Josh is 4!

We say this every year but we can't believe Josh is four (or actually more than four now)!  Josh is 41.25" tall and 38.4 lbs.  The doctor was very impressed he was still napping and sleeping 7-6 each night (roughly).  Overall he is doing great.  He has gotten a little more picky with eating - or maybe he just likes to complain more :-)  He often says he doesn't like something but then will eat it.

Josh is becoming so independent.  We bought Josh an alarm clock that has a traffic light on it and it turns green when it is time for him to get up.  This has worked really well for us and now Josh knows when it is time for him to get out of bed.  He will often get out of bed and play in his room or sometimes play in the living room.  This is especially good on the weekends when we want to sleep in a bit :-)

Unfortunately this did fail us one time.  One morning Josh came up to our room in the middle of the night.  I asked Josh what he was doing there and he said, "the green light is on."  At that moment I realized we lost power that day and his clock was probably not set properly.  Because he was right I let him stay in bed with us.

Overall he and Sam get along very well.  They often fight about toys but mostly get along and like being together.  We have been taking advantages of grandparents more to go out on dates more than we used to.  In the past Josh made it very difficult to leave the house - lots of crying.  Now when we go out, both boys just say, "bye bye" and no tears.  I think it has some to do with Josh having Sam around and knowing he isn't being left alone.  It might also be the excellent grandparent care he receives :-)

Josh has been doing great at his new preschool he started in August.  We were concerned with him starting a new school he wouldn't have any friends but he is really comfortable there and talks about his friends all the time.  The school promotes building and creativity and Josh frequently builds tall towers and buildings out of blocks.

Josh has been potty trained for nearly a year and only wearing a diaper at night for about eight months.  Just after turning 4 Josh asks to wear underwear at night. We weren't sure when to night wean but this seemed like the right time.  After a week or so Josh was able to make it through the night without an accident.  We wake him before we go to bed to use the potty (he is only half awake) but we very rarely have an accident.  Josh is now diaper free!

Josh talks in complete sentences and his questions have gotten more detailed.  It is getting harder and harder to get things past him!  He can identify all the letters of the alphabet and can "read" his friends names.  He can sound out words a bit and understands letters with sounds make words (not that he is really reading at this point).

Our big boy is growing up and we are so proud of him!

Josh's writing from January 2, 2017. He was writing his whole name "Joshua" and Sam's whole name, "Samua" :)