Thank you for the explanation, although once I purchased the game and started playing I understood why all the changes. I'm truly not missing toddlers (I mostly ignored them in TS3!), nor am I missing the loading screens. Although I do miss the styling options for clothes and build mode, they've made up for it (in my opinion) with more clothing/building options. One thing I really miss, thought, is basements.
I was wondering why no basements? Is it possibly the same concept as pools?