About the Kiddo: One post at a time: 4.0

It's crazy how little I write these days. It makes the fact that I somehow managed monthly posts for his whole first year extra impressive, right? And, now, here he is... four years old.

So, here it goes.

Today, I have a four year old. Four years ago this happened. Every year, right around his birthday, I go back and read that blog post. I'm glad that I wrote it. Not that the memory of that day will ever leave me, but because I love getting to relive it in all the little details I noted when the moment was fresh.

My 5 pound, 11 ounce, 18 inch long baby has grown into a 29 pound, 39.5 inch little boy. Which is also officially true, isn't it? He's no longer a 'baby' and is officially out of toddlerhood as of today.

And he is such a little boy. I mean, most of the time I like to be in denial about it, but sometimes I acknowledge it. Just the other day, I watched Cory pick him up and I couldn't help but think, 'Man, the kid looks huge.' Which is a bit hilarious, because the poor guy is hangin' tight in the 24th percentile for height, and the 4th percentile for weight for his age. I'll watch him put his plate in the sink after dinner without being asked, or watch him take his shoes off and put them on the rack by the door, or go grab a stool to scoot it over to the counter so that he climb up to reach the spoons for the convenience of eating the tub of cool whip he's about to go get out of the fridge - ya know, just lots of things that are so... independent.

It's bittersweet (a word that I definitely over used in my parenting journey, and yet, so true).

Nolan still struggles with a language delay, but he's also made a lot of progress with it this year. He started therapy back in September, which is also when he had his first day of preschool! I think the therapy in combination with being around other kiddos has been tremendously positive for his language growth. His speech therapist anticipates his expressive language will be at age-level within the next year.

His other developmental areas are wonderful! He had a developmental assessment in combo with his speech evaluation last year. His cognitive level matched that of an average five year old! And his gross/fine motor were at age level, with of course his language being 29% delayed.

Nolan can read simple, phonetic sentences and even sound out new words he's never seen. Which he started doing about six months ago. So, while I don't tend to be braggy as a parent, I mean... c'mon... my three year old could read. I ~~was~~ am pretty proud of that.

He shows more interested in drawing and coloring and stuff, but still just isn't all that into it or anything. From time to time though, he'll draw us a picture and tell us about it. And I think it's basically the cutest thing ever. He can kind of write his name. It isn't the most legible lettering, but he knows what it is and I know what it is. So it counts. Right?

Nolan is insanely obsessed with trains. His love for them started about five months ago and has exploded into a playroom full of five different track sets, enough locomotives that I won't go count them for you (so maybe I should start throwing away the ones that make me want to curse every time I step on them), and endless youtube clips and cartoons. Speaking of, guess what his favorite movie is? You know what we did at Christmas? We bought him Polar Express. Ask me how many times I've watched it.

I sat down with him a few nights ago, asking him about things he wanted for his birthday. We were looking at train sets and he points to a Lego train and says, "That's the correct one. The blue one."

He has since asked me a few times if he might be able to get that 'correct' blue train for his birthday party. Haha. Ah... this kid.

That reminds me - legos. The kid is also obsessed with legos. So... lego train... perfect gift, huh?

I guess I never talked about him moving out of his toddler bed - or maybe I did? Either way, he had no issues with it. We went ahead and got him a full-sized bed, I remember when we put it in his room it looked comically large. I thought there was no way he'd like sleeping in it. I was wrong. He loved it from night one. I did, too. More room for cuddles... and stuff.

Also for when he's sick! Nolan has never slept in our bed. I mean, we started sleep training the kid at 7 weeks old! He likes his bed. And he's always been a good sleeper. Still takes two hour naps to this day. And anyone who watches him talks in amazement about how willing he is to just lay down and take a nap or go to bed at the end of the day. But, when he's sick it's so nice to just be able to lay in his bed with him and not have to wallow him or myself around in order to be near him when he wants me. And he's been sick a lot since our move (grumble) - been sick more in the last 6 months than he was the other three and a half years of his life combined.

He has a few board games he likes to play now. Sometimes he's not always a fan of taking turns and all that. But he gets in these little kicks where he'll want to play and he follows all the rules, and it's so much fun!

We toured the Montessori school last week for him to start in the fall. You guys, it's amazing! And unlike anything I've ever seen. I've spent some time in daycares, I've been in a lot of classrooms, I taught a Kindergarten readiness class. And I have never in my life experienced a school setting quite like this. It's almost like homeschooling in a group setting, with really hands-on learning.

He'll be in the Primary class, which goes through Kindergarten age. Then the a primary class that goes from 6-9, and the last class is from 9-12. They're wanting to expand through high school. And if they manage that in the next decade, that'll be wonderful. And if not, well, Nolan will be old enough by then to have input on whether he wants to be homeschooled or not.

But anyway, this 3-5 year old class (keep that age grouping in mind), there were kids sitting over there reading books in Spanish, there was a little girl organizing numbers by tens, there was a boy over there putting together a small piece puzzle of South America, there's a kitchen in the classroom and there were kids cooking food, there were kids painting maps, and kids organizing continents on a globe. It was just insane. And they were all so involved and content and doing these learning things happily and independently. There aren't desks or text books (no sitting a desk 7 hours a day). They can get up and move around or go to the bathroom and grab a drink whenever they want. And yet this classroom was one of the calmest 3-5 year old classrooms I've ever been in.

We went over into the 6-9 Primary class and three of them were programming a robot (not kidding - they're doing a several month long robotics study), some were reading books and writing reports, some were taking piano lessons, others were working on spelling or writing words.

You guys, it was just absolutely amazing! And just like that, I'm so super excited about Nolan's school years. I'm thrilled Nolan will get to be in an environment like that. Most of you know, we've struggled a lot with an educational direction for him. Because we don't like what has become of the traditional education system, but I've always been so hesitant on homeschooling just because of the social aspect of it.

But, anyway, back to Nolan facts.

Nolan's favorite foods are: sandwiches (for reals), pizza, and french fries (an occasional, but beloved choice).
Nolan's favorite book is currently: P.J. Funnybunny.
Nolan's favorite colors are: red and blue.
Some of Nolan's favorite things to do are: jumping, riding bike, playing outside, bath time
Nolan's favorite toys are: trains and legos.
Nolan's favorite movie is: Polar Express and Lego City

And, I'm still absolutely convinced he is the sweetest kid on the planet! He has always been our little lovebug :)