Ely is Four!

Today Ely is 4! Greg and I both had a few tears this morning as we woke up to a house decorated with balloons, birthday banners, streamers and presents. Three seemed like he was still a "little boy" but 4 feels so much older. Ely even said he "missed being 3" this morning!

 Although I have not been faithful at all with this blog, I've tried to document all of Ely's milestones throughout the years: one, two, three, and now four. It's more for my purposes than anything - trying not to forget all the nuances of his personality as it grows and changes. Trying to remember his interests, routines, favorites, and accomplishments, lest I ever forget.

At 4, Ely:
-- Is 40.5" tall (60th percentile) and weighs 40 pounds (75th percentile).

--Has his dad’s penchant for storytelling. He weaves elaborate tales which are always a healthy blend of truth and imagination. His vocabulary has never slowed down.

--Loves school. He goes every day to Berean Baptist Christian School in Rockford, which has an excellent pre-school program. He has been there since June 2012 and will be going into K-4 in May. The group of teachers there are fantastic and he has grown up so much since he started (a mixed blessing, of course). However, he does have a serious case of “the wiggle worms” as he calls them and has trouble staying in his seat…sounds like dad, right?!?

--Started gymnastics at the beginning of January. He goes to J&J Tumbling in Pecatonica, thanks to a Christmas gift of classes from Grandma and Pop. He’s been to 3 classes already and he loves the extra activity on these winter nights when we can’t get outside!

--Is learning to read. Ely knows most of his letter sounds, and can tackle three and four letter words and sound out each letter to put it all together. We’re just in the beginning stages, but every night at book time we have a little reading thrown in – it won’t be long now and definitely before kindergarten. His favorite books are anything and everything, but especially "Wacky Wednesday", the Little Critter series, Curious George, and anything with superheroes.

--Is learning to write. Thanks in part to school, Ely now can write all of his letters pretty consistently and numbers up to 15. I can ask him, “How do you spell [insert three letter word]?” and he will sound it out in his head and write it on paper. He also writes his name, “mama”, and “dad” a lot.

--Can count to 30 and beyond and recognize numbers up to 30. Reading the calendar to see what’s for lunch each day helps! J He can also count backwards from 10.

--Buttons his own pants and shirts, zips his jackets, and gets dressed and undressed all by himself, including shoes and coats.

--Uses scissors, sometimes better than I do. Something about men and their ability to use tools….

--Eats virtually nothing. Eating is always a struggle for him, unless its chocolate chip cookies. He does love chicken nuggets, yogurt, bananas, grapes, eggs and turkey sausage, cheese and crackers, spaghetti, pancakes, and peas and corn. Other things are a complete gamble day-to-day.

--Loves the Avengers and all things Marvel Comics. He has DVDs, books, t-shirts, action figures (even a couple rare ones we’ve had to buy on ebay so he can have a complete set), and even Captain America shoes. His favorite is the Incredible Hulk, because “Hulk is the strongest there is!” His 4^th birthday party tonight is Avengers-themed, and we’re going to Chuck E. Cheese with a few of his buddies from school.

--Has to have tubes in his ears. Again. His first pair fell out in June, just in time for swimming all summer long. But the ear infections and constant fluid started up again last fall, and the doctors recommend another set, plus an adenoidectomy. Hopefully this will be his last set! His surgery is the second week of February, so we are nervously awaiting a speedy recovery.

--Loves "stories and songs" and "huggies and kissies" every night before bed. We tell the story of our day or of past events, Daddy sings "the Ya-yo song" - a made-up song using Ely's nickname, and Mama sings "Goodnight my someone" from the Music Man or sometimes Christmas songs (his favorite is Hark the Herald Angels Sing). He sleeps with Daisy the Duck (not the Mickey one, the one from Jane Simmons stories), a penguin named "Penny", an assorted lot of other "guys" (his stuffed animals), and he has to say goodnight to his whinnying stick horse "Ginny" before turning out the lights.