The Biggest Sister

Most people already know, but I haven’t officially announced on the blog yet that Baby Peterson #3 is on the way!  Hannah is so incredibly excited!  She wants to see every picture I bring home and is already making plans to feed the baby, read to the baby, and play with the baby.  She really wanted a little brother, but is getting a sister instead.  I can’t believe we are going to have three little girls running around here! 

Hannah hasn’t gotten much blog time lately and she is at such a fun age.  Sometimes I wish I could just bottle her up and keep her 4 and a half forever.  I love her innocence and her excitement about everything.  She is learning so much every day and as I see her trying to figure out more and more about the world around her, I am amazed at how her mind works.  She is not perfect, as there is a lot of whining and bossing her sister, but I just love it when I find little pictures she’s drawn with words at the bottom.  This is Hannah at 4.5:

* She is well on her way to being an independent reader.  She has many sight words down and it able to spell some simple words on her own.  I taught her several sight words and then imported them into her LeapPad spelling game.  She spelled them all correctly on the first try and then asked, “Mom, why did you put words in here that I already know?”   Um…because I just taught them to you five minutes ago! 

* She is still not a risk taker, with most things.  She wants everything to be perfect, all of the time.  She doesn’t like to sound out words to write, she wants to make sure they are spelled correctly so she asks me how to spell them.  If she knows she can’t do it perfectly, most of the time she won’t try.  We are working on it!

* She loves to bring her Weekly Readers home and read them to me.  She’s such a little school girl!

* She sings all day long.  Seriously, ALL DAY! 

* She hates to leave places when we are out doing fun things.  She is a professional pouter when it is time to leave any fun activity. 

* She is a great help around the house.  She loves cleaning and is especially good at laundry.  She is always willing to vacuum, sweep, and dust.  She recently has started asking to load the dishwasher and wash the dishes.  She loves being a helper and will cheerfully run upstairs to get me things.  One night I swept the kitchen floor but didn’t want to get out the vacuum out to get rid of the pile because they girls were sleeping.  When she woke up in the morning she came downstairs, saw the pile, and vacuumed it up- all before I knew she was awake!  I also taught her to wipe down the sink every day after she brushes her teeth.  This is such a great help because our sink is green and shows every speck of toothpaste- and I don’t have to do it!

* We have the best conversations!  Some of these I just copied from facebook, because I don’t want to forget them.   

* The other day in the car she said, “Do pandas have nipples?”  Just randomly, out of the blue!

* She asked, “How do cows get milk?”  When I said they eat food and their bodies help them turn it into milk she said, “But mom, cows eat grass and water- HOW does it turn into milk?”  I don’t know how many times I say, “We’ll have to research that” to her every day. 

* We were having a talk about having a good attitude and she said, “I think my attitude is starting to be like Sadie’s attitude, because that’s what I listen to all day long.”

* They are obsessed with this show called Horse Land and the other day I told Hannah I wanted her to watch something where she could learn something and she said, "Mommy, when I grow up I'm going to be a horse rider and this is teaching me how to ride horses." That girl always has a logical retort for everything!

* We did a science experiment together and I was taking some pictures of her.  When we were done she said, “Ok mom, now fashion pictures!”  She stood up and started posing. 

* For show and tell today Hannah had to bring something she was thankful for. Right away she said she wanted to bring her hair bows and pony tail holders. When I tried to guide her to something a little "better" (you know, like a picture of her mother) she said, "Mom, I am REALLY thankful that these keep my hair out of my eyes." That Hannah, always practical! I always wonder what her teacher thinks of her! :)

* Sadie came inside crying and when I asked her what happened she said, "Hannah pushed me." I said, "Hannah, come here please." As she entered the room she put her hands on her hips, pointed at Sadie and said, "SHE'S a petty thief!" And with that, discipline was over. How could I possibly keep a straight face?? I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff.

I just love this girl.  We have so much fun!