Los Rickters: The FOUR year old!

Monday, March 4, 2013

The FOUR year old!

I can't believe my Gwen girl is four! But then again, it was a life time ago, before her sweet arrival.

Here are some things about Gwen at age FOUR that I want to remember....

*Gwen can't hold a pencil right, draw or write for the life of her, but she LOVES to scribble and color and make "cards" for everyone. Although just a week ago she decided to draw a self portrait all on her own and actually drew little people. I was completely shocked. After seeing that Oscar can hold a pencil right, color inside the lines and draw little circles, I was just about to give up on her artistic ability and admit that some kids just don't have it. So she either really couldn't do it or she is as stubborn as heck and wanted to do things on her own terms. I'm going to go with the latter on that one.

*She loves book and loves to be read to. She has a few of those Little Dr. Seuss books memorized and will finish the sentences when we're reading to her.

*She HAS to be sung to every night and it's always the same song; "If I fell in love with you" by the Beatles. Jay and I both sing it together, and of course, Jay being a Ricker, has to harmonize. Gwen has picked up on harmonizing and when Jay's not home to sing with us, she sings his part as best as she can. It's pretty cute to see her gift in music at such a young age. She is truly a Ricker.

She does not enjoy new things or changes. For example, a few months ago we got her a new dresser and gave Oscar her old one. She had a melt down. I rearranged some picture frames in our house and she kept telling me "but mom, that's not where it goes" and insisted I put things back. We got a new van last month and she keeps telling us she wants to ride in the "white one" and not the van.

*She loves to play with cousins and friends and LOVES to go to both Grandma's and Grandpas house. She loves to ride her bike and her scooter, and since we don't have carpet downstairs and it rains a lot in the winter, I let them ride around in the house. She loves to do summer-salts and headstands against the wall. She loves to be creative and "build" things around the house, leaving our home a disaster.

*She loves to sing, and sings she does. All the time. She sings her thoughts, questions and comments to us. The toilet and the car is where she gets in her best singing time in.

*She's smart. She may not know what every letter is and their sounds yet, but she can explain to you the body's digestive system. Jay has an anatomy app on his phone and she very intrigued by the human body.

*When she's all done going poo, she takes a gander in the toilet, and if it's a good one she has to show it to her dad. Often times he's not here, so she will say to me "lets save it for tomorrow". To put your mind at ease, we don't. We take a picture and send it to her proud dad. ;)

*She loves pink and more pink, princess dresses, leggings and skirts the twirl. She can be quite the girly girl.

She just had her 4 year old check up and she passed with flying colors. Her pediatrician asked me how many shots I'd like to do for Gwen. She needed three, but she could do some now and the rest next year. I knew it wouldn't go over well if I decided for Gwen, so I asked her what she wanted to do. I explained it to her and she proudly said she wanted all three. She didn't cry or anything. She was pretty proud of herself and the fact that she earned THREE band-aids, THREE stickers and of course an ice cream cone on the way home. She weighs 32 lbs (23%) and she's 37 inches (12%).

*What else can I say about this girl? She's the sweetest girl, with a bright smile. She has just about everybody wrapped around that finger of hers. She wears her heart on her sleeve and can be very emotional or moody, as sometimes we like to call it. ;) she plays with other kids well, but likes being independent as well. She's not afraid to explore her surroundings by herself. She's smart and understands humor and is SO much like Jay in that area. There's nothing more adoring than watching your child exemplify the very traits and personality of your spouse that you immediately fell in love with in the first place.
I absolutely love it.

Here's a bunch of pictures of Gwen this last year...