sibling wants so they will be happy, saying something like, "Don't cry Juliette - I am going to pick Dora!" If I have a headache in the morning, she will remember later in the day and ask me about it. She is very observant and likes to watch people. She notices the tiniest things. I think that is why she is so empathetic. She really picks up on how people are feeling.

On the flip side, the only issue she really has is that she cries/whines a lot. We try to teach her that crying does not solve her problems and that when she gets upset, she needs to do something to make it better, not cry about it. But it is a hard lesson to learn.

I took Abbey to her doctor's appointment and she was very worried about getting shots. I couldn't remember if she needed them, so I was unable to calm her fears about that before the appointment. As soon as the doctor walked in, she started crying. The doctor just smiled and said, "It's nice to see you too!" Unfortunately, she did need two shots so there were lots of tears throughout the appointment :( But on to her stats...she weighed in at 35 pounds and was 40 1/4 inches tall, which put her in the 50% for weight and 65% for height, so still tall and skinny!

All in all, she is doing great and makes us so proud. She will go to 4 year old preschool in the fall, which is three mornings a week. Juliette will go to 3 year old preschool, which is two mornings a week (different days than Abbey). So Abbey and I will finally get some good one on one time, which I am very much looking forward to! Happy Birthday Abbey Dabs, we love you!