The Big 4

Today our Little Garrett turned 4. He's a handful that Garrett and full of all kinds of crazy ideas to get into trouble with, but we just love that little critter to pieces! When we went in and told him today was his birthday and he was four now he got so excited and said, "Now I can have scissors!!" Uh, no dear you can wait till Kindergarten for those. I saw what he did at Nanny's house with a pair of scissors. ;+)

He's beyond stubborn! Slowly but surely we're winning one battle then another; it's exhausting. The latest battle has been going pee in the potty. He knows how to and can do it, he just didn't want to take the time. FRUSTRATING...and pull ups are expensive. I know lots of people say just put them straight into underwear. The problem with that is the pee of a male person all over the house that a male dog lives in. The last thing I need is to be cleaning up pee from my little male person then later finding pee from my little male dog "re-marking" said territory. The little male dog predates our little male people and our marriage....so obviously this little marking ones territory didn't even come to mind back in the day.

We've tried everything we could think of to motivate him, cheers, money, candy, Popsicles, charts, time out for going in his pants, a single swat for going in his pants, nothing phased him. Every time I'd find him in a wet pull up he'd yell, "IT WASN'T ME, SOMEONE ELSE PEED IN MY PULL UP!" Strange thing, I didn't buy it.

Several weeks ago we were eating dinner and the conversation turned to peeing in the potty. (what is it with boys and talking about bathrooms, etc at the table?) That Stephen of mine is a quick thinker he looked that boy straight in the eye and told him, "You know 4 year olds that pee in pull ups have their bottoms fall off. You're almost 4 you better start peeing in the potty."
Gabriel didn't believe it, but Garrett did. ;+) He had an immediate improvement in the rate pee got into the potty. A couple days ago he said he was ready for underwear. We made a huge deal out of it and reminded him NO peeing in underwear. He looked at me so seriously and said, "4 year olds that wear pull ups have their bottoms get loose then when they pee in pull ups their bottoms FALL OFF!" I agreed whole heartedly. He's had a couple accidents, but it doing pretty well. He even made it through pre-school with underwear on. Such a nice development. I had figured with the 3 year break between he and Lincoln I'd only have one in diapers. I've been a little annoyed at one in diapers and one in pull ups...STILL. We're ecstatic with his willingness to be a big boy.

He is a dinosaur these days. He likes to make naughty choices at pre-school then say it wasn't him but the dinosaur. His sweet, but firm, teacher is really good about not allowing that kind of stuff to go on. Fortunately, he's settled on being an omnivore so we can usually convince him that dinosaurs eat whatever is currently sitting on his plate.

He's picking up lots of things Gabriel brings home from school. The most recent is "Eyes on the side better to hide, eyes in the front better to hunt." He says is over and over and over and over and you get the idea. He is also really good at memorizing songs. We got him to sing a really cute cowboy song and let us record it the other day.

That little mind of his is going 100 mph all the time. I've had a couple of Gabriel's former teachers comment that, "Garrett isn't quite as aggressive as Gabriel, but seems to really have a lot of energy." Yes he does. The key to his success in school will be getting all the energy harnessed...somehow. We've got no idea how to do that, but have another year to figure it out.

He loves being in Sunbeams this year. I've helped out in his class quite a bit. All I have to say is I need a nap when we get out. I don't know how these kids manage to learn anything when they are all over like an ant hill, but they do. He likes to remind us to "choose the right".

He and Lincoln are getting better and better at figuring out how to meet in the middle to play. Lincoln is getting scrappier and Garrett is getting a little more gentle. They come up with really cute games together. He's pretty protective of his little brother.

He's growing up fast. He looks just like Stephen did as a kid and I pray he grows into the same kind of honest, hard working, worthy man his dad is.

Happy Birthday my Little Garrett...stop growing up so fast it makes me feel old. ;-) We love you sweet boy!