For Ivy Lynnae: May 2016

Now that Ivy is 4 and up to so much more, I realized that I need to start jotting things down about her and her character and the ridiculously cute things she says and does.

Overall, Ivy is so so much like her big Sister in her demeanor, character, and personality. She is JUST AS sweet and kind and loving and obedient. She is certainly a perfectionist...on herself and with things around her (this is something I strive to soften in her).

She has a grand imagination and her favorite game to play each day is imagination/pretend. She literally calls them "Princess Imagination Games". So, how it usually plays out is this: She will be watching a movie and halfway through it, she will want to stop watching and say "ok! I have a new game!" and then she wants to play the main character and assigns the supporting character's role to me or Mark. It's quite amazing...and can get a bit tiring. But I love her imagination! I see story-telling or drama in her future.

She is an incredible eater. Since I raised her paleo from the start, that's all she's known and so totally love vegetables and fruits. She barely eats grains and sometimes could care less about them. If she has a sweet thing, she can rarely even finish the smallest portion. Everyday, her typical meal consists of a protein, a mix of raw or cooked veggies, and a fruit. Nuts are thrown in for snacks...and occasional gluten free crackers.

As I have been observing lately, it seems obvious that she is a second-born child. She is definitely a follower and not a leader. Though, Vienne was barely a leader. But, Ivy would prefer to play with older girls...hands down, every time. She does not care to play with kids younger than her...doesn't have that instinct to lead them.

She is a homebody.

She LOVES words and books. I can see how she is going to excel in literature and english and the arts. She has a very strong vocabulary and is always asking the meanings of new words...then she will use them correctly. For entertainment in the car, I keep a basket of CD read-along books from the library. She is listening to stories ALL the time. Often throughout her listening, she will hear a new word and ask it's meaning. Most recent words were: "collapse", "brambles", and "appropriate vs. inappropriate".

One thing that has been ridiculously adorable is her increasing conversational skills. She is an only child, now, and lives in a house with 4 adults (Grammy & Grandpa) so she is often surrounded by appropriate but adult conversations. Typically, at the dinner table, if there is a lull she will pipe in and ask everyone around the table a few questions. This is how it typically goes: "So, Grammy, how was your day today?....."What did you dream about last night?" This is all completely on her own without my prompting or real training. It might've started from a very small seed I planted many many months ago when we were in our apartment. Grammy would come and visit on Wednesdays and the moment Grammy would come through the door, Ivy would bombard her with requests to play with her. Grammy always needed a few moments to set her things down and settle in and greet with me. So, I started to prep Ivy, before Gram showed up, and suggested that she give Grammy a few moments after she arrives and maybe try to ask her how her morning is going...give Grammy some attention before making it about yourself. But seriously, that must've planted some seed in her because she has grown to be so mature in her thoughtful conversational abilities! For a 4 year old that is impressive! It is so stinking cute.