All About Ayden at 4 Years Old

It has been TWO years since I've written "All About" posts! That is way too long. I actually started one last year, but never did end up finishing it. Shame on me! The kids had their four year well checks last week, so I thought it would be a good time to finally sit down and write these long overdue posts.

In the doctor's office

Ayden is 41.25 inches tall, landing in the 68%. He weighs 38.4 lbs, which puts him at 69% on the chart. Two years ago he was 85% on the chart at 31.2 lbs! Although he never seemed like a chunky toddler at all, I'm happy to see his weight matching up to his height a lot more. Ayden continues to have a long torso and is moving into size 5 tops. He is solidly in size 4 pants, and wears size 11 shoes.

Ayden is turning into a real sweetheart. He frequently tells me he loves me, sometimes followed by "I love everyone!" He loves hugs and gives fantastic hugs in return. If anyone gets hurt, he usually asks them if they are okay. If I have a bad parenting moment (generally because I can only take so much whining/crying/fighting before I lose my cool), Ayden reminds me that "it's not okay to yell."

I wish I could remember all the funny things that Ayden says. I really need to write them down, but always think I'll get to it in a blog post, and then I procrastinate and forget all the funny things! Here's a good one though - when my family was here for Christmas Eve and it came time to clean up and pick up toys, Ayden wasn't too happy about it. When he was told that it was time to clean up, Ayden said, "I'm not a cleaner-up guy, I'm a player guy." Meaning he wanted to keep playing. Bahahahaha! He did finally consent to being a "picker-upper guy," but there was no way he was going to be a cleaner-upper guy.

Ayden still struggles with stuttering on occasion, but most of the time it doesn't seem to be too much of an issue. When he's having a hard time, the word he seems to struggle with the most is saying Rylee's name. It comes out as "Ry, Ry, Ryyyy-Ryyyyyyyylee." There are other words he gets stuck on too at times, but it comes and goes for a few days at a time and then other days you can hardly tell at all. It's doesn't worry us near as much now as it did during the summer when he could hardly talk and it was changing his personality. Now when it happens, we make it a particular point to spend more one-on-one time with the kids and that seems to help.

Ayden's favorite color is orange. His favorite songs to sing are the ABC's, Mary had a Little Lamb, and Row Row Row Your Boat. He can also sing Amazing Grace all by himself, which I am super proud of. He still is very into dinosaurs and has quite the impressive knowledge of them. He can tell you the names of many and tell you whether they eat plants or other dinosaurs, thanks to Usborne's Big Book of Big Dinosaurs. His favorite tv show is Blaze and the Monster Machines. His favorite movies are Planes and Planes Fire and Rescue. He also LOVES Lightning McQueen. Ayden has several of the cars from the movie. His favorite shirt to wear is his Cars t-shirt, and he got a new Cars jacket for his birthday. He wears that shirt whenever it is clean, so 2-3 times/week!

He also is really into building things lately. He got a set of magnetic building blocks for Christmas that he has played with every single day, several times a day. We also have a Duplo set that Rylee won from the summer reading program at the library, and Ayden has been playing with that a lot lately too. In addition to that, the kids got several lego jr sets between their birthday and Christmas. We got them all put together, and Ayden has since taken them all apart and builds other random things.

Whenever it's not raining outside, we always walk around the block to get our mail. Well, I generally walk, the kids run. Ayden does NOT like Rylee to beat him. God forbid she run in front of him. If that happens, and he can't catch her, he stops and throws a fit in the middle of the sidewalk. Then we have a talk about how he can never catch her if he gives up and doesn't try. He sometimes will then start chasing after her again, but then gets mad again and whines the rest of the way to the mailbox. Good times. Good times. It doesn't help that Rylee IS faster than him. On the way back to the house, he always makes sure he gets a head start so he's in the lead the whole time. He has to be in the lead when riding bikes too. If Rylee gets ahead of him, he makes sure he fixes that and gets around her. He is a little more dare devilish on his bike than her, so that's generally never a problem.

Not only does Ayden have a hard time "losing" to Rylee, but he also gets frustrated really easily. He loves to do puzzles, but insists that he needs help and "can't" do it. He's actually pretty good at doing puzzles himself, but it's as if he either doesn't have the confidence, or the patience. Another example is climbing. He wants to climb the rock wall at the park so badly, and he can in certain parts, but he gets so mad and frustrated when he can't figure out how to climb the harder sections. He asks for help constantly. I keep reminding him that it just takes lots of practice, and he will get stronger and better at it. I do spot him and offer suggestions as to where to put his foot/hand next, but I can't climb that wall for him.

PB&J sandwiches are by far Ayden's favorite food. That and dinosaur oatmeal. The kids picked this dinosaur oatmeal out as a special "treat" for their birthday. Ayden has eaten it almost every single day since, and would eat it every meal if we'd let him. He also loves fruit, especially berries. Other favorites are pasta, cheddar and broccoli soup, and kid's Cliff bars. He used to be really good about eating vegetables, but recently has been rebelling against them and acting like they are the worst thing ever. Makes absolutely no sense to me since just a few weeks ago, he ate them no problem.

