20 Questions
Zuri, age 5, 2013:
1. What is your favorite color? Rainbow
2. What is your favorite toy? Dinosaurs
3. What is your favorite fruit? Banana
4. What is your favorite tv show? My Little Pony
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Hot dogs
6. What is your favorite outfit? Ballerina Dresses
7. What is your favorite game? Tinkerbell. Duck, Duck, Mouse
8. What is your favorite snack? Popsicle
2. What is your favorite toy? Dinosaurs
3. What is your favorite fruit? Banana
4. What is your favorite tv show? My Little Pony
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Hot dogs
6. What is your favorite outfit? Ballerina Dresses
7. What is your favorite game? Tinkerbell. Duck, Duck, Mouse
8. What is your favorite snack? Popsicle
9. What is your favorite animal? Elephant [first response was Tinkerbell]
10. What is your favorite song? The Book Song [which is a made up song], You are my Sunshine, [her most requested song is I am a Child of God]
11. What is your favorite book? The Napping House, Fairies
12. Who is your best friend? Alina
13. What is your favorite cereal? Captain Crunch
10. What is your favorite song? The Book Song [which is a made up song], You are my Sunshine, [her most requested song is I am a Child of God]
11. What is your favorite book? The Napping House, Fairies
12. Who is your best friend? Alina
13. What is your favorite cereal? Captain Crunch
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Tampoline
15. What is your favorite drink? Water...and some milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Flashlight, shells
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Captain Crunch
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? A whole bunch of people
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Uh…I’m growing up now… [after some examples] a ballerina!
15. What is your favorite drink? Water...and some milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Flashlight, shells
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Captain Crunch
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? A whole bunch of people
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Uh…I’m growing up now… [after some examples] a ballerina!
Pinterest is full of fun ideas, and one of the pins that I have come across is to do this questionnaire every year on your child's birthday and see how his/her answers change throughout the years. When I did this with Zuri some of the answers she was quick to come up with (#1, #12, #14, #15), and others I had to give her some examples (#9, #10, #16).
I laughed at her response for #20, so I put verbatim what she said. She loves to call herself Zuri Ballerina, and she loves to dance, so when I mentioned ballerina she jumped on that one. I was surprised about the Halloween answer--I thought for certain it would be Christmas.
I know that almost every parent says this, but I really can't believe that Zuri is five years old already. It seems like just yesterday she was still in diapers. She is still chalk full of energy. She has become extremely articulate (hard to believe we were worried about her speech a couple years ago) and uses words (correctly, I might add) that astonish not only other adults but even Kai's OT. Big four and five syllable words. She is also very articulate with her emotions. "I'm really upset right now." Why? "Because you said no sucker before dinner. I just already ate dinner!" No, Zuri, that was lunch. --Real conversation. Her tantrums are hilarious (at least most of the time), and she gets even more upset when we laugh (sometimes it is so hard not to laugh). She wants us to know that she is mad, so she will stay in the same room and "hmmmph!" at different intervals until we acknowledge her. If we leave the room she will follow us.
Zuri is still very outgoing, but lately, when she gets tired she goes into a self-imposed "shy" phase. She will get quiet and say "I'm just a little bit shy right now." It is really cute, but I hope it passes and she will continue to be social. She loves her friends and gets attached to people very quickly. All through school her best friend was Carma, but toward the end of the school year she started talking more and more about Alina, and now she talks about how much she misses Alina but never mentions Carma.
Our Zuri-Ballerina is also a full time story teller these days. I am amazed at this girl's imagination. She gets really into her stories and sometimes I swear she really believes some of them. She can be very dramatic (especially when telling her stories), but anytime is ideal for a drama fest. If she doesn't like something we have said, she will say, "that's a bad word!"
One of her favorite things to do is to tease. She will take my shoes, or my drink, or my phone and laugh as she runs off with it. Of course I have to pretend to be mad and chase her (which is actually her favorite game--to be chased/hide and seek). She loves to be chased and tickled.
Zuri has a heart of gold. She is first to give people hugs when they are feeling sad, and will try to cheer them up. She is very attuned to Kai and is quick to let us know if something is upsetting him, or if he is "talking" (ie cooing).
