Our four year old is still into Cars and Cars 2. He loves Lightning McQueen the most, but also likes Mater, Finn McMissile, and Francesco quite a bit. He is getting more and more into superheroes. He has added the Flash and Hulk to his repertoire.
He has been watching episodes of Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sid the Science Kid. We have also let him watch Mulan and The Incredibles more recently as well.
He also started playing Lego Island game on the computer with James. It's still a little hard for him, but he tries and just loves to see the LEGOs on the screen especially the train and helicopter.
Drew is still loving to ride his bike. He is still getting better with turning and pedaling. Daddy and I have been working with him on standing up on his pedal to push it down as well as turning the handlebar a little to give him more leverage. We talked about getting a light for his bike and he was excited about picking it out. When we took him to Academy, he also picked out a horn. He was tooting it so much that we told him he can only toot it a couple of times, but it is mainly to warn us against strangers.
Andrew is still eating lots of thit nuong. We took him to a Mongolian Hot Pot place and he loved it!! He ate the thinly sliced beef, broccoli, egg noodles, and fish cake. We also tried Greek yogurt and Andrew likes it especially the strawberry flavored one. He has also moved from Nabisco Nilla wafers and favors the HEB brand now (I disagree with his choice, but oh well).
As for sleeping, he is taking less and less naps, but he knows he has to go to bed early those nights to catch up on sleep. I was hoping that he would take naps forever, but we will definitely instill "rest time" so he can rest his body and mind at least for a while and I can get a break too.
He is dressing himself much more, but still needs help with pants or anything with buttons or snaps. He is pretty proficient at putting his socks on.
Andrew's speech and language continue to improve. At therapy now, he goes back with Ms. Gretchen and then I will join them with about five minutes left so that we can talk about the session. He was a little scared at first about my not going back with him, but that quickly passed. He has been working on his "s" and "k" sounds at the end of words and is doing great with them. I am so happy he is finally getting his "k" sound. It's been a long time coming, but he kept at it and did it!
In terms of learning to read, he is very good about telling us the sounds letters make. He can spell "map" thanks to WordWorld and has memorized the word "exit". He is able to write "Andrew" without any help from us.
We hear a lot of "I've got to tell you something!" or "I've got to show you something!" He asks when we will "go to Vegas" (Aunt Anh Thu, you would be so proud). He also talks about his birthday party and who he wants to invite, which is just about everyone!
There are still some pretty humorous stuff that comes out of Andrew's mouth. One day, he decided to break my heart and said that he loves "Papa the most because he's nice". He also said that Papa is nicer than me because I yell at him. :( Boo hoo!! And there was one day when James farted, he whipped out, "James!! It stinks!"
Andrew likes to eat on the couch so he can watch TV especially in the morning before school. He will tell me "I'll eat good!" which he normally does. But I don't let him eat anything too messy like yogurt.
When he is remorseful, he will say "I'm sorry. I'm sooo sorry!" And he still will say that he will behave correctly and "do it everyday!" And when he gets frustrated, he will say "I'm not talking about that!", "yes, I do!", or "no, I don't!" There was this one time when I started to reprimand him, he promptly told me, "I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Dad!"
We have instilled a reward policy for Andrew. We reward him with a sticker for good deeds like staying dry at night, when his teachers said he was very good at school (but it has to be very good and not just good), or when he is exceptionally good for us. One day, Coach Cortney came up to me and told me that Andrew had done really well during class, so we said he had earned one then. I created a chart to keep track and for every five stickers he earns, he gets to pick out a prize. The prizes are small in nature like cars, tattoos, a treat like frozen yogurt, ice cream, or cupcakes.
Andrew has been so excited about his birthday party. He talks about it all the time. He keeps talking about who he wants to be there and his Cars cake. And when we go shopping anywhere, he will find something that he wants for his birthday telling me he doesn't have it yet.
He even got really involved in making the cars for his party. He tried to give Papa and me directions like do "glue and tape like this" and would use his hands to show us. He also gave us suggestions on how to make the eyes, sirens, and lights for the cars. Drew will tell us his birthday is "February 24". One time, he said it was "March 3rd" but that is the date of his party. He really does listen to me sometimes even when I am not talking to him. He even told me that "this is going to be the greatest birthday I ever had!"
And since we have been talking about so much about his birthday and party, I have said a few times that I am going to be sad when he turns four because he's growing up so fast. One afternoon, he asked me if "you be happy when I am grown up?" And he's already talking about when he is going to turn five and six. I keep telling him let's get through with birthday number four first.
He is still going to gymnastics every week and enjoying it. But recently, he told me he didn't like it because it was "too hard". But I explained to him that it has to be hard so it can make him better and stronger. I told him that he just needs to try his best and try to learn what he can and it will get easier. After that one time, he hasn't said anything but positive things about gymnastics. That is one thing I love about Coach Cortney--he pushes the kids and it shows on how much they progress. Andrew's balance, strength, and coordination have all improved vastly. I also mentioned that it helps if he takes nap so he can have lots of energy to do what Coach wants him to.
Andrew still asks lots of questions about Matthew; most of which, he knows the answer to. But I think he just likes to hear our answers for reassurance. He will still bring Matthew up and say things like "I love Matthew" or "I miss Matthew" or "Matthew up in Heaven". One day, when I was putting him down for a nap, he said he wanted to go "...up in a rocket ship up to the sky and see Matthew. That be nice."
Happy 4th Birthday, Andrew James! We love you so much and are so proud to be your parents! Here's to four amazing years and to many, many more!!
Here are my photos from today from my cell phone of Andrew riding the Metro Rail and playing with his birthday present from Aunt Anh Thu and her family followed by another video of Andrew with his cake.
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