His new favorite

While we are on the food topic, I should add that we think Ayden must be going through a growth spurt right now, because he is eating So. Much. Food! The other morning for breakfast, not only did he eat dinosaur oatmeal, he also ate a big bowl of cereal, half a banana, and half an English muffin. Tonight at dinner, he gobbled down the chicken pot pie I made and then asked for seconds. And then he had thirds. And then he asked for more again! He's also been complaining that his legs hurt lately. I see nothing wrong with them, so the only thing I can think of is that he must be having growing pains?

Ayden is an explorer and is always finding treasures when we are outside: special rocks, bugs, sticks, leaves, flowers, etc. He likes to save them and always wants to bring them home. He's not happy when I won't let him bring most of these things into the house. While Ayden has no problem picking up bugs and worms, he has recently decided he dislikes getting dirty. He most definitely is not a happy camper when he gets dirt on his hands or clothes. He also doesn't like the idea of brushing dirt off his own clothes. I have to do it for him!

Showing me the clam he found

One of my biggest frustrations in life right now is having to constantly clean our toilets, and surrounding floor. Ayden continues to struggle getting his pee in the toilet. We tried having him sit instead of standing to go potty for about a week, but that was still a struggle at times if he didn't press down far enough. When that happens, he hits the little spot between the toilet seat and the toilet bowl, and we end up having to change his pants and underwear because they end up soaked. His grandma took him potty in a public bathroom about a month ago, and she came back telling me how he accidentally peed all over the wall and the floor, and how she tried to clean it up the best she could. Story of my life right now, cleaning up pee! Please tell me this is a phase.... please.

Ayden has always had a huge fear of going to the doctor and the dentist, but he's had an appointment for both in the last two weeks and he did so good! At his dentist appointment 6 months ago, Ayden had a complete meltdown. He refused to sit in the dentist chair. The dentist ended up just looking at his teeth really quick while Ayden sat in my lap crying his little heart out. They didn't even end up cleaning his teeth because he had been so upset. This time around he did fantastic! I was so proud of him! A few months ago, I bought a children's book about going to the dentist and have read it off and on since then. I made a point of reading it a few times the week of their appointment. I don't know if that made the difference this time, or if he is just growing up and getting braver. Not only did he get his teeth cleaned, but he also let them take x-rays of his teeth!

Ayden also did great at the doctor's for their 4 year well checks. In the past, I've had to hold him so the the pediatrician could listen to his heart, look in his ears, etc. He almost always cried/complained through all of this, but this time he did great! Until it came time to get shots... Once he learned he was getting shots, he got quite a bit of anxiety and got pretty upset. I had to hold him pretty tight while the nurse administered the vaccinations. He about broke my heart with his cries, but we made it through. For the rest of the day, he was pretty dramatic though, and it was all Tony and I could do not to laugh. At first, he didn't even want to walk and made me carry him because "his legs hurt." Once he got past that, he just walked very tenderly with an extra flare of dramatic. I have no doubt that his legs probably were in fact sore from the shots and I sympathized with him for that, but he was so dramatic about it, in almost a theatrical way, you couldn't help but also laugh at his antics.

We start our bedtime routine around 7:00pm (unless it's bath night; then it's 6:40pm), and bedtime is 7:30. Ayden goes to bed super easy, and almost always falls asleep quickly. He had been sleeping until about 7-7:15am, but here the last few weeks, he's been waking up somewhere between 5:30-6:15pm. The dude is killing me with the early wake ups! I am soooooo dreading the upcoming time change, because I know that 5:30am time is going to turn into 4:30 😩. I know he's waking up to go potty, but he doesn't go back to sleep! He comes into our room, which wouldn't be too bad if he'd cuddle up and just lay there quietly, even if he stays awake. But he wants to play! I have told him repeatedly that it's okay if he can't go back to sleep, but that he needs to play quietly in his room. This morning he was up at 5:30 to go potty, and did go back to bed, but only till 5:50 when he decided it was time to come wake us up. Ugh!

It's so amazing to watch this little guy evolve into the person he is going to be. He's very sensitive to when he does something wrong or gets in trouble. He has a quiet talking voice, but is very loud otherwise. He takes after his daddy with the loudest footsteps of anyone I've ever known. He drops the toilet seat lid almost every single time. That's how I know when he wakes up in the middle of the night to go potty, because it wakes me up. At least he's closing the lid, right? Ayden and Rylee fight for territorial rights to either sit in my lap, or as close as possible at my side, when we read books or watch tv. He loves to be tickled, and has such an amazing laugh when he is truly happy and thrilled with something.

I am so proud to call this boy my son.