Tyler's 4 year check-up

We had Tyler's 4 year check-up this past Monday. The good: He weighs 37lbs (50-75 percentile), he's 42 inches tall (75-90 percentile), and his BMI is 14.7 (10-25 percentile). Still following the tall and lean track. We're excited that he's tall enough to ride some "cooler" rides at some places we want to visit! :-) He had an eye exam and sees 20/30 in both eyes, which is normal vision for kids this age. They tried several times to do a hearing test, but he just couldn't get the concept. He either wouldn't raise his hand when he heard a beep or he just raised his hand for the fun of it. They also said it's normal to not be able to do this now. He answered all the general questions about what he should know at this age correctly. Dr. Anna was discussing water safety and asked him who was in charge of watching him at the pool. She was looking for him to say that his mom or dad was, but he very matter of factly stated that the life guard is in charge of watching him. haha. Love that Mr-know-it-all.

The not good: After a great check-up, we got to the dreaded shot and then Holy Hell... I'm pretty sure that Tyler is traumatized for life because of getting that stupid shot. Or maybe Travis and I are... I'm not sure. We are still on a delayed shot schedule and decided to get one little bitty shot at this appointment. It has been a year since his last shot and now he's much more aware of what's going on, so we tried to prep him for getting the shot beforehand and he was very adamant and made it very clear that he was NOT getting any shots. We should have known then that it wasn't going to go well. I ended up walking Kinley out of the room and I could hear Tyler screaming at the top of his lungs and crying hysterically in the front office! It was HORRIBLE! Travis was trying to hug hold him and Dr. Anna eventually had to come in to help hold him for the shot. And it certainly didn't stop after the shot. He left the room screaming at everyone and looking for me, he was kicking and hitting stuff, he threw the lid to their "treasure chest" across the room and finally sat outside on the front porch and just cried. He told me that he needed me in the room with him so that I could tell them not to give him a shot. :-( :-( :-( To say that he was pissed and hurt is such an understatement. He felt betrayed by Travis and I, he felt violated and his feelings were hurt that he was held down (remember, he knows Dr. Anna outside of being his doctor) and he just doesn't do well with pain in general. I guess that includes tiny shots. I can't see how we'll be able to successfully give him another shot until he's like 30 and that may be challenging for us in the near future. All I know is that I don't want to put him through that again, so I may have to reference this note when the next appointment rolls around. (Btw, Kinley got one shot as well while I was consoling Tyler, and apparently she laughed about it. Go figure). ;-)

Getting ready for a new mark on the growth chart~

"Date Knight"

Tyler and I got to go on a special Mother-Son "Date Knight" to Chick-fil-A (one of his favorite restaurants). They had such a cute set-up with a red carpet entrance, white table cloths with candles and chocolates on the table, the waitstaff was dressed up, dinner and dessert was served to us, they had a photographer and a horse and carriage ride. My kind of date night!! It was such a great excuse for just Tyler and I to get out of the house for a while! Thanks, Chick-fil-A!!



Getting ready for our date night~




Someone was feeling left out~


(**taken from their website)


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(Tyler's fav: chicken nuggets with "funny fries")


**Tyler getting knighted~


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Fun day with Claire!

We got to have our good friend, Claire, over for a day of fun!! We were supposed to be 'babysitting' and I think it's pretty obvious from these pictures just how hard of a job it was! ;-)

(Roasting real marshmellows in a Play-Doh fire)

Tyler is 4 years old!

I've said it a lot lately, but I just can't believe that I have a one year old AND a four year old! Tyler has been doing SO good lately and I was just telling Travis the other night that we are so lucky that he's such a good/sweet kid. Don't get me wrong, he certainly has his moments, but things feel so much easier than they did six months ago when I mentioned all the tantrums that he was having. I think those tantrums were a combination of him trying to adjust with Kinley around and dropping his afternoon nap. Fast forward to today and he is a lot more interactive with Kinley. She bugs the snot out of him, but he does a really good job of tolerating her and actually seems to enjoy having her around at times. I love the moments when I catch him playing games with her and I feel like it's happening more often now. He's still not taking a long afternoon nap at home, but he almost always takes a cat nap in the car when we're out running errands during the day. Not everyday, but a few times a week. Lately, he'll fall asleep in the car and then I transfer him to a shopping cart to sleep while I buy groceries or shop at Target. He also goes to bed a little earlier and even tells us if he's tired and wants to sleep. That's pretty crazy considering our difficult sleeping history with him, but I'm loving that he's getting the much needed rest and that it has helped restore a little harmony around our house. :-)

His imagination is still growing by the day. He has full conversations between his super heroes and other toys. He doesn't have set chores yet, but he has been helping me more around the house, setting the table, bringing me dirty dishes, collecting dirty clothes, putting up toys, vacuuming and he's a huge help with Kinley.

He's becoming very clever and witty and says the funniest things for a four year old. He likes being on teams at the house and it's usually the boys versus girls when Daddy is home, but he always asks to be on Mommy's team during the day.

I found this cute idea online (asking the same questions each year to the kids starting at 3 or 4 and seeing how their answers change over the years) and I'm excited to start making it one of our birthday traditions. It was fun to get a list of Tyler's favs, although I added to some. The videos follow the list (and are worth watching to see Tyler sing his favorite song or demonstrate Hide-n-Seek). I think this sums Tyler up for the moment.

