You're Four

My Dearest Joshua,

I hope that when you get to be a young man you look back and know that I have loved you so very much. From the minute I found out I was pregnant with you my world was full of so much joy. You have so much life and energy in you. I love listening to all of your stories, whether they be tall tales or not. Your imagination keeps me seeing the world through your young eyes and makes me remember what it was like to be small again. The love that you show others is beyond your four years old, but I am so glad you have such a big heart. You are a smart little boy and when you set your heart on achieving something you will keep trying until you accomplish it.

My dream for you is that you will be a fine young man as you continue to grow.

I love you always,
Mommy

Bike Riding

Now that we live on the farm and don't have easy access to paved roads, sidewalks, or a concrete driveway like most people that live in a subdivision...it has taken Joshua quite a while to master the bike riding thing. My older sister, Auntie Sissy, sent him a tricycle when he was two. Let's just say it sat for a very, very long time without being touched because he couldn't muster up enough strength to push it through the grass and dirt on our property. Last month  we built a 12' x 12' porch. I brought the tricycle up onto the porch for him to try there. He started mastering the peddling quite quickly. I loaded the tricycle up into the back of my car and took him to the Play for All Abilities park in Round Rock, which has a little village for the kids to play in that looks just like a little town, complete with street signs, lights, a hospital, fire station, grocery store, school, library, car dealership, gas station, and little home. He really got going on the little streets there. Nana saw the video and before we knew it we had a brand new big boy bike show up. It took him another week to master the peddling of that since he couldn't peddle backwards. Now he is a pro...he still struggles when we go down our street since it is a dirt road with a lot of rocks, pot holes, and dirt that get in the way of those little tires spinning. We load up the bike and take it to the park as much as possible and he zooms around like a pro. Just yesterday he had the bike going around and around in circles on the porch. He is getting so big and at this rate he'll have the training wheels off in no time at all.

Here is Joshua riding around on his tricycle

And then a week later here he is on his big boy bicycle.

For Papa

Recently, Papa was in the hospital, so Joshua and I sat down and put a poem by Patsy Gaut down the center then we painted his feet and stamped them next to the poem. It fit so well, because it's talking about walking with Grandpa.

Stuffed Toy Storage

I can't keep the toys in a toy box because Joshua tends to forget what toys he has to play with so I decided to get some hanging flower baskets to hand on the wall. I am thinking of getting a second one to hang below this one to hold Matthew's stuffed toys. I love the way it gives the area a very open feel. Since by next year this room will be just the play room I liked the storage idea of it.

 After getting the basket up

All the toys easily reachable

With the toys

Pre-School

I may have found a Pre-School or two for Joshua to start next fall. Why so late you ask? Well, Joshua won't be 5 until the end of November 2013 so he will miss getting into Kindergarten at our local elementary school. I do not believe he needs more than a year of prep time. He is an extremely smart child and is very bright, but needs some time learning directions from someone other than Mom and Dad. He will go Tuesday and Thursday mornings only. I am a stay at home mom and do not feel that him going to school longer than that is necessary. It would defeat the purpose of being home.
My search has been quite difficult. I'm rather picky about where I am going to be sending my son for school. You see...I DO NOT want my son to go to a daycare/school. I do not want him where there are babies. I want him where most if not all of the children are potty trained. I want a school learning setting. I know this seems rather harsh, but if I had needed to go back to work after he was born a Daycare/School setting would have been fine, but he has been able to be home with me for his daily care needs and now it is time for his School needs. That is why I am rather picky about where I am sending him.
My two choices are specific pre-school Schools. They only have children there from 2-5yrs of age. No babies. It is not an all day daycare system. I am rather pleased and will most likely go and see them to see which one will be better suited to our son and his ever growing curiosity, this fall since he won't start until next fall.

What Do I Do?

If you've been following along with Joshua's blog from the beginning then you know about our sleep issues with him. For almost two months he's been sleeping in his own bed, in his room. Well, this past weekend he's been begging to come to our bed. I refused to give in (Yeah for me) but we still ended up a couple of times a night.

Today I removed the TV and DVD player from his room. We worked really hard to get him to sleep in his bed, but it took letting him watch a cartoon until he fell asleep and we would go shut it off, just to have him wake up a few hours later wanting it back on. Last night I literally sat in a corner of his room and eventually fell asleep on the floor myself in order to get him to sleep in his bed and room without the TV on. It took THREE HOURS.

So, what am I supposed to do? I don't know if I can handle sitting on the floor or sleeping on it for that matter just to get him to stay in his bed and go to sleep. As I've said in the past it can be 10pm or later before he falls asleep. I'm really working on getting him down at a decent hour, like 8pm at the latest so that Raul and I can have some time to ourselves on occasion, but rarely happens because even if Joshua is asleep by 8pm so is Daddy because he has to get up at 3:30am to get ready for work.

