Caleb Luke turned four years old on Sunday, July 8. We had a blast celebrating his birthday with him all weekend long. We went from a wonderful vacation to coming home and spending time at Chuck E. Cheese, which he calls "PBS Kids"; the park; McDonald's play land and other fun places which I will blog about separately. This year we decided to give him some one-on-one time rather than a big party because with his personality, he seems to thrive more in this environment than with a whole group.
On the Sunday of his birthday, we went out to lunch at JB Dawson's because we had a $15 gift card and kids eat free on Sundays. So, it was a nice date that was relatively inexpensive. While we were at the mall anyway, I asked if we could stop and get his pictures taken; and Shawn agreed. Unfortunately, I think we got the worst photographer that works there. He is SO bad with children! But, I didn't think the pictures were too terrible. Thankfully, Caleb was having a good day and just did his best to smile. Some of them were cheesy smiles rather than real ones, but that's okay at this age.
Caleb was super excited to turn four because he was allowed to start things like swim lessons and little ninjas at this age which he previously wasn't able to do until he was old enough. :)
On Wednesday, July 11, I took Caleb for his 4-year well-child check-up at Roseville Pediatrics with Dr. Tifft. His stats were:
Height: 3' 6" (86.69%)
Weight: 38 lbs (68.46%)
BMI: 17th percentile - anywhere from 5th to 85th is normal, so he's definitely on the "leaner" side as the doctor said, which is good.
While we were there, Caleb had his vision and hearing screened, and he did a great job with both. The doctor asked if he knew any letters yet and could count to three. I said of course, thinking he could probably subtract by threes and knows all the letters and their sounds, etc. As the doctor asked more questions, he told me how advanced Caleb is. I think we know that but at times we forget. He really is very sharp. Dr. Tifft asked when we'd be sending Caleb to Kindergarten. I said we'd normally lean toward holding him back, but we wanted to wait and see what his preschool teacher thinks. The doctor said we'd have a tough decision on our hands. He said he typically recommends that boys with summer birthdays start the following year, but Caleb is extremely advanced and not at all small for his age. He's also the second child so he should be more aggressive (meaning comfortable around other kids rather than the oldest being more timid). He said it will be a tough call, but with how advanced he is for his age, he could possibly be ready. He recommended waiting until next summer to make the call. I agreed.
The doctor asked Caleb to do some things then, and he asked him to say "three" twice. The first time Caleb said "free" (which I LOVE and have never corrected) but upon noticing the doctor hitting it again, he said it correctly. Dr. Tifft said his pronunciation was fine. He asked him to walk and said that he's extremely flat footed (just like his Daddy!) and cautioned that if ever complains of pain, we'll need to think about getting him shoes with arches for pronation (the exact opposite issue from what I have). But, for now, if he's not hurting then it's no big deal.
We still LOVE Caleb's sweet little voice. I truly must record it just to have as he gets older. The soft spoken and gentle tones when he's talking to us are absolutely melting to the heart. He asked for a snack the other week, and he told me when I said that I thought we were out "No, look in the COVERED." He meant cupboard but he says it 'covered.' Again, it's too adorable to correct. We ask him to say it more often now, just so we can hear it. The boys outgrow these things too quickly!
We've noticed Caleb becoming more accurate with how he colors (coloring easily within the lines now) and following directions on coloring with patterns or numbers. I also did a craft with them the other week, and he cut fairly straight lines on his own. I need to use scissors more often with the kids, I know.
Caleb loves music, and he's enjoying the Bible verses CD as much as Joshua. They each have their favorite songs, and it's fun to sing them together.
My sweet boy is a night owl. There are times that we go to bed and he's still awake in his bed. He struggles to fall asleep at night, and he doesn't always nap during the day. While Joshua is a morning person, I would say Caleb is more of a night person. Again, Caleb reminds me so much of his Daddy!
Caleb is much more aggressive than Joshua, even though he's shy. The kids were playing on a playground and a little boy blocked their path (Shawn was watching the kids at the time). The boy said "You can't go through to the slide!" to my kids. Joshua looked a little helpless at first, but Caleb gave the boy a shoulder to the gut and said "YES WE CAN!" as he slid down the slide. The boy moved out of the way so Joshua could slide too. Shawn said the boy wasn't at all hurt, and Caleb was just standing up for them. My little man has no fear in these situations!
Caleb loves to explore and try new things. He also loves to pull things apart and put them back together. I'm wondering if he'll be a surgeon or some sort of engineer when he's older - combining his extreme intelligence with his love for working with his hands. That said, sometimes he can get things back together and sometimes he can't. He pulled all the pieces to Joshua's Mario cart apart, to the point that I don't think any of us can fix it. He pulled two of the knobs off his dresser one morning (by unscrewing them) as he was getting dressed. Thankfully I caught him in the act after dressing Ryan or he might have had them all off!!!
Caleb is also at a very mischievous age. I think we let him push the limits more than we ever let Joshua. The doctor warned me that this in age of bad words, disrespect and pushing boundaries. It was a good reminder that we need to push back so that we can carefully discipline and bend his will, letting him know how much we love him while giving him solid guidelines of what's acceptable in our home and beyond. He challenges us!!! Especially because he's so darn cute with those freckles. But, disobedience is never cute.
Caleb's current favorite foods are "special noodles" (meaning noodles with no sauce, no butter, no nothing), blueberries, apples, apple sauce, waffles, cheerios, grilled cheese and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. He also loves goldfish and ICE CREAM!
We're currently trying to teach Caleb new skills like wiping himself, setting the table, taking his dishes to the dishwasher rather than just the sink, and helping clean up. I have been bad about just asking Joshua to help since he was the oldest, but I realized that it's time Caleb learns to have responsibilities too. At times he does really well, and at other times we need to stay right with him to ensure the task we've asked him to do has been completed before we move on.
Caleb has become very snuggley lately, and I LOVE it! He asks to cuddle in our bed and he'll tell us when it's time to cuddle. :) :) :)
Caleb is also getting really good at the Wii. I'm impressed with how much his coordination and understanding have improved over these past months. He LOVES it! He also loves to play games on the iPad and iPod like Flow and Angry Birds. His favorite thing, though, is one-on-one time. For his birthday, he asked if we could play Mater Trouble as a family (which we did), and he played Guess Who with Daddy. He asked me to play Puzzle Buzz books together, which we did, along with Memory. He soaks in time we spend with just him. And we love it, too! It's great to have time with each individual son to encourage them and pour into their little hearts. I think one of Caleb's love languages is quality time. :)
Happy 4th birthday, my little love!
And to all of you who helped us celebrate Caleb's four years, we say:
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