Carter: 4 years old

Stats:

Weight: 33 pounds, 2 ounces (24th percentile)

Length: 3 feet, 4.5 inches (55th percentile)

Clothing: He has a pretty good mix of 3T/4T shirts, but is completely into 4T sized pants due to needing the length. He has outgrown most of his 3T long sleeved shirts due the sleeves being too short.

Shoes: Size 9s, currently.

Sleep: We've moved since my last post & now that they boys no longer share a room sleep is much improved for all. Hallelujah! C still goes to bed around 8/8:30PM most nights depending on whether he naps or not. Most nights he will ask to stay up & "read" to himself in his bed for a bit. He does still sleep with a 2 nightlights & his closet light on (which we usually shut off after he passes out) & I don't have a problem with it as long as he continues to fall asleep. C sleeps completely through the night without problems & continues to have varying wake-times. Most days he is up around 7AM. He will usually relax & play by himself if he wakes up before his brother & myself. He is still napping most days & usually goes down around 1:30 at the latest. I usually won't let him sleep past 3pm, but it really depends on the day. He'll continue to nap as long as we feel he needs one or until he goes to kindergarten next year. He still likes to sleep with stuffed animals, but doesn't have any particular favorite still at the moment. His bedtime routine hasn't changed much & he still has a bath every other night. He's started to learn to wash himself & brush his own teeth (although I do usually still take a turn with his teeth). He continues to wear a pull-up at night, but I am doubtful that he really needs it most nights. We've had several nights lately where he went to bed without one & woke up dry. We may go ahead & start testing out the end of them for good. The only thing deterring me at this point is his "need" for a drink of water at bedtime.

Eating Habits: He is still your typical picky eater. Not a lot has changed here, unfortunately. =( He still loves most fruit & bread products as well as snack foods & sweets. He also will eat most dairy items other then cheese. Meat & veggies are still hit & miss EVERY day, but he is doing better about at least trying things before he just rejects them. He honestly doesn't seem to have a favorite food right now, which I will actually consider a good thing. He sits in a booster at the table still & eats with his silverware about 90% of the time, although occasionally we still do need to remind him. He doesn't wear a bib ever anymore & is a very, very neat eater. He doesn't like having sticky hands or a sticky face & often ASKS if he can go wash his hands after meals. He is still drinking from a regular cup without issues.We've started having him put his own meal left-overs or wrappers into the garbage & are working out clearing our own plate/cup from the table.

Health: We've been really healthy since school ended, but I can only imagine things will worsen when it starts back up again in a few weeks. I definitely need to get more consistent about giving him his daily Juice Plus+ & hopefully that will help us stave off some illness coming into the new year & the cold/flu season. Injury-wise we have had nothing significant, thankfully. He had his very first dentist appt in May & did a wonderful job. No cavities & his missing tooth doesn't seem to be affecting his other teeth currently. He'll go back for his next check-up in October. He also had his 4 year WCC the week after his birthday & took his kindergarten shots like a champ. He cried initally, but got over it quickly & only mentioned them again a few times throughout the rest of the day. I was honestly surprised by how well he did with them.

Temperament/Behavior: He's still a pretty good kid for the most part, but he has his bad days/hours just like any other kid. He doesn't really throw tantrums so much anymore as he does argue, talk-back & just plain not listen. Basically, your typical threenager. =P He still has moments where he tests his limits & pushes our buttons purposely to see what will happen. Fortunately, he often only has to be warned or cautioned regarding consequences & he corrects his actions or attitude. This honestly hasn't changed much as we've just barely forayed into his fourth year, but I am hoping with age comes a bit more understanding & respect. We've really been working on our manners lately & reinforce both please, thank you & may I religiously.

Activity/Play/Learning:

Short of a few days of school activities here & there he's more or less taken the summer off, which was probably a bad decision on my part. =/ Preschool begins again in a few weeks & he will return to the morning session so will continue to go from 8:30-11AM four days a week, with the option of going on Fridays *I belive*. We've continued to practice writing his name as well as cutting with scissors, which were the things he needed the most help with last school year. I think he's really looking forward to starting up again & seeing friends he's missed/making new ones. We signed him up to play soccer this year since he's finally old enough & although he's not the most skilled kid with sports we are going to give it a shot. I'm not sure at this point when practices/games will begin, but I am guessing that will happen in the next few weeks as well. He was really excited to pick out a new soccer ball from the store a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get outside to practice much since the air quality is so poor due to all the wildfires in the area. Other then that we've just been enjoying the usual activities. He's still a little fish & loves swimming in the lake as well as playing outside at the park/playground when we can. We bought him a bounce house for his birthday & he loves playing around/bouncing in there with his brother or his friends. Current favorite inside activities include playing with his trains (Thomas wooden railway & trackmaster), building with Legos & playing with his Leap Pad or games on our tablets.

Funny Stuff:

Conexico --- a place he likes to talk about. =)
Ant minimus --- Preying Mantis
Chocolate Ginillabean --- his favorite kind of cake/ice cream depending on what you're asking him
Carlo --- apparenly the name of his sister who lives in Vancouver & likes to walk on the streets.
Dictable --- Predictable

Favorites:

Books: He doesn't have a current favorite, but he does like to "read" books to himself a lot more these days as well as to be read to.

Song: With being out of school he doesn't have a current favorite.

Movie: Again, no current favorite

TV Show: Alvin & the Chipmunks, Paw Patrol, & Team Umizoomi

Foods: No current favorite

Toys: Legos, Leap pad, Thomas trains

Phrases: "ya know?"

Best Friend: Today he said it was me. lol Awwww. =)