I hope the removal of the TV and DVD helps and he stays in his bed and goes to sleep. We'll just have to see how long this takes to kick in. I want to be able to tell him to go to sleep, tuck him in, leave the room, and know that he will stay put and go to sleep.

Mail Time!!!

Joshua loves to get mail. I have asked friends to send him postcards from where ever they visit or live. He gets a National Geographic Explorer Kids magazine every other month as well. He gets occasional letters from his Nana & Papa in California so I thought...why not get him his own mailbox.

All I can find is the black ones at the store. Not very much fun for my little imaginative boy. So, today I took it off the wall, took it outside and blasted it with blue and green spray paint.

Before

After

Getting his mail from friends

Some Updates

I've realized I haven't done some updates to previous posts in quite a while. So, here we go...

1. Joshua was day potty trained within three days and night potty trained within a month. We do still have the rare accident, but that is bound to happen. Also, many moms have told me that the potty training process is not complete until the child can pull down and up his/her pants...well, Joshua can do this and quite well. Also, he is now pretty much standing to do his peeing so no need to take his pants off completely so he can straddle the toilet. I am so proud of him and how quickly he did it. Especially since I didn't wait around until HE was ready...I did it when I was ready. He was almost 2.5yrs old at the time and I was tired of changing his diapers. He did it and never looked back.
2. We have gone two days straight of Joshua sleeping the entire night in his bed. I mean the entire night...does not come to our bedroom at two in the morning...he sleeps in his bed all night. When I asked him why he was such a big boy yesterday at breakfast he said, "I'm a big boy because I slept in my bed all night long!"
3. "The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses" by John Breeding is now becoming my latest book to be read. A sister in the hall mentioned it to me and suggested I read it. She said her oldest was a crazy child (very much as I feel Joshua is...his name is also Joshua) and she said it puts a lot of things into perspective for you and helps you to handle your "wild colt". Because let's face it, not all of us have perfectly docile children to contend with so I am hoping that my "wild colt" will grow to be a "wonderful horse".

Letters

I finally got around to doing Joshua's letters. I painted them when he was 3mths old and had little animals attached to them. This time around I removed the animals and decopauged the letters with Scrapbook paper that was wester/farm themed. They look really cute and can't wait to get the painting done in the room so it will look more complete.

Before

After

My Little Gardner

Joshua is going to be quite a little gardner. We bought these little pots at Lowe's and Joshua picked out a Pumpkin and a Watermelon. He planted the seeds and about two weeks later the Pumpkin had really grown.

He's holding the Pumpkin after having it growing for three weeks. He loves his SpongeBob gloves.

Some Answers

At Matthew's pediatric appointment today I managed to ask the doctor about Joshua. He wouldn't sit still and was running all over the exam room and just going crazy. I asked him if this was normal behavior for a three year old since the only experience I have with other three year olds (or close there of) is with children that are clingy, whiny, aren't adventurous, or willing to be further than three feet from his/her parents. Joshua on the other hand is wild...he will not stay near me for the most part and will take off to sites unseen on a whim. He is not afraid of anything and has absolutely no fear. We've also had serious sleep issues since he was an infant. Well, the pediatrician looked at me and said...there are two types of three year olds...those that don't require much because their energy level is lower and then there are those that require a lot because they have an over abundance of energy. His advice...have him do jumping jacks, lunges, squats, walk four miles a day (not in a stroller...him walking), until he's ready to just about puke. Sounds harsh, right? Well, I have a child with an over abundance of energy. It can be 10pm and he is still going strong and will be awake at 5:30am ready to face the day. He is always on the go, so I figure we will be hitting either the back acres or when the weather really gets nice...the park after Daddy gets home and I'll have him walk/run the track with me...maybe he can start doing the jumping jacks, squats, and lunges with me for my morning workouts. Maybe then our bedtime routine will start working and he'll fall asleep at a decent hour and in his own bed. I think I will start tomorrow...it's the 1st of February and I will do it for a month and see how he changes over time with the activity that will wear him out as the pediatrician advised. Mind you...if your child is one with an abundance of energy...ask your pediatrician before doing this. Each child is different and may require something else. Everyone always mentioned ADD and that he probably needs meds...when it very well could be just way more activity so lets start there and see what the pediatrician says when I take Matthew back in April. I can let him know if anything has changed with Joshua.

I Spy With My Little Eye...

Auntie Sissy loves to hit up Aunties Book Store in Spokane and buy Joshua books. I love that she finds different ones that not every kid on the block will have. So, Joshua loves this book and we pulled the camera out to let him read it to us rather than us reading it to him. I read the larger words describing the animal, but for the most part he read the book all by himself.