Matthew and Kayla are 9 Years Old!

Matthew and Kayla's birthday this year did not go according to plan.  Just as school was being let out for Spring Break, the corona virus pandemic started escalating.  Within a few short days we had to cancel our plans to be in an Abbotsford hotel, and then cancel our plans to camp, and then cancel their birthday party.  We couldn't even promise them when we would make up those special activities, because everything is an unknown right now.  I told them that if school is back in session before the end of the school year, then they can have a birthday party, otherwise they will get an extra special one when they turn ten.  They have been extremely understanding of the situation - it's probably me that is more upset than them!

Anyways, they are nine!

Matthew:

Matthew now weighs 58.4 lb and is 52 1/4" tall.  He has quickly outgrown his size 8 clothes and has started with some size 10s.

Matthew continues to win over the hearts of his teachers.  He is a good student with a quick brain and an infectious smile.  He loves anything to do with numbers.  Math is definitely his specialty, and he has recently fallen in love with the game "crib" and "Sushi Go Party".  Matthew is obsessed with anything to do with Mario.  The Nintendo Switch is well-played by him!  Every spare bit of birthday money he has goes to buying new games.  Although, he did save some money to buy the third Harry Potter book which he was ready for.  If he's not playing video games, then he's watching videos on YouTube of other people playing them.  At school, his best friend is Emmy and he seems to enjoy imaginative play with her at recess, re-creating movies and books they have read.  His favourite meal for dinner is soup, and he loves any sort of spiced/Dutch cookie (ex. boeterkoek, speculaas, stroop wafels).

Birthday Questions:

1. What's your name?  Matthew  
2. How old are you?   9
3. What is your favourite color?  Red and black because they are the colour of flying Mario on Super Mario Galaxy
4. What is your favourite toy?  Probably the Nintendo Switch
5. What is your favourite fruit?  Kiwi   
6. What is your favourite tv show or movie?  I don’t know   
7. What is your favourite game?  Super Mario Oddysey   
8. What is your favourite animal?  Penguin 
9. What is your favourite song?  King of Kings   
10. What is your favourite book?  Harry Potter   
11. Who is your best friend?  Emmy and Adaya   
12. Who are you going to marry?  I have no idea.   
13. How many kids are you going to have when you are married?  I want 4.   
14. What is your favourite thing to eat for breakfast?  Bacon and eggs.   
15. What is your favourite cereal?  Lucky Charms 
16. What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?  Egg Salad on bread   
17. What is your favourite thing to eat for dinner?  Tuna Melts   
18. What is your favourite thing to do outside?  Play volleyball   
19. What is your favourite drink?  7-Up 
20. What is your favourite snack?  Veggies and Fruit
21. When is your bedtime?  7:00   
22. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  My book 
23. What is your favourite holiday?  Spring Break 
24. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A teacher   
25. Name one thing you do really well?  Play video games   
26. What makes you feel sad?  When someone calls me a name.   
27. What makes you feel happy?  When I cuddle with Mom.   
28. If you could choose a different name, what would you choose?  Michael 
29. Where do you want to go on vacation?  Disneyland 
30. What is your favourite thing to do?  Play video games   
31. What is your favourite thing to do with Mom?  Cuddle   
32. What is your favourite thing to do with Dad?  Play crib   
33. What is your favourite thing to do with your siblings?  Play video games   

Kayla:

Kayla now weighs 68.0 lb and is 54 5/8" tall.  She is comfortably wearing size 10/12 clothes.  Kayla adores reading.  She finished the fourth Harry Potter book within days of receiving it for Christmas, and has since started re-reading the four she has all over again.  She enjoys playing games and doing jigsaw puzzles.  Kayla is also a good student.  She is extremely neat and diligent in her work.  At school, her best friends are Madelyn and Harmannat.  They love climbing all over the playground equipment at school.  Her biggest decision to make right now is whether or not she wants to cut her hair short (shoulder length) this summer or next.  She is tired of having naughty hair and wants short hair that will be simpler for her to brush herself.  She loves watching animated tv shows that have a fantasy (magic/dragons) component to it.  Kayla's favourite meals for dinner are similar to mine, which is nice.  She loves BLTs and quesadillas.  She much prefers candies over chocolate, often declining to have chocolate chip cookies or chocolate eggs.

