Our Oldest Daughter

It has been far too long since I gave a good update on our oldest daughter:

Naomi is now 4 1/2 years old. She asks us almost daily when she will be 5!

She weighs 36.5 lbs and is nearly 43 inches tall.

She is definitely going to have that tall lanky body type that she will hate all thru middle school but will love later in life.

She still sports long locks but might be getting a few inches cut off soon.

Her eyes are a grayish blue.

Her favorite color is red.

She knows all her letters and numbers and counts pretty much to 100.

Her penmanship has become amazingly neat with in the last few months. She already has started sounding out small words and I have no doubt she will be reading books before Kindergarten.

She is a very intellectual child and loves to learn. She reminds me so much of my sister when she was little. She already adds small math problems in her head and I never even explained the concept of addition to her. She uses crazy big words in sentences and has an amazing memory. She memorizes Bible verses in a matter of days.

Naomi is still a work in progress when it comes to being away from her mommy and daddy. School is going much better but she still has to be pulled off me when I drop her off. Once we are gone (in almost any setting) she settles down within a matter of minutes. She is still somewhat shy and reserved in group settings. She honestly prefers adults for friends instead of children her own age. She is most verbal and expressive with kids that she knows very well, like of course Gabby, and a few of our close friends children, that we see on a regular basis.

Naomi has an incredibly tender heart. She already loves to serve and help out. She worries a lot about the people she loves and consistently prays for the "whole world" and for little boys and girls who do not have a mommy and daddy.

Naomi still loves animals and still says that when she grows up she either wants to be a Veterinarian or a Cooker (aka Chef!) She listens really well most of the times and is a big help around the house. Both her and Gabby have chores they help with daily, like cleaning their room and playroom, helping with laundry and dishes, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and making their bed.

Her favorite hobbies right now are playing play dough, painting, coloring, doing homework, going to the park, playing tea party with Gabby, baseball with daddy, playing with sidewalk chalk, and watching Disney movies. She is still our picky child when it comes to food and right now she likes macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly), alfredo noodles, tomatoes, oranges, apples, cooked broccoli with cheese sauce, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk, and anything sweet:)

When Naomi has had adequate sleep we hardly ever have discipline issues with her. Her main disciplinary problems (apart from her whole separation anxiety thing) are fighting with her sister, manipulation, and negotiating. 90% of the time the girls are best friends but occasionally they get in fight over something. We are trying to teach them self control and no matter what happened, their reaction or response should always be Godly. We should not react with anger but with kindness. They are learning this, it is just a process. We are also at the age with the girls that we are having to teach them "why" we obey. They are learning that they obey us in the same way that "we" all obey God. They are learning to want to obey instead of just doing it because we say so.

Everyday Naomi is becoming more and more aware of what it means to follow Jesus. She asks some tough question already and I am confident that she understands even more than I am aware. She knows what sin is, she knows that Jesus died on a cross to "pay" for our sins. She understands the story of Adam and Eve. She knows that God is perfect and that only through Jesus can we be made perfect. She gets all this, at least at a surface level. It is all still a little abstract but I am so excited to see her heart grow more in love with Jesus.

Our sweet girl is a full blown kid now:) We have loved every minute of watching Naomi grow. She truly is a joy. I am ever so grateful that God chose us to be her parents.

WE love you Naomi Reese Major.