How in the world is our baby girl FIVE? It doesn’t seem right that we are out of the baby and toddler stage completely. As everyone likes to say, it definitely goes by faster than you think. Abigail is growing into that big personality of hers, and she makes us smile every day.
I looked back at my post from last year, and Abigail wasn’t quite 30 pounds at her 4 year checkup…haha. Well, breaking news: As of yesterday (9/8/22), she weighs 33.3 lbs and is 41 1/4 inches tall! So she has gained over 3 pounds and 3 inches in the last year. She is still only in the 10th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight, but that’s what makes her our Peapod! ;) She is wearing a mix of mostly 4T and 5T clothes, although she still has some 3T shorts that fit ;) Her shoes are mostly all around size 10s. Her hair has grown a lot in the last year and has definitely gotten much straighter, just like Brooklyn’s did around this age. Abigail is very particular about picking out her clothes by herself. She used to cry and scream every Sunday morning if she didn’t like the choices I gave her for which dress to wear, but that has gotten better over the last few months. She also went through a stage where she hated hairbows, but now she likes wearing them…at least sometimes! She also likes having her hair braided sometimes too. Abigail hasn’t lost any baby teeth yet, but at her recent dentist appointment, we learned that her “gray tooth” (the one that she knocked loose last year) will probably be the first to come out…even before the two on bottom!
Abigail is slowly becoming a less picky eater, and it’s about time! She still has strong preferences, and she usually eats well at breakfast and lunch but may or may not eat much dinner depending on what it is. Her favorite cereals are Special K and Cheerio Oat Crunch. She usually eats a sandwich (PB&J or PB&honey), chips, fruit, and yogurt or cheese stick for lunch. She likes most fruits and is getting better at eating vegetables. Her favorite vegetable is probably still cucumber, but she will actually eat others like squash, green beans, and raw carrots now too. She still isn’t a big fan of meats, especially chicken and pork chops, but if it’s not too chewy, she will eat it okay. As far as sweets, she usually goes for candy if there’s a choice between that and baked goods like cake. She loves ice cream and popsicles too!
Abigail is a pretty good sleeper for the most part. We try to have her in bed by about 8 PM most nights. She is not attached to any particular stuffed animal or blanket and just picks random ones to sleep with each night. She has started having nightmares sometimes and will occasionally wake me up in the middle of the night because of a scary dream. I remember the other girls doing that too around this age. She always wants to sleep with her closet doors closed and sometimes wants me to check for monsters around her room ;) Abigail is the earliest riser of our bunch and is frequently up by 6:15 AM or earlier. Sometimes much earlier. She wakes up early no matter how late she goes to bed. She is pretty good about playing in her room until it’s time for breakfast, but some days she is quieter than others ;) She doesn’t take naps every afternoon anymore, but will almost always fall asleep in the car if it’s lunchtime or later and we are driving somewhere. She does occasionally take naps at home, but generally prefers to do quiet time for an hour instead because she’s “not tired”! Since last year, Abigail has ditched the Pullups at nighttime completely (yay!) and is no longer having trouble with constipation. So glad to have moved past that phase!
Because of where Abigail’s birthday falls in the calendar, she technically was eligible to start kindergarten this school year. School started on August 3rd, and she didn’t turn 5 until the 16th, so she would have started kindergarten at age 4! Pretty crazy. We ultimately decided to wait and have her start kindergarten next year instead. Her birthday falls about two weeks before the cut-off, and she would have been one of the youngest kids in her class (and the smallest!). Her due date wasn’t until October, so if she hadn’t been a preemie, we wouldn’t have had a decision to make either way. In my mind, there just wasn’t a huge rush to send her off to school. Maybe because she’s our youngest, but it also seemed like it would be less than ideal for her to be the last one in her grade to get her drivers license or for her to go off to college at age 17. I’ve yet to talk to one parent who “redshirted” their kindergartner and regretted it, so I feel like we made the right decision. I think she probably would have done fine academically and socially, but I’m also happy to have one more year to enjoy her at home. I briefly tossed around the idea of having her do a couple mornings of preschool or MMO this school year but ultimately decided against that too. The other girls didn’t do preschool and have done fine in school. Abigail has already learned how to write her name and several other letters too. I have a feeling she will catch on quickly next year even if she starts out “behind”!
Some of Abigail’s favorite things to do are art-related: drawing, painting, sticker books, craft kits, etc. Her artwork has come a long way in the last year, and she is now drawing stick people and animals that are recognizable. She enjoys dressing up in princess dresses, playing with her dolls and stuffed animals, and playing board games. She has recently gotten into Guess Who and Candyland. She also likes looking at books and watching shows on PBS Kids or Disney+. Some of her favorites are Wild Kratts, Lion Guard, and Martha Speaks. She loves all of the Lion King and Frozen movies too. She really enjoys playing outside and frequently requests that we go outside together after lunch to play hide and seek or kick the soccer ball around. Speaking of soccer, she has been asking for months now when she can play on a soccer team like Brooklyn and Savannah do, and this fall we are finally making it happen! She is very excited to have her own cleats, soccer ball, and sports backpack and is constantly asking how many more days until her next practice or game. She may be one of the smallest on the field, but she doesn’t let that stop her! It’s interesting to me that she is left footed at this point and dribbles/shoots primarily with her left foot and not her right. She writes/draws right-handed, although I’ve seen her use her left hand when holding a spoon or fork. We’ll see how it all ends up as she grows.
Abigail has quite the personality to make up for her small size. She’s always humming, singing, or talking to her stuffed animals, which I love. She can sometimes act a little shy around people she doesn’t know, but for the most part, she is not afraid to speak her mind to whoever she is talking to. Spunky and confident are two words that come to mind. Underneath that, though, is a little girl who is afraid of butterflies (and pretty much any bug) and doesn’t like to be tickled. So I think she puts on a tough girl shell but can actually be quite sensitive sometimes. She loves being silly and talking in funny voices. She thinks being called “little” or the “baby” of the family is the biggest insult ever. She believes she can do anything her big sisters do and doesn’t like to be told otherwise ;) Thankfully, we have mostly moved past the stage of throwing fits (hooray!), and those happen much less often these days. She may be strong willed, but we consistently hear that she behaves wonderfully in bible class and for babysitters, so I am confident that she will be on her best behavior at school next year too. Abigail loves to be my helper and wants to be part of cooking in the kitchen, scooping the litter box, sweeping the floor, etc. She does a pretty good job of remembering to feed Gabby each morning too (one of her chores).
The phrase “two is company, and three is a crowd” definitely applies at our house. Abigail can generally play well with just one sister at a time, but it’s definitely more tenuous with all three of them together. She gets along best with Savannah, and I love to see them drawing together at the coffee table or pretending to drink hot chocolate in the bathtub. Abigail plays less often with Brooklyn, but I think that’s probably due to the larger age gap and the fact that they both want to be the boss ;)
Overall, we couldn’t be more proud of Abigail for how much she has grown and learned! It’s hard to believe in some ways that she was born at just over 3 pounds big. Her spunk has served her well ever since her days in the NICU…haha. The last five years have flown by, and I am trying to make the most of her last year at home before starting school. Five is one of my favorite ages, and I’m trying to soak it all in!
We love you so much, Abigail!! You make us laugh and keep us on our toes every day!