1. How old are you? 4.
2. What is your favorite color? Blue.
3. What is your favorite toy? Captain America shield. Do you have any other favorite toys? Rescue Bots, Chase.
4. What is your favorite game? Hide-n-go-seek.
5. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on my swing. (He loves riding his bike, digging in dirt and playing with Cooper as well).
6. What is your favorite thing to do inside? Play with my Rescue Bots... really loud. (He loves playing with Play-Doh, coloring, playing with his Legos and playing on the iPad as well).
7. What is your favorite TV show or cartoon? Peppa Pig. (He also loves watching Rescue Bots, Transformers, Avengers, Max & Ruby, Mike the Knight, Dora and UmiZoomi right now).
8. What is your favorite outfit? This. (Orange Avengers t-shirt)
9. What is your favorite animal? A cat.
10. What is your favorite song? ABC's.
11. What is your favorite book? Rescue Bots.
12. What is your favorite fruit? Apple.
13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms.
14. What is your favorite snack? Fruit snack.
15. What is your favorite drink? Water.
16. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal. (He usually asks for eggs and toast with jelly). :-)
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Chicken and broccoli. (His other fav is grilled chicken salads).
18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas. Why? Because you get Angry Birds and stuff.
19. Who is your best friend? Tanner.
20. What do you like to take with you to bed at nighttime? Lovey. (And a sippy cup of milk).
21. What is your favorite restaurant? Mama Fu's. (He also loves Chick-fil-A).
22. What is your favorite place to go to? Jumpy Houses.
23. What are you excited to do this year? Stay home and play with my new drum set. (In addition, he has been looking forward to the neighborhood pool opening and going to the coast to play in the sand and fish).
24. What do you want to be when you grow up? Tyler. What kind of job do you want to do when you grow up? Fix cars.... bang, bang, bang!

take 1~


take 2~

Happy Fourth Birthday, Baby!

Oh.My.Goodness, you are now FOUR years old!! I cannot believe what a big boy you are! You are growing so incredibly fast and I'm realizing that so much of the baby-ness is slowly fading away as you're turning into this big boy.

A big boy that has been completely potty trained since your third birthday. A big boy that likes to pick out his own clothes. A big boy that doesn't take a nap everyday. A big boy that goes to the dentist now. A big boy that has already received his first kiss (I'm still having a hard time with this one!). A big boy that actually has full conversations. I know it won't be long before you quit saying cute things like: nanks (thanks), glubbs (gloves), asystem (assistant), free (three), fought (thought), dis (this), dat (that), mudder (mother), fodder (father), boyce (voice), togedder (together), skeetoes (mosquitoes), inbited (invited), yittle (little), wacuz (because), excabator (excavator), knight and sharmen otter (shining armour), tecting (protecting) your sister, bellas (Cabelas) or chick-bah-lays (Chick-fil-A) and that makes me a little sad. It's hitting me more than ever that I need to enjoy and cherish these moments because they are going by so fast.

You are about to be a legit preschooler! We have officially signed you up to start preschool two days a week in the Fall. You are very excited to go, especially after taking a tour of your classroom and finding out that you will be in the same class as your buddy, Tanner. I'm excited because you're excited, but I know that your sister and I are going to miss you like crazy!! This will be the first time we have spent more than a few hours away from each other (with the exception of the one night apart when I had your sister) and I'm feeling a little anxious about it. I'm hoping that you enjoy this new world of learning and I also hope that you develop some great new friendships.

I don't think you will have any trouble making friends. You have to be one of the sweetest and caring little boys I have ever known. You are a friend to everyone and everyone is your friend. You recently befriended a total stranger in the mall. Inviting him to play hide-n-seek with you and then inviting him to your birthday party. You didn't know his name, but you told me he was your best friend. :-) I have seen other kids rally around you when we're out playing and I have seen you offer assistance to someone you thought was hurt or invite kids to play that have been left out. I can't tell you how happy that makes my heart, to see you being that kid! I know you're young, but I sure hope that you are always like that.

You, my sweet boy, are a beautiful & loving soul. Clever and incredibly smart (too smart!). You are thoughtful and compassionate, loyal and sensitive, silly and fun! You have so many great qualities and I'm just so proud. You have a need to have things a certain way (just like your Mommy), like organizing your entire Angry Birds collection before bed or lining up all of your Rescue Bots perfectly for play. You have more energy than your Daddy and I put together, however, you are still a big fan of staying home and chillin' out in front of the TV, watching your favorite shows like, Peppa Pig; Rescue Bots; Avengers; Mike the Knight and Fresh Beat Band. You still enjoy the simplicity of being a child- looking at the stars, making shapes and objects out of clouds, picking flowers, playing in the dirt, Hide-n-Seek and chase. I love all of this!

You ask a lot of questions, get answers, ponder over them, and then ask the same questions again and again! You always want to be included in mine and Daddy's conversations and are always asking if you can join in or if you can "say a question." You don't let us get away with anything anymore. You are always listening and always correcting. The days when I could sneak a piece of candy or tell you something that wasn't completely accurate are long gone. You are way too aware to be fooled these days. ;-)

You and Daddy continue to have a strong relationship and he has done a pretty good job of making you believe that fishing is the coolest thing ever. haha. You're excited to take a trip to the coast and we're making plans! You and I recently went on a date night and it was so much fun to get away for a couple of hours alone. I loved that we spent so much time trying to figure out who loved who the most and I will always argue that I love you more!

We've been very busy this past year and we've had a lot of fun! I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you. Happy Birthday, Baby! I love you x 100 (because that's bigger than a million)!

Love,

Mommy


Enjoying waking up to your room filled with balloons~














Kinley had some fun as well~






And ending the day at your favorite restaurant, Mama Fu's~


Followed by some fun on the playground~