A Snapshot at 4

Ben, we can't believe how big you are getting.

It is so amazing to see you grow, learn, develop your own personality, and start to figure out how the world works through your eyes.

Everyone says that their child is smart, but I really think you are very sharp and the best part is that you do it in a sly, subtle way.  You pick up on everything even when it seems like you aren't paying attention.  You learn song lyrics faster than Mommy and Daddy do and you remember every detail from events in the past. 

You are mastering numbers and counting and even somewhat grasp the concept of addition and subtraction (mostly when negotiating how many more bites of your meal you have to eat!).  You have known your letters since very little and are so close to writing - that is going to be a big milestone you reach soon.

 

You describe distance and size by using your hands and the space between them.

You LOVE your routines and don't like to stray from them very much.  You also march to the beat of your own drum, that's for sure.  You have no desire to follow what all the other kids are doing and do what you want to do.  Sometimes that makes it seem like you are in your own little world, but we love that that also means you are super independent and not a follower. 



You have the best smile.  You love to dance and have little dance parties, insisting both Mommy and Daddy participate.  You are also a wonderful helper.  You love to help with the laundry, sweep the floors, pull the weeds, clean, and help prepare meals.

You are always on the go.  You are getting better at riding your scooter (that is when you are willing to put your helmet on - sometimes you are still afraid it will hurt you) and have made a few attempts at riding your new bike.

You know all of our frequently shopped stores by the color of their doors.  Target is red doors.  Toys R Us is yellow doors.  Babies R Us is purple doors.  CVS is orange doors.  Costco is no doors.  The grocery store is black or white doors.  But they all have "magic" doors and we HAVE to wait for them to close so we can be the ones to open them (coming and going).

When we grocery shop, you always get a slice of cheese to "sample" and then munch on blueberries as we get our items.  ROUTINE. :)

 

You love Jake and the Neverland Pirates all of a sudden.  Some of the standard shows are still around too like Chuggington, Little Einsteins, Team Umizoomi, and Octonauts.  You can sometimes watch an entire movie now and I am looking forward to going to see a movie in the theater with you sometime soon.

 

You are still a very picky eater.  Dinner and lunch is almost always either chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, a peanut butter sandwich, pizza, or spaghetti.  Breakfast is either a bagel with cream cheese, cheerios, or pancakes.  You do eat a lot of fruit and a few vegetables (broccoli and corn).  And the goal for dinner every night is to eat well enough for dessert (you definitely have a sweet tooth!).

The phrases and sentences that come out of your mouth are absolutely hilarious.  Some of our favorites right now are your super dramatic way of asking, "What is that HORRIBLE smell/sound?"  You heard it on Jake and you repeat it in a way that is so funny.  You also like to use the word NEVER - again, a bit dramatic.  Instead of just saying "no", you make it a point to say you'll NEVER do it.  Never ever.  You also don't quite get the concept of "I don't care" so you'll say you don't care about something when you really mean you don't want to do something and you definitely care.  You love to find stuff on the playground or draw pictures for Mommy and you always say, "Mommy, I made this for YYYYOOOOOUUUU!" - it is so sweet.  When we are in the car, you'll say, "Mommy I saw a dump truck.  It was on the other side of the road but you were driving too fast and missed it."  OK.

You take baths in our big bath tub now and LOVE to shave pretty much every night.  You also like Daddy to shave too (Mommy likes that) and you decided that he only gets kisses before bed if he has shaved.  Otherwise you say he is too scratchy and he gets a raspberry and a "pouf" instead.

You are an expert on our tablet, Nook, and smart phones.  I don't even know how to play some of the games you are playing!  You play games and watch movies on them.

You will sit on your own when you get a haircut now (instead of sitting on my lap), but you still hate the buzz clipper and will only allow scissors to be used.

When you get upset, you cross your arms and I finally got a picture of it (except I made you laugh so this isn't the full effect but close).

You loved your soccer classes at school, but gave them up to try music.  You always go straight for the drums!  You also LOVE Gym Bus.  We will be starting swim lessons soon and hopefully you will be able to swim all on your own this summer.

Some of your best buddies at school are Matthew (BFF), James, Nolan, Eloise, and Savannah.  You love your teacher Ms. Pam, but your favorites also include Ms. Holly, Ms. Darcy, and Ms. Jackie.

We will be re-doing your room soon to put in a "big boy" twin bed.  You are a wonderful sleeper and are still taking 2 hour naps everyday.  Sometimes longer.  You typically go to bed at around 8pm and are up on weekends around 7.30am.  You still will not get out of the bed once you wake up in the mornings or after nap - you just talk or sing until we come in and get you.  We can't quite figure out why that is (you have said something about we're going to scare you if you come out), but we really don't mind.  We have even practiced, but you still don't get out.  But the biggest news is that you are PULL-UP FREE!  You stopped using them for naps a while ago and stopped wearing them overnight about a month ago.  You have had maybe 3 accidents.  Amazing.  But now you're gonna have to get out of bed eventually when nature calls! :)

You love to play cowboys with your guns and also hide-n-seek.  I think you could play that all day.  You also really love playing with your Legos, pretending to be a chef and making us food, and playing games like Candy Land (as long as you win!).

 

You are so curious and always ask lots of questions.  You want to know the who, where, when, and why about everything! :)  You also want to know which direction we are going next in the car, which makes our 30-mile commute to school interesting sometimes.

 

Our newest reward system to try to combat bad behavior and reward good behavior is our marble system.  There is a jar with marbles and then Ben's jar with a "goal line" on it.  When you do good things, you get marbles.  When you don't listen or act in ways you know you are not supposed to, we take some out.  Simple to understand and easily visible.  When we make it to the line, we'll go buy a new toy.  It seems to be working pretty well and can cover many things we are working on at once.

You will not pose for pictures on command 99.9% of the time.  It has to be on your terms and when you are in the mood.  Most of the time I have to try and trick you to smile for me.  But every now and then, I get this.

 

4 years.

We love you.

This much.

The whole wide world.