The Jordan Journeys: Four Years with Grace

She's FOUR! Grace has been telling friends and strangers alike that she is "almost four" for the past six months. So, what happened when Grace's fourth birthday finally arrived yesterday? She told every neighbor who walked by our home and every person at school, "TODAY I AM FOUR AND A HALF!" Nice try, girly.

I think this story sums up our little Grace. She's eager to take life head-on and also loves to convince herself and everyone around her of any and all "alternative facts". Rick and I have two choices: we can try to correct and convince her otherwise or laugh at her zest and encourage her to reexamine the truth from time to time.

Grace is spunky, funny, confident, and strong-willed. She embraces every day with excitement and curiosity. She loves her friends, loves her brother (when she's not fighting with Palmer), and knows who she is.

We love watching Grace express her ideas, whether she is on the playground with completely new friends or surrounded by her regular circle. She loves to laugh and be silly, is nurturing and sweet to her baby dolls and toys, and doesn't mind playing and exploring independently.

She has a great smile, is a very happy girl, and is always ready for an adventure. Like her brother, she loves an audience and a stage. During her preschool end-of-year show, she happily danced and entertained the audience from the front row, whether she was supposed to or not. What a fun girl.

Grace knows how to turn on the charm and we are all dazzled by her- she can regularly talk me into reading a story amidst a crazy day or stopping for a cuddle. Rick will usually fall for any request Grace has. And Palmer is known to play any role when they play pretend or read her a book in the car. Grace is considerate and loves to request an extra sucker at the grocery store "for my brother who is at school". When Palmer gets out of school, Grace is always excited to tell him about the treats she has collected for him while he was away.

Four years with Ms. Kitty:

Last year's three year old birthday photo:

DR STATS:
Height: 37.5" (10th percentile)
Weight: 33 lb, 4 oz (36th percentile)

LIKES:

Singing: Grace always has a song in her head and loves to sing both made-up songs and known songs all day long. She also has a knack for memorizing lyrics. After hearing a song on the radio or played in the car a few times, she usually has it down and I am regularly shocked by how many words she knows.

Speaking of memorization, Grace has Palmer's first grade class tricked into thinking she can read. She memorized the book, Madeline, and was invited to "read" to Palmer's class. The kids all said, "Whoa! I can't believe a three-year-old can read!" Children, please. hahaha. Grace was a tiny bit nervous to read to the entire class and told me later that her "stomach felt a little different", but she confidently powered thru and loved the center of attention.

Now, don't be fooled into thinking Grace is a child genius. I was asking her about what sounds certain letters make recently and Grace asked me to "Please stop asking all those letter questions!"

Ballet: Grace loooves her weekly dance class. She loves to get dressed up in the leotard and tights and adores her friends in the class. At home, Grace regularly puts on "dance shows" for anybody who will watch. She is looking forward to her upcoming first dance recital. Grace has also trialed a few gymnastics classes and will likely get involved with that activity later in the fall.

Friends: Grace has a solid group of friends from younger siblings of Palmer's friends to her own group at school, ballet, and soccer. She loves all of them and makes pretend phone calls to her gals when they are not around.

Outfits and Changing Clothes: When we lived in our last home, there were two adorable preschool-aged twin girls next door. I marveled at the amount of outfits they would go thru in an entire day. Now that Grace is of a similar age, I understand. Grace loves a variety of clothing options, changes often, and prefers not to wear pants. Even when she is wearing pajamas, she would much rather wear a nightgown to "pants jammies". If I convince her to wear pants, she usually comes downstairs with an added skirt accessory.

Not So Much "Sporty": Grace may be rough and tumble and scrappily loves to keep up with her brother.

However thus far, we haven't seen that translate to a love for sports. Grace was invited to join a soccer team this spring and because I know it's often hard to find a team in the later years once groups are early established, I agreed. Big mistake. Grace didn't love soccer and the games were often a waste of our family's time. I also put her on a tennis court this week and she mainly liked to talk about her skirt and request the need for sunglasses and a visor. I do realize that Grace is young, so TBD on how this all shakes out.

She would much rather try on leotards and sparkly shoes.