Four and a Half

Parker,

You turn four and a half today! All I can say is- what a difference six months makes! You are a completely different child from just six months ago. You have matured so much and are growing into such a wonderful little boy! I enjoy spending my days with you and can not imagine what it will be like without you next year when you go to kindergarten. Here are some of the things I want to remember about you at this age:

-You are still strong willed (some things will never change!) but you can now reason enough to not throw temper tantrums when you get upset. You still cry when things don't go your way, but your fits usually don't last long at all. You still like to test the limits but not nearly as often because you have learned that what mommy and daddy say is what we mean. I am so proud of how much you have matured since your birthday! Being your mommy has become so much more fun since I don't feel like I spend all my time disciplining you day in and day out. Our days are not perfect, but they are much easier than they were this time last year.

-You are such a boy! You can make a gun out of anything (blocks, sticks, food) and you love to "shoot the big guys". You love to run, chase, and be rough. I am always reminding you that you have to be gentle with Eden and Lily. You are so impulsive with your playing and we are really working on thinking about what you are doing before you actually do it. This seems to be the most frequent reason that gets you in trouble these days! (That and talking back. We are really working on learning that you do not always get to have the last word in a disagreement!)

-You love to reenact things. For example, you tripped and stumped your toe at Granna's a few days ago. You showed me at least 10 times how you fell by falling on the floor and rolling around. Your reenactments are always complete with sound effects too!

-You are still one of the biggest kids in your class. Last month at preschool you weighed 46 pounds and were 44 inches tall. You are wearing size 5-6 clothes and size 12 shoe.

-You have reached several big milestones recently. You have almost completely stopped sucking your thumb and you no longer wear a diaper at night. You were so proud when you decided that you wanted to wear underwear at night. You have done a great job and have not had any accidents.

-You LOVE sports! Baseball, basketball, football, golf... pretty much anything with a ball! You love to watch sports with your daddy and get so excited when he lets you stay up past your bedtime to watch the Rangers with him. You are getting good at throwing and catching the baseball with daddy and you love hitting the ball with Granna in the mornings when you play outside.

-You love to be outside, but you also love to be inside playing video games. You play games on the computer, Playstation, big screen (iPad) or iPhone. We still have to monitor how much you play everyday or you would never stop playing.

-You love to draw and color and have gotten much better at coloring within the lines. You sometimes spend an hour coloring and working on your pictures. You can now write your first name in lowercase letters and you are working on learning how to write you middle and last names.

-You love going to school and seem to pick up on concepts quickly. You know all of your letters/sounds but are not reading yet. I think reading will come easy to you once you learn how to put everything together. You also enjoy working with numbers. You can add numbers together and have shown a lot of interest in telling time.

-You are not the best eater but you do eat a lot of things that you do like. You're always so proud when you clean your plate. If there is something new on your plate, you will usually at least try one bite and see if you like it. I hope that one day you will branch out and try new foods. You still tend to prefer salty snacks over sweets, just like your mommy.

-You are rough and tough, but you also have a sweet, sensitive side to you. You love your sisters and cousins and are very loving when you want to be. I often catch you giving Lily hugs and kisses when you are playing with her, which melts my heart! I pray that you will always have a special place in your heart for your sisters.

I love you, Parker, and I am so proud of the little boy that you are becoming. It has been a long road and some days have been very hard, but you are worth every moment! I can not wait to see what the next 6 months brings for you.

I love you to the moon and back, Mommy