The very best little boy in the whole world turned 4 years old today!!! Hooray for Austin! We absolutely adore this kid. He's such a joy to have in our family, and it's so fun to watch him grown and learn.
Here are some tidbits about this robust little preschooler:
- His bedtime song request for the vast majority of this year has been Jingle Bells. Yep.
- He went through a phase this summer where he was very interested in hiking.
- At dinnertime, he often proclaims: "Let's tell stories!" and always has Doug start.
- He loves playing "sword fight" with a lightsaber and a Captain America shield.
- Other games/activities he loves: playing "the floor is lava", making obstacle courses, racing on scooters outside with Nicole, throwing rocks into water when we're at Bridal Veil Falls, finding a good long stick and using it to pretend to go fishing, swimming in Grandpa Kelly's pool, and imaginary play with Nicole (school, house, acting out favorite story lines from shows or video games... so on, so forth.)
- He absolutely loves preschool, and wishes he could go more than 2 days a week. Maybe next year, bud!
- He's really into Pokemon right now, along with Super Mario because Doug played through all of our Mario games with the kids over the course of this year. (We have some old-school gaming systems!)
- He is extremely good at riding a balance bike, so I'm sure that if we got him a bigger bike with pedals, he would get the hang of it in no time. We just haven't taken the plunge yet.
- The toys he plays with most include a large garbage truck and a set of dinosaurs. He got a Hot Wheels set for his birthday, though, so that may be a new top favorite. Time will tell.
- Speaking of garbage trucks, he loves watching the garbage trucks in action. He always points garbage trucks out when we're driving around town.
- When he sees a cool/impressive character in a movie, he points at the screen and says, "That's me."
- He's a cat person. Full stop. Dogs? Meh. Cats? He LOVES them. He often tells me he wants a kitty.
- He is scared of bugs. He wouldn't even hold the monarch butterflies that we raised at the beginning of the summer. We've convinced him that rollie pollies (pill bugs) are okay, but he still refuses to hold them. The small handful of bad dreams he's had over the past year or two have always involved spiders. And yet, he requested to be a bumblebee for Halloween...
- He's jolly. I've used that word to describe him in the past, and I stand by it still.
- He loves a good book, although he doesn't get read to as much as Nicole did at this age, and he's not nearly as insistent about being read to, either. But he does enjoy books.
- Doug and I often say to each other that Austin is too nice for his own good. He is quick to share (food, mainly), or to acquiesce his older sister's requests. He's considerate.
- However, his "nice" streak doesn't stop him from fulfilling his traditional role as the frustrating little brother quite nicely! (AND frustrating big brother, as Autumn is discovering and very vocally protests about.) But he DOES love to play with his sisters, even if he often pushes their buttons.
- Really, though, he has a heart of gold.
- He's a friendly kid--quick to make new "buddies" (his word of choice) and to say "HI!" to neighbors or strangers walking by our house while he's playing outside.
- Fruit is still his favorite food group. If it's a fruit, he will eat it. His favorites include: bananas, apples, peaches, nectarines, pears, oranges/mandarin oranges, cherries, grapes, melons, and all kinds of berries.
- At times, I'm surprised by the information he retains. I think he's a lot smarter/sharper than what he displays to us. Kids in general are far smarter than what we give them credit for, ya know?
- Sometimes he just sits by himself on our porch playing with the pumpkins.
I could go on and on, course, but this gives a good idea of what our little 4-year-old is like. What a kid. We love him like crazy!!! Happy birthday, Austin!
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