Titus: 4 year update

Dear Titus,

At 4 years old...

• You weigh 33 pounds, measure 37 inches tall and wear 3T clothes (pants are still too long and your waist it tiny!)
• You go to bed around 8:15/8:30 but don't usually fall asleep until 9:00. You wake up around 6:30 most days, but know to stay in your room until your OK to Wake alarm light comes on at 7:00.
• When daddy is singing the same song over and over again you say, "Daddy, sewiouswy!" (which is also something mommy says)
• You start most sentence with "how abouuuuttt..." Or "Hey, I have an idea!"

• You say, "oh, c'mon!" to a lot of things, mostly inanimate objects ("oh, cmon blocks! Stand up already!")
• "being funny" is a big thing for you. After you knock over a tower or jump off a stair you will say, "was that funny?"
• When school was out for Spring Break you were pretty devastated. Lately you have become really interested in compost/gardening and recycling because you learned about them at school
• You really struggle with bedtime and naptime and not wanting to go to sleep, but we have started using a timer to let you know when it is time to go to bed and that has helped a lot
• You love watching videos in Spanish
• You are SO competitive. Everything is about winning right now 
• When you and Daddy build with the Jenga blocks you always request him to make the "Entire State Building"
• You say that everything hurts. Putting on your shirt, getting your hair washed, taking shoes off...
• You really like to mess with Haddie which drives me crazy. You just get in her space and make noises or poke her or whatever buttons you know she would hate having pushed
• You are SO literal. You had a book parade at school where everyone dresses up like a book character and you said that couldn't happen because it's not Halloween (then told me you wanted to be a TV for Halloween). You were also really thrown off by your birthday party being on April 2nd but your actual birthday not being until the 10th
• You run through the house yelling, "look! I'm running adagio!" (The word for "fast tempo" you learned from Little Einsteins)
• Your favorite excuse for getting out of bed is "I need to tell you something." This often happens at 5:30/6am and you are either 1) still half asleep and talking about your dream ("Haddie ate my sausage roll. I left it on the table and then she ate it all gone!!!") or just something you make up so you don't have to go back to sleep ("I had to blow my nose, here's my Kleenex")
• You're really into "forever" right now. "Will I be in timeout forever? Is Brooks going home forever? Will daddy be at work forever?"
• You are a savorer. It takes you 4 bites to finish a single m&m. 
• You are the justice police, constantly going around getting other kids in trouble for breaking rules or making other kids cry
• You nap 3-4 days a week, but on the days you don't nap, you do a good job of making up pretend games in your bed with your pillows and stuff animals
• You still get overstimulated and need quiet time to calm down. When something isn't working right or you don't get your way you still get very emotional and it's hard to get you to take a breath and listen. But once you calm down it's much easier to communicate.
• You respond really strong to other's people's emotions. You don't really care if I threaten to get you in trouble for disobeying, but if I tell you your bad choices are hurting my feelings or look like I'm going to cry you immediately change your behavior and come give me a hug and apologize.
• "How does _____ work?" is a big thing for you right now. How does breathing work? How do germs work? How does water work in your body? How do toots work? How do cars work? How does running work? How does the sun work?

One of the biggest changes in you over the last few months is how rough you are! You are always wanting to wrestle or tackle or jump around. You say that your favorite thing to do with Daddy is to wrestle and your favorite thing to do with Mommy is to cuddle. That's the way I like it! Save the rough housing for when Daddy gets home. Sometimes you try to do it with Haddie, too (it's not a surprise for me to hear her crying and come in the room to find out you tried to take her out at the knees). Sometimes you just growl or roar for no reason, just because you have too much energy and aggression built up. That's when I bundle you up and send you outside! On the other hand, you are still a major softie, too. You are so sweet to tell us how much you love us and ask to cuddle throughout the day. You also give hugs to almost anyone who walks in the door! Your stories are endless and you are funny without meaning to be. Your stubborness can be tiring sometimes, but we are praying that it will make you a great leader some day. We are so proud to be your mommy and daddy. I love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond, forever and ever!