Kaelia - 4-5 Years

"Mom, today I'm turning five!"  This was how I woke up today - with a new little five-year old whispering in my ear at 5:30 in the morning.  Needless to say, Kaelia is pretty excited to reach this next birthday and has grown as a person so much in the last year.  I can't believe five years have passed by so quickly!

Academically, Kaelia has progressed quite a bit this year.  She has picked up on some sight words from her sister and started reading by herself, trying to be just like Taelyn.  It is incredible to see just how much she is able to read on her own now!  She is at a PM reading level 6 which is an early 1st grade level.  She can even read the entire 75 pages of Dr. Suess's Hop on Pop to us!  Kaelia has also mastered counting to 100 and is still working on identifying all of the numbers on paper.

Kaelia is very specific about the things that she likes.  Her favorite colors are (in order) blue, purple, and rainbow, and she is very particular about drawing rainbows with all of the colors in the correct order.  She also still really likes Frozen and did not care if she already chose that theme for her birthday party last year.  She still likes it, so she wanted the same theme again this year.  Lately, however, My Little Pony have become one of her new interests as well.

Kaelia also LOVES music.  She makes requests every time we are in the car.  Some of her favorites include the soundtracks from Into the Woods, Frozen, and Wicked.  When she is given time on the Ipad at home, her first go-to is Kid's Youtube where she watches different versions of her favorite songs that kids have created and uploaded.

There is also some sparkling personality in Kaelia.  She is a very kind and caring kid, and showers people with hugs and kisses.  She loves to tell her family and closest friends that she loves them.  In fact, sometimes she has to be told at school to keep her hands to herself because she is too affectionate with her friends - especially the boys!

Physically, Kaelia is now 42.5 inches tall and weighs 35.5 pounds.  She has been able to ride a big girl bike but has not practiced in a long time and has not mastered this skill yet.  She is very capable, however, with sports.  She has tried both swimming and gymnastics this year, and has a good deal of potential in both.  Right now she is just trying to figure out what activities she enjoys the most as she battles between wanted to do an activity and then just wanting to play without being bothered by a coach's instructions.

In addition to her birthday party last weekend, Kaelia celebrated turning five with her classmates yesterday, and we went out with the McInnis family today for brunch.  Kaelia came back with some face paint and a full belly!

A photo slideshow by Smilebox