Physically, Zuri is in the 2nd percentile for height and weight, meaning that she is tiny. Her preschool sent home a paper that basically stated she is considered underweight (anything under the 5th percentile) and that we needed to contact her pediatrician. At her five year check-up, her pediatrician was unconcerned and showed me her growth chart. She follows the curve but is just under it and always has been. He said that she will be tiny, and because we have run every test he (and other specialist doctors) can think of, he is not worried. She is healthy, growing, hitting all her milestones, and is smart. We have documentation of everything, so he told me not to worry.
It is hard not to worry, though, and we still battle with eating. Some days it can be literally two hours before she finishes a meal when she really doesn't want to eat. I am told I was the same way when I was young, but still, it is frustrating. I never know what she will eat and what she won't. She will love a meal one day and hate it the next. She will request something and then not eat it. Then we have days where I can barely keep up with all she wants to eat, and I dare to hope that maybe, just maybe she is finally getting it...then the cycle will start over. Although....she has on occasion been sneaking out of her bedroom just before she falls asleep at night and getting a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk. I consider that progress.
Big things come in small packages, and Zuri definitely fits that mold. She is full of attitude, energy, life, love, and is a joy. She pushes our buttons and tests our boundaries, but she makes us smile and brightens our day. Our lives are more complete and I couldn't imagine my life without her. Her laugh brings sunshine into our hearts.
I know that almost every parent says this, but I really can't believe that Zuri is five years old already. It seems like just yesterday she was still in diapers. She is still chalk full of energy. She has become extremely articulate (hard to believe we were worried about her speech a couple years ago) and uses words (correctly, I might add) that astonish not only other adults but even Kai's OT. Big four and five syllable words. She is also very articulate with her emotions. "I'm really upset right now." Why? "Because you said no sucker before dinner. I just already ate dinner!" No, Zuri, that was lunch. --Real conversation. Her tantrums are hilarious (at least most of the time), and she gets even more upset when we laugh (sometimes it is so hard not to laugh). She wants us to know that she is mad, so she will stay in the same room and "hmmmph!" at different intervals until we acknowledge her. If we leave the room she will follow us.
Zuri is still very outgoing, but lately, when she gets tired she goes into a self-imposed "shy" phase. She will get quiet and say "I'm just a little bit shy right now." It is really cute, but I hope it passes and she will continue to be social. She loves her friends and gets attached to people very quickly. All through school her best friend was Carma, but toward the end of the school year she started talking more and more about Alina, and now she talks about how much she misses Alina but never mentions Carma.
Our Zuri-Ballerina is also a full time story teller these days. I am amazed at this girl's imagination. She gets really into her stories and sometimes I swear she really believes some of them. She can be very dramatic (especially when telling her stories), but anytime is ideal for a drama fest. If she doesn't like something we have said, she will say, "that's a bad word!"
One of her favorite things to do is to tease. She will take my shoes, or my drink, or my phone and laugh as she runs off with it. Of course I have to pretend to be mad and chase her (which is actually her favorite game--to be chased/hide and seek). She loves to be chased and tickled.
Zuri has a heart of gold. She is first to give people hugs when they are feeling sad, and will try to cheer them up. She is very attuned to Kai and is quick to let us know if something is upsetting him, or if he is "talking" (ie cooing).
Physically, Zuri is in the 2nd percentile for height and weight, meaning that she is tiny. Her preschool sent home a paper that basically stated she is considered underweight (anything under the 5th percentile) and that we needed to contact her pediatrician. At her five year check-up, her pediatrician was unconcerned and showed me her growth chart. She follows the curve but is just under it and always has been. He said that she will be tiny, and because we have run every test he (and other specialist doctors) can think of, he is not worried. She is healthy, growing, hitting all her milestones, and is smart. We have documentation of everything, so he told me not to worry.
It is hard not to worry, though, and we still battle with eating. Some days it can be literally two hours before she finishes a meal when she really doesn't want to eat. I am told I was the same way when I was young, but still, it is frustrating. I never know what she will eat and what she won't. She will love a meal one day and hate it the next. She will request something and then not eat it. Then we have days where I can barely keep up with all she wants to eat, and I dare to hope that maybe, just maybe she is finally getting it...then the cycle will start over. Although....she has on occasion been sneaking out of her bedroom just before she falls asleep at night and getting a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk. I consider that progress.
Big things come in small packages, and Zuri definitely fits that mold. She is full of attitude, energy, life, love, and is a joy. She pushes our buttons and tests our boundaries, but she makes us smile and brightens our day. Our lives are more complete and I couldn't imagine my life without her. Her laugh brings sunshine into our hearts.
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