Celebrating FOUR Crazy Years - PART 4 (finally)

I think, so far, 4 is my favorite age with Kasen.  He's getting much better at listening, he knows numbers by counting & sight, he can even do simple addition & subtraction!  He's happy to play by himself (Bionicles/Legos, of course),  and he loves to play board games.  His imagination has grown so much!  He will sit & play (especially with his Bionicles) with figures & make up his own little story lines.  It is so much fun to listen to his little conversations/stories.  For as long as I can remember now, every night we've made his bedtime routine include us all reading a book together, then telling a story.  His stories are starting to have actual plots & it's great to hear his imagination at work.  He likes to watch Phineas & Ferb, Spongebob, Looney Tunes, Transformers, & Hero Factory.  Although at home he doesn't watch a ton of tv since he'd always rather play with his Legos/Bionicles.  He is starting to sleep better at night & now when he does wake up, he seems to be able to soothe himself.  On weekend mornings, he wakes up & usually goes straight downstairs to play with his Bionicles, letting Luke & I sleep in a little longer.  There's nothing better than being awoken by your child singing a happy little tune or having a pretend conversation with his Bionicles.  He is still having some trouble behaving a school & he is starting to despise naps (although I've started telling him he just has to have quiet time, he always ends up falling asleep).  He is definitely still a bundle of energy, and a total handful, but he is slowly starting to learn how to control himself.  Well, at least some of the time.  ;)

At his 4 year check up, Dr Pecson (who we just LOVE!) put my fears somewhat at ease when she said that she thinks his behavioral issues are a reflection of boredom.  He's smart.  He's bored.  He acts up.  sigh  He is 42" tall (88th percentile) & 42#s (85th percentile).  He is 100% healthy.  He passed all the developmental tests.  He refused to do the hearing test, but he did great on the vision test.  Dr Pecson had him draw a few pictures as a way of checking his development (I assume fine motor skills?), and when she drew a square she leaned over & told me not to worry because 4 year olds never really got it...  he did.  He spoke it out as he drew it - we draw a line here, then another line here...  Dr Pecson was impressed.  I was proud.  Then, she wrote the letter "K" & asked him what it was.  He answered "K".  She wrote an "a" & asked again.  He answered "a, K - a - s - e - n".  She then told us she was done & his check-up was over because he is healthy & smart & just fine.  He's a smart cookie, he gets it from his daddy.

Here's some of the pics from Kasen's 4 year photo shoot:

I LOVE this one: