Jessie: 4 & 1/2

Our Jessie girl turned 4 1/2 this month & wow, what a big difference 4 1/2 has been for her.  She is so much more confident in everything she does (Jessie is anyway, but still there is a big difference!) When I told her she was 4 1/2, she was thrilled & now she proudly tells everyone that she is 4 1/2 & that 4 1/2 year old girls are not scared of anything.   She is much more able to comprehend the world around her & has many deep thoughts about a variety of things.  Her favorite things right now: unicorns, rainbows, & "being powerful like Maleficent."  Yeah, you read that right, like Maleficent, the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty.  She is fixated on her staff & her power.  It's actually quite amusing, although somewhat scary that I'm concerned about my 4 1/2 year olds love of power.  Jessie is a character & everyone we meets thinks this is the case.  Yesterday, at the doctor the pediatrician told me that he had been practicing for 25 years & kids like Jessie are why he continues to do his job.  Jessica continues to be very proud of her artwork & we think she is very creative.  We encourage her to channel her natural abilities into creating art.  She can be quite serious, but also quite funny.  Jessica is the child who teaches me everyday that I need to be a better parent & person.  She is challenging & fun, but also a handful.  She is unlike myself in that she is not inherently obedient, she is always testing the boundaries for what she can get away with.  I, on the other hand, like to stay well within the boundaries just to be on the safe side.  She is extremely large for her age & towers over her little friends in preschool.  She is in a size 6 for most things lately, although she continues to have a skinny frame.  She is progressing in her handwriting ability & her social skills at school.   She continues to be a very confident little girl & often questions authority, most adults laugh at this, but, of course, we do try to teach her that this is not appropriate.  She's still running the show around here in terms of what games are being played, but she is slightly better about helping to take care of "her little one" i.e. Ella, who loves to play baby, by the way.  She's a picky eater, but is making some progress in terms of trying new things at school.  She loves the color blue & to dress up!  I often find her wearing a princess dress, tiara, jewels & high heels at any given time of the day.  Her imagination is boundless & she likes for me to tell her fairy tales, where she & Ella are the central characters.  She also enjoys reading her princess fairy tale book before bedtime.  I think that's a good sampling of what Ms. Jessica is like at 4 1/2, although there are days, which seem like they will never end, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In her own words, questions Jessie answered about herself

Because no posting from me is complete without some pics, she picked the dress & accessories for these :)