Four Years Old

Ethan turned four in February, and I wrote most of this blog then but am just now getting around to posting it.

Ethan has been so excited about turning 4.  He if often saying that next week he will be in a new Sunday School class (the kids move up from the 2 and 3 year old class to the 4 year old class).

He’s quite the extrovert.  Many of the middle school kids (especially girls) at church know his name and enjoy playing with him.  We have been in a few occasions recently where he was only around Hungarian children, and he had a blast playing with them even though they didn’t speak English. 

He enjoys helping out with things such as defrosting the freezer as you see above, refilling the toilet paper holder, vacuuming the rug, shoveling the snow, raking leaves, hanging laundry on drying racks (or handing it to me to hang), peeling carrots, etc.

There is some kind of order to what you see above. :-)

I’ve had a few people ask me if I’m teaching him at home (regarding school).  I haven’t been purposefully teaching him, but do answer his MANY questions.  Even as I’m working on this blog post he has math questions.  He currently counts past 200 and enjoys looking at the page numbers in “grown-up” books to recognize the numbers.  He often asks how old someone (in our immediate family) will be when another person is a certain age.

He likes knowing the differences in how Europeans and Americans show the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with their fingers. (I think Europeans do 3 the easier way, so I’m never sure how to answer the question as to why Americans do it the way they do.)

He loves to look at the calendar on our wall and always talks about the days of the week and the date.  When I taught kindergarten and first grade we would say, “yesterday was…”, “today is…”, and “tomorrow will be…” , so I’m often reminded of my teaching days with his calendar questions.  He started counting down to spring 10 days before.  Course, the first day of spring he asked if I would get his “spring clothes” out so he could wear short sleeves.  He knows the seasons and knows what kind of clothes you wear in each season, but doesn’t quite understand that you wear clothes based on the weather rather than just the season.  We’ve been trying to explain to him that in Hungary we still wear winter clothes the beginning of spring.

I have my dad’s helmets and gear from when he flew in the Marines.  Ethan has two helmets and a picture of my dad flying in his room.  Here he is sporting one of the helmets.

My mom made this quilt and pillow case and brought over for his bed when she came in January.  She helped put the bed together too.  Before, we only had a blanket-type bedspread that my cousin had given me for a crib/toddler bed.  Sienna will get that now, and it will be nice for Ethan to stay under the covers (since they are bigger and will stay in place). 

He is very animated, which makes us laugh A LOT!  He has a great sense of humor and likes knock-knock jokes.

When we are out he is protective of Sienna when it comes to her getting too close to things such as escalators, metro or train tracks.  He always puts his arms around her or his arm out if he thinks she is getting too close.  Course, she doesn’t like him “hindering” her from going where she wants. 

Ethan “reading” a Bible story book to Sienna.

I’m constantly amazed at what he is able to do, comprehend and how quickly he grows and matures.  I’ve never experienced another young child with so many questions, and it is fun to see him soak in so much information this way.  I have looked back at some of my notes from a graduate class on learning styles, and have looked back over a book by Cynthia Tobias.  It has been neat to read the book from the perspective of a parent instead of a teacher, to learn Ethan’s mind style and how God wired this little boy.

I’m thankful to God for Ethan.