W at 4

W’s latest obsession is time.  His favorite time is 7:11 and he makes an effort to see both 7:11am and 7:11pm.  He checks the time throughout the day and has begun to tell us when there are 5 minutes until 7:11, 4 minutes until 7:11, and so on.  He still loves building neighborhoods and towns and is really into pretend play these days.  He still wants to be a garbage man when he grows up and looks forward to greeting our recycling truck driver with treats any time he doesn’t have school.  W seems to prefer spending time with adults to spending time with kids and people often comment that he speaks like an adult.  His teacher told us that she loves having conversations with him.  W is not very interested in sports with the exception of swimming (though much to our dismay, he tells us he’s a Packers fan).  He’s excited for his upcoming swim lessons, but still doesn’t like going under water.  He’s gotten much better with S over the past few months.  There are many times W likes to help S by bringing over snacks, toys, or S’s dinner plate.  He’ll sing to S when S is crying, which is oh so sweet.  He will also help S take off his coat and opens his apple sauce for him.  And then there are many times W tells us he doesn’t like S and gets mad at S for taking toys.  I think their relationship will always be a work in progress, but it has improved. J  W is very good with letters and numbers.  He knows all letters, most letter sounds, and can identify numbers through 100.  I’m hoping to work on learning to read soon.  One thing he is not interested in and struggles with is writing.  Despite our efforts, he does not hold a pencil or crayon correctly and gets frustrated when we correct him.  He’s still a picky eater, but we’ve seen some improvement.  His favorite show is Bubble Guppies and his favorite “movie” is Charlie Brown Christmas.  Poor S has been called a block head many times thanks to Charlie Brown.  W loves to help and is really great at it.  I’ve mentioned this before, but he loves to help with dinner, feeds Addie, brings up garbage cans, wipes up spills, cleans windows, etc.  I love that about him.  He is still very much obsessed with owls and his Mommy Owl remains his favorite.  He makes us laugh daily with the things he says.  He has a bed time spiel that he repeats every night: “Goodnight and sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.  And if you get cold, mommy, look for a little blanket.  And if you can’t find one, you can knock on my door or talk through the re-monitor (baby monitor) to me and I will bring you a blanket.  I love you forever.  I love everyone in this family forever.  I hope you have good dreams.  And I’ll see you in the morning.  Goodnight.  Bye bye.”  I really need to record it!  The other day, he told A: “You need to make me breakfast or I will get a tummy ache and we don’t want that.”  We were sitting in the armchair and I asked him if he’d still cuddle with me when he was older.  His response: “Yes.  But we might need to move to the couch because my butt will be bigger.”  I love this boy so much.