Four years old!

It’s terrible that Parker turned four nearly three months ago and I have yet to blog about it.  Talk about falling off the wagon!  But I’m going to do it right now and eventually back date it so it will look like I was far more on the ball.  Perhaps I’ll even add pictures to it!  But for now, I’ll have to stick with words…

How do I start talking about Parker at age four?  The first thing that comes to mind is something I’ve long said about him: he is fiercely independent!  Thomas is two years older but still perfectly content for us to do everything for him.  I think he’d be happy if we fed him all his meals.  But not Parker.  He wants to do everything by himself at all times and will sometimes pitch a royal fit to do so.  He wants to pick out his clothes, dress himself, peel his own clementines, turn things off/on – whatever it is, he wants to do it!

He had a great year in school.  I’m not sure he learned a great deal, but it wasn’t because of his own aptitude.  That’s another issue for another post for another blog (ha ha), but whenever he had the opportunity to learn something new, he did and he did it very well.  He got along well with the other kids in his class and was always kind and sensitive to the needs of his friends (or so I am told). 

He can write his name and he knows all of his letters/numbers (he can trace all letters, but can only independently write the ones in his name).  It’s funny to compare your children, not in a judgmental way, but more just to see how children truly develop so differently.  Thomas was extremely verbal at Parker’s age (and Parker is too, but not as much as Thomas).  Thomas had perfect enunciation and had a strong vocabulary.  Parker has to work harder with his actual speech (though it has improved so much since his tonsils were removed last August), but his fine motor skills are far more advanced than Thomas’ were at that age.  At the end of the 3s, Thomas knew all of his letter sounds very, very well, but could only write the “T” of his name.  Parker knows all of his letter sounds (on a good day – and this is partly due to the fact that Parker had a different 3s teacher), but can write each letter of his name and has been able to do that since the beginning of the school year. 

In other areas, Parker is also different from his big brother.  He loves to eat.  Most of the time I think it’s more an issue of boredom, but he frequently says, “I’m hungry” and I feel like during the summer I am giving him a snack at least once every 30 minutes.   He would live off fruits and vegetables if I let him.  With each meal, he usually eats his fruit (or veggie) first and we often have to ask him a few times before he will eat enough of his meat to be excused.  He has gotten better, but for awhile I thought he was going to be a vegetarian.   Still though, if I put a bunch of food on a table, say chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, rice, broccoli, green beans, oranges, grapes and applesauce – he would make a b-line for the fruits and eat all of those without even considering anything else first.  I have to be careful because he will sneak and start eating grapes in the fridge and he will eat until he is nearly sick!

He loves being outside, though he loves it best if he’s outside with his big brother.  They have a great time riding their scooters and bicycles.  Parker has mastered riding without training wheels (we took those off quite awhile ago).  They still drive their same Power Wheels jeep that they have had since Thomas was 2 1/2.  We had to replace two wheels this year, but it keeps on going!

They don’t watch a ton of television, and somehow this summer I’ve managed to stick to our minimal tv rules (about an hour a day).  Their favorite shows to watch are Word Girl and Wild Kratts – two wonderful ETV programs (one teaches vocabulary and the other teaches about animals). 

Parker is obsessed with Batman.  He has a short-sleeved and long-sleeved Batman shirt and Batman pajamas and if it was up to him, that’s what he’d wear every single day of his life – all Batman.  He enjoys playing with Batman vehicles (Imaginext toys) and Batman legos.  And he and his brother still love to dress up and of course we have multiple Batman costumes in our dress-up bin!

We made him stop sucking his thumb after his 4th birthday and that has gone relatively well, but as a result, he no longer takes a nap and he doesn’t go straight to sleep at night as easily.  We also have not been able to allow him to share a room with his brother because he does have a harder time going to sleep and he wakes up pretty early.  Most days he is up by 6:30.  This is quite a change from his thumb-sucking days when he would go to sleep in about two minutes whenever it was bedtime and he would easily sleep until 7:30 or 8:00.  Oh well, at least his teeth have already straightened (in the front) significantly.  Some days I must admit I am ready to give him back his thumb!

Parker’s favorite person in the world has to be his big brother.  They fight sometimes, but most of the time they love each other dearly and play with each other quite well.  One of the many downsides to Parker’s early wake times is that he often has to wait up to two hours for Thomas to wake up (at least now during the summer).  He is not accustomed to entertaining himself and has a hard time waiting for his brother to wake up and play with him.  I love watching their relationship and I am so thankful they have each other. 

If I was asked what people say the most about Parker, I would have to say that they comment constantly on his size and his hair.  His curls get a lot of attention (especially from elderly ladies in the grocery store) and just about everyone who has a small child comments on how big he is.  Most do not believe me when I tell them he is four.  At his 4-year WCV, he measured (I think):

44.5 inches tall (literally off the charts)

46 pounds (98th percentile)

His head circumference remained in the 90-something percentile as well.  I frequently get asked if the boys are twins (not that they look all that similar, but I guess because Thomas is only a few inches taller than Parker).   Just for fun, Thomas at Parker’s age was 40.75 inches tall and 38 pounds.   Parker’s shoe size (12.5) is only a half size (or a size, can’t remember) smaller than Thomas’ and he can wear his brother’s clothes; though he generally wears a size smaller. 

My favorite thing about Parker is his loving nature.  He wants to make you happy and if he thinks for a second that he upset, scared, hurt or bothered you, it really bothers him.  He used to just completely break down.  He also loves on our dog so sweetly.  I love to see him go to her in a quiet moment and talk to her or sneak her a treat. 

I cannot believe our baby is four; these years have passed far too quickly.  For all the mornings I wished he’d sleep a little longer, I’m so thankful he is waking up in our house as part of our family.  He is a little love and I love him dearly.  I only hope these next four years don’t pass us by quite so quickly!