:: FOUR ::

This kid. FOUR? I just...I'm struggling with the words right now. I watched this short "family movie" (that's what we call them) from 2017 a couple weeks ago, and it just SLAYED me when it came to Ryan. I feel like most of the time he still seems so tiny, but watching that video with him sitting right there by me, I realized just HOW much he has grown up from that time. He still seems like my little baby boy, and he's far from a baby now. (He reminds me often to stop calling him and Kinsley my "babies", since they're both very, very big kids now haha)

Physical Development

Ryan is pretty solidly into size 5T clothes and jammies. He is wearing size 10 shoes and boots, and is on the verge of honestly not really needing to wear pull ups anymore at bedtime. He wakes up about 4/5 nights completely dry. He is still my little runt, weighing in at a whopping 40lbs and is 42 inches tall. He's not really short, but compared to Cashel, he's FIVE inches shorter at 4 years old, and 2 inches shorter than Kendrick. I'm actually kinda wondering if Kinsley is going to pass him up!

Sleep Habits

Things are getting better in the sleep department, although since Ryan now gets up if he has to go potty, he tends to crawl back in my bed (granted 9 times out of 10 I don't even know he did). Just more recently, he actually hasn't been in my bed in the night probably for a good solid 3 weeks, so maybe we're turning a corner? He very seldom naps these days, and most of the time, that's not a problem and his attitude isn't too bad. His bedtime is between 8/8:30, and he usually sleeps until I wake him up around 6:15am, so about 10-11 hours of sleep a night.

Speech Development

Ryan talks CONSTANTLY. I mean, NONSTOP. He is our little chatterbox, and he is so great with not only his vocabulary, but also with his pronunciation of things (SO much more clear than a year ago), and it's funny to hear the intonation in his words. I guess my animated reading style has carried over lol He loves to "read" Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Kinsley (just from memory), and talks all about his letters that he's learning more about in preschool. It's so fun to watch him come alive.

Eating

Ryan is still in the "snacks are life" camp, but he's OBSESSED with pizza. He wants pizza for every meal every night. He could truly care less if he has any additional food, beyond pizza and applesauce pouches and Gogurts. I mean, he EATS other things, but if you ever ask him what he wants for supper, it's guaranteed to be "Pizza from Godfather's. And we need the dessert pizza with the M&Ms on it, Mom". He'll scream that at me until I acknowledge him while I'm in the middle of calling to order lol

Still, he does really like a lot of other foods, and it's fun to watch him light up when one of his favorites is on the menu.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

Between Ryan and Kinsley, I've got my hands SO full these days! If one hasn't thought of it, the other one has. I'm very thankful that they tend to play pretty well together overall, because if I had to chase after both of them, I'd lose my mind! Still, Ryan is becoming more behavioral and assertive as time passes. He has begun being more behavioral (throwing things, hitting his siblings and even me sometimes, screaming loudly, getting up in my face, etc.), and as I don't want things to get out of hand like they did for a while with Kendrick, I'm starting the evaluation process for the SEED program in town that Kendrick went to. I think it'll be a great thing for him to be able to really learn to process his emotions. He has said NUMEROUS times over the past month that Daddy is dead, and that he doesn't have a Daddy, so I know a lot of the behavior stems from his not understanding what's going on. He has also determined that he doesn't want me as his Mommy anymore because I don't give him what he wants, so he has been plotting how to get Daphne from Scooby Doo out of the TV so that he can have her as his Mommy and I can go live with some other unfortunate kids. He also keeps saying that he wants Daphne as his Mommy because then Fred can be his Daddy and he can have a Mommy and a Daddy, and that just guts me. There is just no way I can handle processing that with him right now, so I just talk with him about how much I love him and how much I'll miss him when he gets Daphne to come out of the TV. Who knows what's the right thing to do? He did tell me I can come back, though, so he can play with my hair lol

Likes

• Blaze and the Monster Machines
• Mama's hair and those two fingers
  
• Suspenders lol He asks me to put them on him at least once or twice a week.
  
• Scooby Dooby Doo
• Interrupting EVERYONE'S bedtime.
  
• Hot dogs and mac and cheese
  
• Going to our church's AWANA program where he's a "Cubby". He LOVES it!
  
• Preschool - he LOVES going! He had his first program this year, and he was beaming the whole time. It was so sweet!
  

Dislikes

• Going to daycare :( It's usually a struggle every morning.
• Mondays and Fridays: Those are the weekdays he doesn't have either preschool or AWANA
• Being told "no".
• Someone else doing his "job" in the kitchen
• The second his tablet runs out of time and says "All Done for Today". Oh boy!
• Mommy being too busy to sit down and play with my hair.
• Any form of discipline. He tends to explode if he's being punished.