Birthday Questions:

1. What's your name?   Kayla
2. How old are you?   9
3. What is your favourite color?  Blue
4. What is your favourite toy?  Hermione’s Wand
5. What is your favourite fruit?  Peaches and Kiwi   
6. What is your favourite tv show or movie?  Don’t have one   
7. What is your favourite game?  Also don’t have one   
8. What is your favourite animal?  Fox 
9. What is your favourite song?  Don’t have one   
10. What is your favourite book?  Harry Potter series   
11. Who is your best friend?  Madelyn, Emmy, Harmannat   
12. Who are you going to marry?   I don’t know   
13. How many kids are you going to have when you are married?  4   
14. What is your favourite thing to eat for breakfast?  I don’t know.  Omelettes or Pancakes with Strawberries & Whipped Cream   
15. What is your favourite cereal?  Trix 
16. What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?  BLT  
17. What is your favourite thing to eat for dinner?  I don’t know.  Quesadillas     
18. What is your favourite thing to do outside?  I don’t know.  Go swimming.   
19. What is your favourite drink?  Lattes, Pop (Pink Crush), Lemonade, Punch 
20. What is your favourite snack?  Apples with Peanut Butter 
21. When is your bedtime?  7:30   
22. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Fox Pillow 
23. What is your favourite holiday?  Christmas 
24. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Author   
25. Name one thing you do really well?  Basketball   
26. What makes you feel sad?  When I’m not allowed to read.   
27. What makes you feel happy?  When I read   
28. If you could choose a different name, what would you choose?   Isabella
29. Where do you want to go on vacation?  Hawaii 
30. What is your favourite thing to do?  Go to Disneyland   
31. What is your favourite thing to do with Mom?  Crafts   
32. What is your favourite thing to do with Dad?  Talk about Harry Potter   
33. What is your favourite thing to do with your siblings?  Play card games.   

Olivia is 4.5 Years Old!

At 4.5 years old, Olivia is 44" tall and weighs 39.2lb.  She comfortably wears size 5 pants, size 6 tops, and size 11.5/12 shoes.  This is the first measurement for her where she is shorter than Kayla was.  It seems that Kayla had a growth spurt between 4 and 4 1/2, but Olivia did not.  I guess I should be expecting one in the near future then!

The last six months with Olivia have been great.  Her obsession with babies still continues: she has babies/dolls named:  Ariel, Ava, Bella, Clara, Isabella, John, Lucy, and Sophie.  The "Our Generation" doll she received for Christmas (an 18" doll with hair), Clara, is actually played with quite a bit.  I was curious as to how she would react to having a non-baby doll because in the past she was only drawn to bald babies, but she welcomed this one with open arms.

Olivia played soccer for a couple months in the Fall.  She was never excited or eager to go, but when she was there she participated and seemed to have fun. 

Olivia started showing an interest in being a ballerina this summer and that carried into the Fall, so for Christmas we gave her a tutu, tights, ballet shoes, and signed her up for ballet classes through our local recreation centre.  She LOVES it.  She was quite nervous the first class as all of the activities were new to her (but familiar to the other girls who had clearly been in ballet before), but we did a little practicing at home before the second class and she has been confident ever since.  She pays very close attention to whatever her teacher, Anelia, asks them to do, and does it amazingly well.  I may be biased, but I think she has a natural ability for it.  She even loves practicing dance moves at home in the kitchen.  There is one boy in her class, and after one class with him Olivia exclaimed, "He didn't even have to carry (lift) me, Mom!"

She still loves watching shows on YouTube on the iPad, especially those involving dolls or Lego.  I think her ability to imaginatively play with her Barbies his grown even more because of her exposure to watching others play that way. 

She is fantastic at playing independently.  When she no longer wants to play with her older siblings, she willingly drift to playing with Barbies, Little Ponies, or vTech Flipsies.  She creates worlds and storylines and can play for a couple hours.  She doesn't even care if she is by herself in the toy room.

Olivia can recognize and name all of her letters, and we are introducing her to sounds they make.  She is great at rhyming.  Crazy to think that Nathan was almost reading at her age, although he had more exposure because I was diligent in making sure that Matthew and Kayla were reading aloud to me at least a few days a week.  Right now, Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan are all great at reading and so most of their reading is done on their own, in their beds at bedtime. 

Her favourite food is still french fries.  That girl can pound back french fries like it's no one's business.  It's unreal how many she can consume in a single sitting! 

Over Christmas holidays, I finally put my foot down and told her that she could not climb into my bed in the middle of the night anymore.  It had been happening every night and I was started to really feel sleep-deprived.  We made a chart and knew that when she had slept in her own bed for ten nights, she would get a donut.  The first few nights were extremely rough.  She tried to come into my bed and was extremely angry when I brought her back to hers.  I laid with her in her bed until she fell asleep again for those nights, and then eventually she stopped being angry when I brought her back to her own room and then she just stopped coming to our room.  There have been a few nights since then where I've let her sleep in our bed (she is my baby, after all!), but it's been much better that what it was.

Olivia likes to pretend she has a secret to tell, but then just blows in your ear instead.

She will only wear the fanciest of dresses to church.  Skirts don't even do it for her.  They have to be fancy flower girl or Christmas dresses!  Her church shoes have a bit of a heal, so she calls them her "high shoes."

Olivia ended up being the only child in her swimming lessons class in the Fall, and the one-on-one attention allowed her to pass two levels at once, something that their teacher had never heard of.  She is now in the highest level that she can for her age.  I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of this summer I could have confidence with her being in the deep end of a pool without me right beside her (but watching, of course!).

She loved sledding this year!  She has absolutely no fear, and sleds wherever the big kids sled.