HAPPY 4th Birthday!

Today is a big day for my eldest son! Mark turns 4 YEARS OLD TODAY!

WOW! Where has the time gone? I can’t believe I have a 4 year old!

I am not sure why 4 has hit me so hard. I am feeling way more nostalgic than the 2nd or 3rd birthdays. (insert a long sigh)…maybe I am starting to really see that ‘toddler phase’ in our review mirror. I am very much excited about the big boy phase in our future, but its like a closing of a chapter I wasn’t quite mentally prepared for. But ready or not…MARK IS FOUR!!!

Mark and I on our recent vacation.

Top Ten Things about FOUR year old Mark

1. He is such a good big brother. He lights up Maddox’s world. He lets Maddox pull his hair and ears. They communicate on a different brotherly level that is too precious to watch! He is learning how to distract and replace toys so that Maddox won’t touch his ‘important toys’ but not snatching things away from him. Its a fine art really. I can tell this brother things is going to be soooo great!

2. We are about 50% on the potty training. #1–we have almost down 100%, #2 is a nightmare! Between constipation issues and embarrassment, I am just hoping we can get this kid figured out by Christmas!  (*I know he is 4 and he should be potty trained by now..don’t judge! This kid is a different breed!)

Mark was REALLY into the sand at the beach!

3. He still loves trains! He loves most cartoons, KET or any movie Disney has produced, but Thomas is still the go-to guy! Trains of any kind are great. We don’t discrimminate with Chuggington or the good old generic old school train that roles thru Shelbyville. If we hear or see a train, this boy is tellin’ you about it!

Mark thinks his big cousin Ashton hangs the moon!

4. Speaking about trains…..Mark’s speech is completely different than it was 6 months ago. He has finally come around in his own time. At times he is hard to understand. But daily he is pulling out words that surprise everyone around him.

5. Mark marches to his own drummer. I hope this continues. I don’t want him to be a follower. Especially if the people he is following aren’t making the right choices, but for the most part, he doesn’t always do what all the other kids are doing.

6. Mark loves technology. Reason # 587 he is like his Daddy. Mark is obsessed with Bernie’s iPod Touch. He wants to watch Youtube video’s constantly! Youtube Videos of other kids playing with Thomas of course! If we let him, I really believe he would watch that iPod touch 20 hours a day!

7. Meltdown Mark is still around the corner. At any moment, the rollercoster of emotions can pop off and Mark is a crying puddle on the floor. Sometimes we can reason him thru his issue, sometimes we can’t and he has to spend some alone time in his room. He usually can regroup pretty quickly. But I am really hoping this Emotional Stage starts fading away during this 4th year of life. (which I am sure will return for the teenage years!)

8. Mark is a smart little boy. I know I am his Momma, so I am biased. But he is really starting to pick up on things. He completely understands when the ‘battery has died’ on the iPod touch and needs to be ‘fixed’ or recharged. He is VERY quick to apologize after he has done something he isn’t suppose to. He is also very quick to talk to Daddy after Momma tells him no.

Mark's 1st day on the beach!

9. Mark loves his friends he has at our office childcare. He talks about Lana, Makray, Jackson, Laney, Riley, Avery and Gina alot! Their names come out like, “Anas, Kray, Jackson, Waney, Wiwey, Avery and Gina”. He tells me when they get in trouble, when they are ‘sad’. He actually even tells me when he gets in time out. Which really cracks me up! I wonder how long he will continue to tell on himself. It’s so funny!

10. Mark is VERY independent. He is now taking showers. Really he takes a half bath, half plays with the detachable shower head. But either way, he insists I leave the room and close the shower curtain. He also doesn’t want me present to brush his teeth or when he puts on his clothes (about half the time–which usually results on his underwear on backwards, but that’s ok, right?! lol)

Granddaddy, Maddox and Mark on the beach at HHI!