And He's Four

Silas is four!

First thing he saw when he woke up this morning.

Favorites:
He is still pretty passionate about his blanket and it goes everywhere he goes. I've had to patch it up a number of times already. Grandpa Jon and Sydnee are the most talked about when they are not present.  And Curious George still wins for favorite show or movie. He says his favorite color is green, favorite place is the beach and favorite food is a sandwich.

Eats:
Speaking of, he eats about 5 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day and doesn't venture far from his few favorite eats: avocado, cucumber, pb&j, fruit (any fruit), z bars, raisins, spaghetti (the sauce is hit or miss) and pita chips. He will 'try' hummus and any sort of meal that I make once in a while, but he usually ends up spitting it out. Boo! Joe was THE pickiest eater as a kid so he encourages me to just relax about it.

Sleeps:
Silas still is able to fall asleep just about anywhere and sleep thought just about anything. Currently he is sleeping in the fort we just made out of the couch cushions as the workers are downstairs pounding away. He has napped on the beach, on the floor (while still wrapped in his towel from bath time), on the couch and chair, with cowboy boots and a hat on. He's got skillz! He still sleeps on his floor right next to his bed at night and now he has graduated into a sleeping bag. I busted my sleeping bag out one afternoon when the kids were bored and it has been used ever since. His naps have dwindled down to about once a week. I could probably talk him into more naps, but he goes to bed much better without a nap and usually plays quietly by himself while Veda naps so I can catch a little break/me-time!

If we put him to bed before he is tired he will do the routine (jammies, book, snuggle, hug, kiss, goodnight) and then after we shut the door we hear him playing in his room for sometimes an hour. We just let it happen and, unless he's being really loud, pretend we don't hear it. :)

Activities:
This past year Silas has done swimming lesson and music class and talks a lot about wanting to do gymnastics, hockey, baseball and violin. We have taken him skiing and skating. Although he just shuffles his feet on the ice, he loves to skate. And I'd have say skiing has been a bit easier to catch onto for him.

Characteristics:
At four his personality is really shining now. Silas is definitely a sweet and compassionate boy . He is always thinking of others and wanting everyone to be taken care of. If he has his blanket and Veda doesn't (even if she isn't asking for it) he will go find it for her or ask me to find it ("Mom, Wayda needs her blankie, can you find it for her?"). If Veda is asking me something and I am not responding in a timely manner Silas will ask me on her behalf. (Momma, Wayda wants you to see her tower.") If I fall short on any of my mothering skills he will easily pick up the slack, ("Mom, that's too big, I might choke.") If Veda forgets her blanket on a car ride, Silas happily shares his. ("I know, Mom, I can share mine with her!")

Today I emptied the dishwasher and some of the Tupperware still had water drops on them. Silas saw this and asked for a towel to dry off the water drops. I gave him a dish towel, he dried the Tupperware off and put it away. If I knew chores would be so easy I would've started them long ago!

He has yet to retaliate toward his sister (or anyone). She will hit, push or take a toy away and he will ask for it back or start to cry. Doesn't cross his mind to hurt her. Sometimes I get sick of standing up for him that I make him stand up for himself and have him get the toy back from Veda.

He is polite by nature and we hear lots of 'no thank yous' and 'yes pleases'. His most recent is 'excuse me mom' if he needs to get my attention. Kills me every time!

School:
According to his teacher he usually plays with Micah and Linden and spends most of his free time at the train table or playing with Rescue Heroes. He recognizes his name in writing and when he has to chose an emotion to put his name next to at school he always chooses 'silly'. He is able to trace his name and his teacher showed me a drawing he made of his family. We all had heads, so that's good :)  He counts to twelve, sometimes thirteen and fourteen and then mixes up most of the teens and is slowing getting the hang of the twenties.

I'm wondering if he's color blind because he mixes up red and purple all the time. And often just plain old can't tell me if something is red. I asked if they test color blindness when we went to his early childhood screening, and they said they don't do that until the kids are 7. So who knows!

His Birthday celebration at school today.

More Important:
He has mastered the art of having a simple and carefree childhood thus far. And how blessed am I to say that when so many kids have stresses in their lives at this age. Thank you, Jesus! More important than how high he can count or how many colors he can recognize; he loves to do things that four year olds do: Play with craft supplies and get glitter, glue, markers and play-doh everywhere. He loves to explore with dress up stuff (hats, suspenders, neck ties, necklaces, boots, swim suits, bandannas), he builds with blocks and Legos and enjoys the simple games like Hide-n-Seek and chase-around-the-kitchen. He builds things like "Bed Machines" (piles of toys and baskets on his bed) and uses his race car tracks as skis. He makes forts out of the couch and spends the afternoon playing in them. He jumps and gallops and does somersaults all over the house. He's FOUR and he is so much fun!!

I will look at infant pictures of Silas and have such fond memories of that time and almost miss that baby. It's amazing how fast time goes and how much kids change in such a seemingly short amount of time. Pretty fascinating. He is becoming a little boy with his own little ideas and dreams. His strengths and weakness are coming to surface and I am really enjoying every minute of learning about him. As I look at those baby pictures of Silas I smile of what he once was, and then I look at Silas now and am so excited to see all that is to come.

We love you Tooner!