4 Year Old Update

Four seems so much older than three. We just love Samuel's silliness and the amazing little boy that he is. He's so sweet and tender and beginning to become more adventurous. He is precious and loved by all. I am amazed at this little blessing that God has entrusted to us. He is a very special kid. I know all mom's say that, but it's always true. :) His latest adventures…
- He loves to role play... he even has things very scripted where he requires that I say certain things at certain times and gets mad when my stubborn self refuses to say it exactly how he requests.
- He still loves to play church. His cars and stuffed animals have joined in on the action and each get a turn at the pulpit. His sermons have become much more intelligible and I sometimes hear him say little things that make me think he's really starting to comprehend and regurgitate what's being said around him at real church. A few weeks ago, he and Emma were playing church and I heard yelled, "No Emma that's the wine (communion wine), babies can't have wine!"
- He still adores trash trucks. This morning he took all the toys in the playroom (or almost all) and put them in his "trash truck" (a couple of boxes). Thankfully, he also helped to put it all away.
- His newest obsession is being my sous chef. He's enjoyed this for a while, but it's risen to a new level of interest lately. He shows us to our seats in the restaurant, takes our orders (he is always out of what we ask for, so he makes what he wants), makes a meal suggestion, and it always "has to be mixed". The movie Ratatouille has created so many new play scenarios to recreate in his kitchen.
- Sports are still a part of everyday play. Whenever he comes to tell me, "this shirt is dirty" or "we won the game," it means he has to go change shirts into a new sports shirt (always with numbers on it) for the next pretend sport game. We also always have someone to use the microphone and talk about the game (the commentator). When an adult can't do it, Emma gladly takes on the commentator role.
- His speech has come a long way! He seems to be on track with his peers in this area. I still love and want to remember some of his adorable little misspeaks… Hostibottal (Hospital), Zimert (dessert), Strawbaberry (Strawberry), Toys For Us (Toys R Us), panyo (piano).
- He has lost interest in playing school with me. It's a struggle to get him to work on writing letters or sounding out words. He used to think it was fun, but he's outgrown that. He still loves to read books, so we are just doing more through reading and playtime. After having my own children and seeing how they learn and develop, I feel bad about the way I taught my fifth graders. I just didn't understand kids thinking and interests as much back then. : )

I asked him some questions that, if I remember, I will ask him every year on his birthday. Some of them were still too abstract for him, or he just didn't have interest in answering them, but we got some cute answers...
Favorite Food: Chicken; Orange Chicken
Favorite Sport to Play: Soccer

The Best Show on TV is: Football; Tennis; Mickey Mouse 

The Coolest Person on Earth is: Mickey Mouse

Favorite Car: Trash Truck 

My favorite thing to learn about in school: Go Outside 

The thing I do best: Play Soccer 

If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to: Chuck E Cheeses

My favorite color is: Blue 

When I grow up, I’m going to be a: Football Player

My favorite song is: Rap; We Are Young (by Fun)

My favorite book right now is: Llama, llama Red Pajama 

Three words that describe me are: Soccer Player, Inside a house, (too abstract, he doesn’t really get it) 

When I was little, I used to: I said things like Emma says

My favorite time of the year is: Thursday 

The best thing about going outside is: Playing Baseball 

The snack I like best is: Goldfish 

One food I don’t like is: Spicy Chicken 

My best friend is: Charlie 

If I had one wish it would be: (He didn't understand this one) 

My favorite thing we did this year was: Going Outside