Four Years Old

Wow, here we are at your fourth birthday and in about 6 weeks you will be starting school. I cannot believe it. It may be because you are my "baby", but I do not think you would be ready to be going to school for the whole day. Lucky for you (& me :)) school is every day for 2.5 hours. I am sure that you would adjust, but I am thankful that the full day, every day kindergarten isn't available at your school until next year. We are wondering what type of boy you will be at school. Will you be the shy, timid boy at Benjamin Bunny Nursery School? Or will you be the clown & the kid who will always go for the laugh that we see at home? We don't mind you wanting to make other people laugh because laughter is a wonderful thing, but we do hope that you ensure you use this "specialty" properly.

But what can we say about you as you enter your fifth year of life? The biggest thing about you right now is... dinosaur CRAZY!!!! You talk about dinosaurs, read about dinosaurs, watch dinosaurs, and play with dinosaurs probably 80% of your waking moments. You love to play house with your sister, but even that game involves dinosaurs. Although you have plenty of really nice shirts to wear, this summer you have rotated between 4 dinosaur shirts & your dinosaur bathing suit. When we leave for vacation next week I am not packing dinosaur clothing so that we can see the other shirts that you have.

You are still always willing to share and you are a kind little boy. Your greatest loves seem to be me, your sister & your cousin Gracie. You definitely like to be with girls. However you have seemed to develop some "friendships" with a couple of boys- Aidan & Nicholas. You three are quite entertaining when you are together & you play so well. You & Aidan share a love of dinosaurs & with Nicholas you love to be silly.

We signed you up for soccer this year, but I don't think it was your cup of tea. You were great for the first half hour where you did drills with your dad or I, but when it came to playing the game your "head wasn't in it". I think part of that is your kind nature as you weren't willing to be kicking at the feet of someone else. I think the other part was that you just wanted to run around with a game of your own in your imagination- which probably involved chasing dinosaurs or being a dinosaur & chasing others. However, you were always willing to play & were a great team player.

You are a happy kid and fun to be around. The volume always seems to be high when you are in the mix, because you seem to only have 2 level...loud or very quiet. Your speech is getting better and we continue to go to a speech language pathologist. You work hard at it at the sessions and enjoy the attention when doing "homework", but if you don't want to do it you fall back to your "silly" side. This is the side that doesn't show up too much at school!

...and one more thing, you are a MESSY eater!!!!

Thank goodness of OXY methods of cleaning!

Three Years Old

Well Buddy, you are now three. You have made some dramatic changes over the last year. The biggest one being that you finally talk! You talk non-stop now & sing songs & comment on so many things. Understanding you is still a gift possessed mainly by those closest to you, but others are catching on. Part of that is that when you meet someone new, you are still quite shy and do not speak up because you are hiding behind Mommy (& now Daddy too!). The other big change is you are really coming out of your shell. You take less time to warm up to a new situation & once you are comfortable, you often become quite a ham. Like your sister, you like to entertain. There are a few occasions where you do things that are completely unexpected- for example, hugging Pastor George. I am not sure who was more surprised- him or me.

You are such an affectionate little guy. You are constantly telling me "I love you so much Mommy" and giving me a big hug. It is plainly obvious that you love your family because you shower everyone with affection. I think you are practicing to be a ladies man because Sydney, Grace & Maddie definitely receive the most of your affection. There was once when we were shopping that I had to actually tell you to stop kissing your sister. People in the store thought your were cute, but when you had been doing it for 15 minutes, enough was enough.

You stopped going to daycare because I am now staying home with you guys, but Jo always said that you were the gentlest boy that she ever cared for. You are definitely a boy's boy, but you are also quite focused on how other people feel. You will get quite worried about a baby that is crying if we are out and will always ask what is wrong. You are also very good at sharing when you know what you have is something that someone else likes (although this does not always extend to your sister when it comes to toys). If you get candy or a treat of any kind you are very concerned that others don't have any & you are quick to share. This is a great quality and one that I hope that you keep for your lifetime.

You have little sayings that depending on the moment can be very sweet or tiring...

• "Don't copy me!" (meanwhile you copy your sister constantly!)
• "I love you so much" (most times is sweet, but sometimes I think you say it for the show)
• "Big Truck" (this has not gone away with age, you are still focused on finding the big trucks when we are driving.)
• "Orange Juice" (pronounced orang-ie juice)
• "I was talking to..." (if you ask a question, you have it in your mind who is supposed to answer & no one else)
• "Mama" at the beginning or end of each sentence (the last month there has been more "Mama" than "Mommy", but you often have a cheeky tone to your voice)

You still love music & some of your favourite songs right now are:

• Teddy Bears Picnic
• Old King Cole
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• B-I-N-G-O
• Barenaked Ladies Snacktime- any song

Overall, you are a lot of fun & we love you dearly.

I have found you in this position on more than one occasion when I check on you before I go to bed. You may rise early in the morning (much to my chagrin), but when you are asleep- you sleep hard.

You love to throw rocks & will search any nook and cranny to find a good one.