Ethan 4 year old

What a difference a year makes. In the last couple of weeks I have seen such a change in Ethan's confidence as he embarks on new situations. Last year the start of swimming lessons and preschool  brought about a great deal of stress. Both for him and for me. There were lots of tears and lots of convincing we had to do. This year he is moving to a new preschool (one that is just across the street from our house) and it's been awesome watching him transition into the new setting. In the summer he still kept insisting that he didn't want to go to his new school, but something in the last couple of weeks has just clicked and this new attitude has helped with not only preschool, but swimming lessons and Chinese school. He even confirmed with me tonight that he would like me to register him for skating lessons this fall instead of, "Maybe when me 5." (His usual answer to trying a new activity). So exciting!

 Since his 3 year old update, Ethan has changed in other ways too. He has definitely developed his own voice and it's so fun to see his cheeky side. Well, most of the time, it's fun to see this side. He is definitely coming to conclusions on his own now and seeing the look on his face when he puts 2 and 2 together is awesome. During play with Maddy he is now voicing his own thoughts and ideas instead of just following along with his sister. This does cause a bit more friction between the two of them, but it's nice to see him come up with ideas on his own too.

There are some areas that Ethan still likes to be just like Maddy. His favourite colours are still purple and pink. And he still claims that what he wants to be when he grows up is, "What Maddy is". At his last visit to the dentist, the hygeinist made a point to tell me, "Just so you know, Ethan chose this toothbrush himself." (She pointed to the pink coloured toothbrush) I had to laugh because as I looked at the toothbrush, all I could think was 'That's my Ethan!' I have to say that I haven't seen him come out of the playroom in the purple ballgown in a long while, so I think we are slowly moving in the right direction.

In the speech department, he is definitely using more complex patterns. He can really go into details while trying to explain something to me. Sometimes I still don't get it and I'll have to tell him so. This often makes him sad and he'll reply, "Yes, you do!" as though he can just will me into understanding. One speech pattern that I find really endearing is his use of the word 'actually'. He uses it all the time. "Achilly mama, I'm just getting woa woa cuz she crying for me" or "Mama, achilly I'm stwill, stwill hungry."

During playtime and especially when we play board games his sense of fair play is really improving. Tonight I was playing Candyland and the poor kid was sent backwards 3 different times when he pulled the Mr. Mint, the gum drop dude and the Lolly. He took it all in stride and just kept playing. Then we played Trouble and he sent me home 3 times. On the 4th time I pleaded with him to take a new man out (he rolled a 6) instead of knocking his poor mother out for the another time. He smiled a shy, sympathetic little smile as he said, "Don't worry mama, just a game."

HE LEARNED TO BLOW HIS NOSE!!! How could I forget. This just happened last week, but what a relief that he's finally figured it out. Oh the pride in his face (even though that face was now smeared in snot)...priceless. I'm thankful that he's learned how to blow his nose because he often gets what I think is seasonal allergies where he'll just sneeze and sneeze and get all stuffed up. Who knew teaching someone to blow their nose could take up to 4 years.

His other favourites right now include Mater and McQueen (We've finally seen both Cars and Cars 2 and he loves them), playing in the sand box, trying the monkey bars, building things with KEVA blocks, choosing his own clothes in the morning, peanut butter and jam on toast and cuddling with Mama or Papa in his new bed.