Fox | 4 Year Update

Height and Weight:
At his 4 year check up, he weighed 36lbs (54%) and measured 41.75 inches (82%). He really grew in height this year, almost 4 inches!

Health:

School germs are the worst! I feel like Fox has been sick so many times in the last year. He also got strep twice (never had it before), threw up because of it for the first time in probably two years and had lots of fevers and colds. I don't know how other parents do it, but when he gets sick, he's usually out of school for the entire week, which means I'm out of work.

But we feel grateful that those illnesses is all he had in the last year, and nothing serious and also no broken bones. We are planning on getting him tested for his allergies again soon, since the last test was two years ago. 

Nicknames:

Foxy, Pumpkin, Honey, My Love, Poodle

Eating:

Picky, picky, picky. I still hate feeding him. He is the king of snacks. Nuff said. 

Sleeping:

He has developed a new fear about being left alone at night. He will do anything to postpone bedtime ("I'm hungry!", "Watch me drink water", "I'm scared", "Can you come in here?") and some nights are a struggle. We always tell him that each of us will come in his room one time when he calls us, but that's it. We leave the nightlight on, leave the door open with the hallway light on and we are literally in the next room over, but he still claims he is scared. 
He goes to bed anywhere between 7 and 7:30pm, some nights he will fall right asleep, some nights he will be up for up to 45 minutes. Most of the last year, we had to wake him up for school at 7:45 am, but with it being summer now and the sun rising super early, he has been getting up earlier too some days. 
He used to sleep through the night just perfectly, but lately he has been waking up and calling us in the middle of the night ("I'm hot!", "I'm cold", "Tuck me in", "I had a bad dream", "Watch me drink water!"). It's been a struggle with me being sick and tired for so long and Katie isn't too thrilled about these nightly wake-ups either. I hope it's just a phase (and it doesn't happen every night either, maybe once or twice a week), because we will have a newborn soon and be up all night already!

Potty Training:

Still pull ups at night and not really an end in sight. We could go cold turkey, but honestly I'm way too tired to be dealing with nightly potty training right now and our pediatrician said not to worry about it for now and wait until he wakes up dry naturally. We'll have to see what happens. 

Clothing:

3T & 4T Pants, 4T and 5T Shirts and Size 9 Shoes. 

Social:

A lot of my friends that don't see Fox on a regular basis have commented that he is so different than he used to be. Once shy and quiet, he will now talk your ear off about anything and everything. 
He loves his friends at school and made three "best friends" over the last year: Dylan, Lyndon and Philip. We had a hard transition into summer camp last year and he would cry every day when I dropped him off, but that didn't last very long and he has loved school ever since. 
His temperament depends on who he is with, if Grandpa is around then they will both bounce off the walls, they even call themselves "The wild bunch". 
Some days we still have to remind him to say "please" and "thank you", but I'm always proud when he says it by himself, i.e. when the police officer at school holds the door open for us. 
Since he is in school so much during the day, he really enjoys staying home when he can. 
I would say that he is a very kind, sweet and loving little boy. Like every child he will test his boundaries and doesn't always want to do what we tell him to do (like when it's time to get ready for bed or clean up his toys), but overall he is a very good listener and awesome kid! 
He now knows how to negotiate in order to get what he wants and he cracks us up every single day with the things he says. He loves to be the center of attention!

Funny Phrases:

Just a few things I wrote down during the last year that I want to remember…!

May 2017

Me: Think about something happy when you go to sleep!

Fox: I will think about you!

Life with a 3yr old: 

Fox wants to play with the toilet paper roll. I explain that we need to wait until the roll is empty before we can play with it.

He says: "Mama...I wanted to make the day special (by playing with the roll), and you just ruined my day. Now it's going to be a plain day!"

June 2017

"Mama, I always take care of you because I like you!"

"Mama, I like your hands. I like your hair too. And I like my penis!"

July 2017

"One day, when I have my green car, I will take mommy for a ride and I will drive careful. And be fast poke!"

"Mama, I'm so proud of you because you like owls!"

“Mama, I love you because you are really good and kind. I like you too!”

Fox and I were taking a bath together...he says:

"Hey, where's your penis?" I explain the different body parts on men and women, to which he replies:

"Girls have ginas?"

September 2017

"You're a beef cake!" (to Katie)

"Get away from me beeves!"

"The lunch mommy packed me was stoops!"

October 2017

"I’m going to marry grandpa and for my wedding present I’m going to get toys!"

“Mama, you clean up the toys while I get new ones for us to play with. That’s called teamwork!”

November 2017

"Slow down lady, you’re driving way too fast!" (to me, who always drives super slow)

"Don’t even come in here because it reeks!" (after he pooped)

I said "let me look at you" after doing his hair, he turns around and says “adorable”.

I asked: "What makes you happy?" He replies: "Being with you!"

Me: "Why did you wake up so early?" Fox: "Because Mommy wanted me to watch TV!"

Morning conversation with Fox:

Me: "Did you know Christmas is Jesuses birthday?" (We don’t really teach about Jesus or are religious so I was curious if he knew from school or grandma)

Fox: "Who is Jesus? I’m not going to his birthday, because I don’t know him. Well...is Dylan going to go?"

December 2017

"Mama, it’s really hard sometimes to be good all the time!"

We see a fart machine at Target. He says: "I don’t need that, my booty already makes that sound!"

January 2018

"Mama, I want to kiss your belly because I love the baby!"

Me: "Look how big my belly is from the baby!" Fox: "No, that’s just food!" (he did have a point!)

Fox kissed my belly. He said “I love the baby”....”but only if it’s a boy”

February 2018

Fox tells me him and Mommy (Katie) have super powers. I said I do too, I’m growing a baby in my belly. He said: "That’s not a very good power because the baby makes you sick all the time!" 

March 2018

I told Fox that I forgot something. He said: “That’s because you’re old. You’re losing your memory!”

"I'm tired. I don't want to go through another day like this."

April 2018

Watching a pampers commercial with a newborn and he says: "Look mama...awww! Pretty cute!"

"It's hard work if there's only one mommy or mama at home. It's hard work because there's only one watching me!"

Fox and I went to Hobby Lobby and I told him he could only pick out one thing. He picked a rainbow necklace, but then sees a pirate hook and in the most pathetic tone he says: "I guess it's time to say goodbye to the necklace...It's such a hard choice!"

Likes:

Being the center of attention, watching TV or playing iPad, playing with Grandpa, bossing us around, Legos, sleeping in Hotel Rooms, Disneyland & Legoland, going to school, being silly, toy stores, Snacks, playing Hide and seek, playing with friends, Urban Jungle (Play Place), swimming, imaginative play, book time with Mama, playing with Aunt Ashlie, Ketchup, In N Out French Fries, making people laugh, buying toys, fake diamonds and other play jewelry

Dislikes:

Trying new foods, washing his hair, when he gets water in his eyes, not being in charge, bedtime, helping with chores or cleaning up toys, when he doesn't get what he wants, going to the doctor