I'm finding that since Ben was born, the time seems to go by faster and faster with each year. 2015 - almost 1/2 way over? No way. Nearing 4 years old? Not even remotely possible.
Since the last update (5 months ago), Ben has grown up so much. He has gained at least 2 pounds and probably over an inch in height. He TOWERS over all of the kids in his class. He is still in 4T but I will not be buying anymore 4T clothing for him - he will be on to the next size before much longer!
I would have to say that the biggest milestone that he has hit since our last update is that he is FULLY (okay, except for the fact that he wears pullups at night) POTTY TRAINEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD! Just like with speech, and every single other thing I've been told "he will do when he is ready" this came FAR too easy....once he felt like doing it. Unlike the other "baby" things he used to do, changing diapers is something I am quite ready to be done with :) We are so proud of our big boy!
His speech (words, pronunciation) grows and develops daily. I'm mentally exhausted at the end of the day from all of the questions, comments, random thoughts, songs, and counting coming out of his mouth. It's SO awesome though - and so hilarious what we hear come out of his mouth. Greg and I REALLY have to watch what we say now. He is constantly repeating things and phrases we say to him and to each other.
He offers me choices all day long (because I do that with him):
"Mom, do you want to play trucks with me? Or do you want to play Play-Doh"?
He threatens me:
"If you do that again, you won't get a surprise, OKAYYYYY"?
He makes sure I know the rules:
"Mom, we don't hit in the family. Do we? Do I hit kids? No, I don't hit kids".
Questions. Repetitive questions. And occasionally referring to himself in the third person:
"Mom, is this a tow truck? (Yes). Is it a tow truck? (Yes). Is it? (Yes). Is it Ben's tow truck? (Yes)".
And luckily, manners:
"Thank you for my kiss, mom! Can I have a hug, too? Can I have a yogurt please"?
It's so fun, but I would be lying if I said we didn't wish there was a pause button occasionally ;)
Dreaming, feelings, memories:
The other night, Ben woke up crying in the middle of the night and was nearly SCREAMING for me. We brought him into our bed, where when he calmed down, he told me there were spiders in his bed. His first bad dream?!? Greg told me that he had (has?) reoccurring dreams about spider attacks - so strange!
In general, I have noticed a LOT more acknowledgement of feelings from him across the board. He tells me that he is "upset" when something happens he doesn't like. He tells me when he is having fun. He told me that a kid at school was being loud and "roaring like a dinosaur" and it scared him and he didn't like it. (Cute). I explained that the kid was just pretending and having fun playing, but Ben insisted that it was "not okay".
His long-term memory is impressing me lately. I sometimes wonder if all of the photos and videos we take (and that he watches sometimes) is a factor in this. I'm sure it is. He likes to recall memories of things we did that he enjoyed and tell me all it - from a few days earlier, or from several months earlier. This morning he told me about how we went to get ice-cream with Callie, Mira, and Maylee and then proceeded to tell me what kind everyone got :)
Favorites:
Movies: His current favorite movies to watch are Kung Fu Panta, Wall-E, and Horton Hears a Who. We also took him to his first movie in the theater - Inside Out (which may officially be my favorite Pixar movie ever). It was SO much fun! He did so great sitting and watching (popcorn and soda helped...) and only had to get up and go potty 3 times ;) But it's fun - feels like a whole new world of activities that we can do with him is starting to open up.
Activities: Helping me!! He has gone from being a royal pain at the grocery store to wanting to push the cart, help me put everything into the cart, taking everything out at check out, and then when we get home he will carry every light bag (except the one with eggs) into the house! He also will get his own yogurt out of the fridge, put his pull-up in the garbage in the morning, get dressed (most of the time), go potty (on his own, but so much less hesitation when I request him to go now than he used to), vacuum, use Windex to spray down the table outside and any window I will allow him to, and put his laundry into the basket. It's so much fun and I love letting him help.
Parenting has been extra fun this year and has taught us a lot of lessons about patience, being clear and choosing our battles. I am constantly reminding myself what it must be like to be 3. Every time I find myself annoyed about something or needing a break, I try to remember that one day he will not be interested in playing with me anymore and I need to soak up every opportunity that he wants to engage.
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