Brandon is 4 years old today!
He weighs 43.6 lbs and is 42 inches tall. This means Brandon is wearing size 5/6 tops and size 5 bottoms. He wears a size 12 shoe too!! Brandon seems to do okay without an afternoon nap. He seems to be right on the brink of skipping them, as we are finding he seems to have a harder time falling asleep at night if he naps. We are alternating naps each day to slowly help him transition out of napping. At night Brandon likes the comfort of knowing Mommy or Daddy are close by — so I usually read my book in our room for a while until Brandon has fallen asleep (and I have to admit a lot of nights, I will lay with both Owen and Brandon for a few minutes until they settle – they won’t be asking me to do that for much longer, so….).
Brandon is more up for trying new foods but he still has his staple go to foods — pasta of any kind (but usually no sauce), egg scrambled or poached (just like Mom) and of course strawberries and raspberries, cucumber, carrots and broccoli. Vanilla is still Brandon’s favorite flavor – yogurt, cake and ice cream (just like Dad).
Brandon gets frustrated easily but is slowly learning how to voice his concerns, instead of hitting, yelling and crying. It’s got to be tough trying to keep up with a big brother like Owen. Brandon loves to pick out his clothes and dress himself; most often the shirt ends up backwards…but he tells us he likes it that way! Mr.Independent. Brandon is quite a funny boy. He loves attention and will do most anything to get a smile, a laugh, a giggle from anyone — and this just eggs him on. Brandon loves to dance and be silly to music. Some of Brandon’s favorite tv shows are Special Agent OSO, Handy Many, Shrek, The Incredibles and Tangled.
Brandon is at the daycare this year without Owen. He has moved to the Pre-Kinder room; the room that will help him learn all that he needs to learn to prepare him for Kindergarten next year. It’s been a bigger transition that either Dad or I thought it would be. The place didn’t change, the teachers and friends didn’t change, just his brother isn’t around. Dad and I didn’t expect that to be as big of a deal as it has been. The drop offs are a little tougher, as Brandon feels more alone in the mornings without his brother (even though his friends are all there). But after a few minutes Brandon is off playing with his friends –swimming, music, baking, counting, library time, gymnasium time and nature walks.
Brandon did one last session of gymnastics this past year and in the spring played outdoor soccer. The soccer was a hit, Brandon loved chasing for the ball and running with it — the only thing was trying to explain to Brandon that we share the ball with our teammates but not with the other team. This fall Brandon, with his brother Owen, will start playing ice hockey. This is a big step for the whole family, but we are all looking forward to the new experience.
Brandon loves playing bad guy and good guy — so army men (complete with the jeeps, tanks, helicopters and guns), superhero’s (Spider-man, Batman and Thor), police men and fire men are his favorite thing to play with these days. Brandon still loves building and fixing things – so the tools, construction trucks and men as always a hit. Brandon really really loves dressing up as a fireman, policeman, cooking in the kitchen or building forts to keep the monsters away. And this year he got a new dress up outfit — SWAT! Now how perfect was that!?
Brandon’s birthday party was Lego City theme with a bouncy house at his Aunty’s house this year.