What 4 years old means. . .

What does it mean to be a 4 year old Chase and Owen? Well . . .

It means they are more independent.  I'm amazed at how long they can play by themselves or with each other (most of the time with each other).  I can hear them talking to each other, talking to their animals and playing make believe.  They love their stuffed animals and will play "house" with them, they get sick and bring the animals to the doctor (me).  They are independent in putting their shoes on (most of the time) and can get dressed but it takes FOREVER!  They still "announce" each time they need to go to the bathroom and run there.  Then when they are done they yell, "All done Mommy/Daddy!" 

Bedtime is a rigamarole.  I'm sure it is for everyone.  We go upstairs after gathering all the favorite toys of the day and blankies.  This takes about 10 minutes.  When we get upstairs there is a short game of hide and seek in which Jeff and I remind them that it's time to get ready for bed, not play.  We get jammies on, brush teeth (after chasing some more and sometimes hold them down), go to the bathroom and pick out 2 books.  We sometimes read on Owen's bed but most of the time Chase's and his room continues to be "home base".  The boys love to read and really listen well once we start reading.  Sometimes they don't like the book we chose and say, "Don't like this book".  Then we ask who wants Daddy.  Daddy then takes a boy to bed and does a little routine including, "high five, up high, in middle, down low, and bump it".  Mommy takes the other boys, scratches their back and sings, "Sunshine, Mommy Loves You, and sometimes Maker."  We pray and talk about our day then I give kisses and hugs and blow a kiss at the door. If any part of the routine is missed they let us know.  :)

They stay in bed pretty well.  I would say they have been out of bed 4 times total.  Once we were watching TV and I heard this clapping sound.  I turned around and they were standing in the toy room trying to get our attention! They think they are so cute (and they are) so it's hard not to smile and laugh.  They really do go to bed great! 

In the morning we wake to, "All done bed!" screamed very loudly from their rooms.  They still do not get out of bed on their own-which we LOVE!  We have "omeal" with honey and "bimins" (oatmeal and vitamins) each morning. 

They are fairly good eaters-eating most veggies and fruits.  However they are not real meat eaters and don't really care for grains.  We sometimes have to do some bribing to get them to eat. :)

They love all things boy-cars, trucks, crashing, swords, fighting, jumping, making a mess and yelling.  They are very curious about life and love to touch everything to see what happens.  Behavior overall continues to be really good.  They are loving kind little boys who love to have fun and laugh.  Of course we get the occasional disobedience, whining (which is the biggest problem), hitting, yelling.  They really don't like it when their brother yells at them-oh man, there is a crying fit if that happens.

They are wearing size 3T pants-4T falls right off.  They can wear 3 or 4 T shirts, though.

Chase and Owen know all letters and sounds and have for some time now-we can count to 20-40 depending on the day-missing 15 along the way.  Their language has developed so much in the past year that I'm amazed.  The other night in bed Jeff was having them name all the pictures in a book and they knew them all!  Some, I had no idea they knew.  They love to read books!  They love to explore the world and look at bugs and animals.  Bugs are a favorite for sure! 

They have remained best friends!  When we play with other kids I need to remind them to include the other child because they are so happy with each other. In big groups of kids they stick together and Owen tends to need to know where Chase is at all times.

They are really really fast runners and are pretty coordinated, jumping, galloping, standing on one foot, etc. Owen is for sure more clumsy that Chase (just like his Mommy) and tends to get hurt more.

They love to sing songs-making up their own words.  They love to dance and Chase can't help himself-when he hears music his body just starts moving.  They really love dancing to Jeff's guitar playing.

The boys love church!  We tell them it's time to go and they yell, "Church!" It's so great.  They learn wonderful things there and are so well cared for.  They are starting to pray for things on their own and know the story of Jesus and how and why He died for us.  We were just reading about it a few days ago.  I said, "Why did Jesus die?"  Owen responded, "Because he loves us!"  Yes, Owen YES! 

I'm so proud of my boys and their development, their personalities and how kind and loving they are to all.  God blessed us greatly.