Four. More four.

Statistics for the four-year-old:

HEALTHY! Praise God, we didn't go to the doctor between July 2013 and July 2014. And he's in full-time preschool. Miracles, y'all.

Height: 44.25" (98th percentile)

Weight: 39.2 lb. (72nd percentile)

So, long and lean. And yes, he has outgrown almost all of his summer shoes. We're in about an 11.5 now.
 

Discovering the simple beauty of a McD's sundae.

 

His eating has gotten pickier and pickier. He loves chicken and rice. He prefers raw veggies over cooked, and will eat broccoli, carrots, peas and anything with marinara sauce. He will also eat Thai curry and Mai Fun noodles like a champ, but will not touch a hamburger. His favorite is probably pizza or spaghetti or "cheesy noodles" (fettuccine alfredo). Loves chick-fil-A nuggets and any form of ice cream and chocolate.


Bedtime is a struggle. Astonishingly, when the lights go out, he is "STARVING!!!!!" (in a dramatic fashion)

Matching pajamas (same size, even) with cousin Micah.

"Mommy, my tummy is squishy. I'm STARVING."

"Ok, do you want a banana or applesauce?"

"Not that food, Mommy. I need cheese crackers..."

And on and on we go. He likes to have company when he falls asleep. Usually in the form of Mommy. No matter what we try, he says he scared of being in his room by himself. Extra lights, stories, special teddy bears, checking in every few minutes...sigh. It's been a long year or so with that. We're tired.

Google made a SWEET GIF of his candle-blowing at the party! (photos by mommy)

He recently began doing somersaults. Just flips right over. And climbing EVERYTHING. His favorite climbing apparatuses are sofas and dressers.

Shepard and cousin Madeleine enjoying the Fourth of July

His favorite toys are anything that he can involve someone else in. We've discovered the joys of a watergun recently. He likes all of his cars a lot. He really likes to paint or color or cut paper. He likes to build walls with his Gigi at the Lego table. He likes to play store, fashion show, light show (dancing around with glow sticks and light-up shoes), build-a-castle/house, and catch.

Squirtgun + tub o' water = happy

Favorite shows right now are "Sammy 2" (Turtle Tale 2), "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and "The Reef/Reef 2."

Favorite books are "Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site," "Knuffle Bunny" (1 & 2), "The Foot Book," "The Lorax," and "Llama Llama, Red Pajama."

Climbing

A conversation we just had: We talk about putting all our questions for the day into a "question box" so our brain(s) can rest and go to sleep. This is his side of the conversation with my um-hums and return questions omitted.
"My question box is tight, Mommy...It's very full of questions. And it has lots of buttons...My 'whys' are fragile...when you say 'I don't know,' they break...my 'whys' are made of green glass...and they're fragile...there are lots of buttons on my question box, and they are automatic." 

Mommy shed a few tears thinking about the beauty of all of that. I get so worn out from answering the non-stop flow of questions. But they are so precious to him. We asked him recently why he asks so many questions. "Because I need to know things I don't know yet." Well, when you put it that way...

Love and hugs. I love to watch you grow and learn. ~Mommy & Daddy

Oh the pressure!

HEADLINE: 

Shepard's mom incredibly slack of late due to who knows what

Instead of trying to instantaneously recap the last TWO months, I'll just tell what I loved about the last few days...

Easter-egg dying party

• At night when we're settling in for sleep (at long last, usually), Shepard usually turns on his side and throws his arm over me. Like a sleepy side-hug. It's awesome.
• Last night, Shepard and Daddy built a "house" out of sofas, stools and pillows in the lounge. Then Shepard decided it was Mommy's birthday and had me over for (fake) cupcakes, (real) dance party, and he and Daddy sang (real) "Happy Birthday" to me. I invited Henry Hugglemonster and friends and Shepard did their voices. I like watching his imagination at work.
• Shepard asks me about 492 questions every day. I love his curiosity. I wish it had a shut-off at 9 pm, but I love that he's curious and wants all the answers. Questions lately have included:
• Why do we have hair?
• Do boogers have nutrients?
• Why did the sky go boom-boom last night (thunder)?
• Why are eyeballs round?
• Why do we have eyelashes?
• Why do eyelashes fall out into your eye?
• Why is there an American flag there?
• Why does Elsa have frozen powers?
• Why do you not know?
• Why didn't you write the movie?
• Why don't you work for Disney?
• Why didn't Mr. Disney invite you to work for him?
• Is that tree a forevergreen?
• Why is sugar a treat food?
• Why doesn't it have nutrition?
• Why does William have a girl baby (baby sister)?
•  A few nights ago, Shepard led Gigi and I (with capes) on a mission to blast the bad guy (Pops) with hot rocks and make him go away. We ran through the house yelling and being excited together. 
• I should have bought stock in Chick-fil-A years ago. I think they put toddler-crack in their food.
• This morning when he woke up (in our bed because of the thunderstorm), he asked, "Am I four yet?" Not sure what four holds in store for him, but it's funny because I have a distinct memory of asking my own mom if I would EVER turn 4.
  

  

  Aren't they cute? Next year we'll do way more. I need my own dozen.

  
  

  

  Easter basket in jammies

Teeny Tiny Funnies

I like all this laughing we get to do. There are so many little moments that make me smile on any given day, so in addition to documenting the big moments and milestones, I always want to be sure to document the daily smiles and challenges.

