Keziah is 42 months!

Keziah is an amazing little girl.  She is so sweet and learning so much about how to be a better daughter, sister and person!  She is learning to listen and be kind on a daily basis and challenges these things quite often. 

Some things about Kezzie:
-She is starting to get into organizing.  If I ask her what she is doing sometimes she will tell me "I'm orcanizing!"  It's so cute!
-I love how she analyzes things.  Today (5/8/11)  She was watching Nemo on the way to church.  The mom got eaten by a shark and she asked as series of questions: What happens when she gets in his teeth?  What happens when she gets in his throat?  What happens when she gets into his belly?  What happens after she is in his belly?  She is such a thinker and analyzer!
-Kezzie likes to read books she is familiar with to Adah.  Adah loves it and adores her big sister and her smartness!
-After recently seeing Leora (my cousin, Kezzie's second cousin) she has become a master at story-telling!  The day they were together Leora was teaching her how to write her story out on paper (only they were using napkins) and then presented their stories to the rest of us!  Kezzie's story on her napkin was only readable by her and consisted of many drawings only she could explain!
-We instilled a listening chart to help with listening and a couple different one on one times with mommy each day to cut down on whining.  The listening chart is an idea I got from my sister.  If Kezzie listens to our words on the first try then she gets a sticker.  When she gets 10 stickers she gets 1/2 hour on the computer.  This might seem kind of easy but truthfully she rarely earns one sticker in a day.  I think I need to find more instances where she is listening (maybe I am just used to it and not realizing it) so that she will get the concept a little more.  It's a training process for me too!  The other thing is she can lose stickers for certain things.  I don't like to do this too often but I have done it a couple times for when I am at a loss for anything else.  As for the one on one time, I have been putting Adah down for a nap at least a half hour before Kezzie so she and I can have time to do something together and I put Adah to bed a half hour early at night so Kezzie and I can read books or play something on the iPad together.  I do think this is helping eliminate some whining and complaining about being bored, etc.
-A recent conversation between Kezzie and I (as Adah is flipping off the top of the couch).  Me: Kezzie did you just show Adah how to do that? (this is a problem and Kezzie has been told umpteen times not to flip off the couch) Kezzie: slowly shaking her head no.  Me: Keziah, I am going to give you one more chance to tell me the truth, did you just flip off the couch?  Kezzie: slowly shaking her head yes she says, 'if I tell you the truth I will be set free, but if I lie it will trap me'.  We have a bookmark that we use in her devotional and it is Larryboy from the Veggietales and on the back it quotes, "A lie will trap you but the truth will set you free." (from the verse John 8:32).  Kezzie has a bit of trouble with telling the truth so this is something we talk about frequently!
We love you Kezzie and can't wait to see what the next month brings!