"I always feel like somebody's watching me..."
On Saturday, Shepard and I were practicing our tooth-brushing. I am pretty good at it, with very few cavities on my overall record (just one, I think at age 30). ;)
Shepard has recently graduated to a minature toothbrush with the cookie monster on it. I put a dollop of his kids' toothpaste on it, loaded up my own brush and we both commenced tooth brushing. He was studying me intently to see how I was doing it, so I decided to squat all the way down so he could see me. I showed him how to brush the insides, the back, etc. I was so impressed with his attention. Then, I saw the light in his eyes as he began to squat slowly. As if to say, "Oh, that's what I'm missing. Mommy is squatting, so I will too!" I nearly spit out my mentadent laughing. He doesn't miss a thing!

Feed Us!
I get the terrible task of dropping Shepard off each morning. It's only bearable because I know he has fun with his friends all day...and I get an awesome hug and reception when I show back up each afternoon. When I pick him up, he immediately points and does his "DAAA!" sound, showing me something in the room. All of that to say, I really enjoy when I get to drop him off or pick him up at an odd time. We usually cruise in just before snack time in the morning. Today, I got to see the kiddos in action. They were all seated around their mini tables as Shepard and I removed his jacket. As the teacher pulled out the bag of cereal, all the kids began slapping the table and making all kinds of noises. If I had to interpret, I'd go with "Feed Me! Feed Me! Feed Me!" It was so cute to see them all burst out at once.

Night Night
Shepard is pretty good at going to bed. He pretty much hasn't been given any other option between the hours of 6:15 - 7:15 pm every night since he was six weeks old. He has developed a fine taste for some book-reading before bed, which we gladly indulge. He really likes the peekaboo books that have flaps to reveal stuff beneath. Some days, he'd just DONE. Last night after dinner, he ran to his room. I thought we might play in there for a bit before bed time. However, Shepard went right to his crib and looked for the blankie. (Not a blanket, mind you...THE blankie) He looked at me like, "Ma--where my blankie at?" I told him to go look in the den and see if Daddy would help him as I knew it was in there. He came running out of the room and into the den. Daddy, who had overheard our conversation, asked him, "Shepard, where's your blanket?" To which Shepard shrugged and threw up his hands like "I don't know." Very cute. As soon as we got our "jam jams" on, he started saying "Night night." I guess he was ready to hit the hay.

This is a test...

...of the slacker blogging system. Does my password still work? Did my camera stop working? Has my child just been sleeping for the past three weeks?  :)
We're all alive and well. I'm cooking up some posts, I promise! We visited the Main Street Children's Museum in Rock Hill a few weeks ago, went to an ice cream social with Gigi and Pops and miniature horses, sang in the cat microphone (you'll see!) and have generally been POINTING at EVERYTHING saying "...'s that?" It kind of sounds like "DAT?" But occassionally we'll get a "What's dat?" So we tell him. "Truck, clock, pottery, art, clutter, bird, tree, dog, cat, fan, light..." and on and on and on and on. I love it. I love seeing his little eyes spy something the second they fly open in the morning. He's pointing at stuff in his room before he even completely wakes up. He greets me with "Mamamamamamamamamamamamamamamama. S'dat?"
This morning, he toddled into our bedroom where Jerod was getting dressed for work. He loves walking around with Daddy because he gets such a great birds-eye view of the world. Over the long weekend, we celebrated a birthday, rode in the cozy coupe all around the neighborhood and ate snacks and learned about farm animals and balls and trucks and gravity. And even fought off a wee fever. I had to come to work today to get a breather.
Keep your bloggy-eyes peeled. I hope to get a few things up this week!

Hugs,

The Mommy

Little observations

Shepard's hands smell of graham crackers, whether he's eaten them or not. Now I smell graham crackers and think of him. He's literally sweet.

He likes to hum along and make sounds. He's definitely got the "bzzzzzzzzz" of the bee. This morning he was trying to match the tone of the coffee grinder. I made a chord with him by singing the third. It kind of made my day.

He really likes it when I do the frog's "ribbit" and do my froggie tongue. He tries to mimic me.

He can put more stinky poop in a diaper than I ever imagined. Contrary to what I thought before he came, it doesn't make me hurl. That would be not-so-sweet, but only ok.

He will kind of sit still for a book now. He really likes the books with the "peek-a-boo" windows to open.

He sleeps 11-12 hours a night without hardly making a peep. I think this is because he hardly stops moving all day long except for a shortish nap.

He already has a mischevious grin and sidelong glance. It already makes me nervous.

He is laughing at my best "Mama means it" strict-face. This makes me nervous too.

And did I mention his little deep-throated maniacal laugh? (you can hear that here) Sometimes he will use it in context of doing something slightly naughty. I am going to surely be a woman of prayer.

Shoot! I mean, I didn't.

I promised a video of walking. You are tuning in saying, "Where's the walking? She promised walking." Folks. I tried. Jerod tried. Shepard walks on his own terms, namely, when the camera is NOT rolling. It's hit or miss now. I think I got him standing up on his own but don't have time to check the footage. Because I have about 15 short clips of him taking three steps and deciding to crawl toward the red thing that mommy holds up and has pictures on it.
Now I'm a little obsessed with getting it. But I'll have to wait until he's ready I guess. I'm really looking forward to his grasping a little of the sign language we're working on. It has been a weekend full of short shrieks to let us know what he does or does not want. Usually at mealtime. Unfortunately, I lost my secret decoder ring to shrieking. I can't differentiate between "MILK!!!!!" and "MORE CHEERIOS!!!!"
One more week 'til vacation. Hallelujah. Surely I can get him walking with a whole week's worth of trying!?
Looking forward to hanging out with Grandma and Great-Uncle Jim and Great-Aunt Linda tomorrow. I mean, I'll be mostly at work, but Daddy and baby get to hang out.  :)