Four Years Ago...

...I was waiting not-so-patiently for my baby Tobin to arrive! This was his due date, but he didn't make his appearance until 2 days later. I can hardly believe he's almost 4 years old! Since his birthday is on a weekday, we are having a low-key family celebration that evening, going out for burgers and ice cream and, depending on the time and weather, possibly letting him open his family presents at a park.

On Sunday, we are getting together with our friends Ken and Sarah and their 3 little ones. Since their youngest, a boy, turns 3 the week after Tobin's birthday, we decided to do a joint birthday party. How great is that?! Sarah is going to make a Thomas the Tank Engine cake, and we will provide the balloons. I think I'm getting the better end of the deal! ;-) I can stamp a card, but I can't decorate a cake! We'll enjoy an Easter "lupper" (lunch/supper!) together with Sarah's folks and then have our little party. I'm so looking forward to it and am glad that it won't be a huge deal. Of course, it will be a big deal to Tobin and Taran, but I'm relieved that I didn't get myself into planning a huge shindig on an already-busy weekend.

Since we're talking about Tobin, I'll take some time to focus on him in a little update. He is still begging for school time every day, so it's a good thing I've built his "school time" into our schedule! He's usually up bright and early (along with Arden) and has such a zest for everything we do. He is on the verge of learning to read, I think, having learned all his letter sounds and recognizing a few sight words as well. He still adores the starfall.com web site and is discovering the little letter games. I let him play on the site quite often. Our computer is in the family room, right next to the kitchen, so that I can help him navigate if need be.

He also enjoys working from time to time in the Math-U-See Primer book. I had Charis do 3 out of the 6 practice pages for each lesson so that I could have Tobin come back through the book and make use of it as well. It starts with such basic concepts that I felt comfortable letting Tobin start, and he is getting familiar with the math blocks plus getting practice with writing numbers, which is what he needs most right now. I suspect he'll grasp the math concepts much more quickly than he'll be able to communicate in writing! He's still quite young and isn't as adept with writing as Charis was at 4 years of age, but he's definitely sharp.

While Tobin is still enjoying puzzles, his current love is coloring. This is good for those fine motor skills, and he's always proudly showing me his latest work of art. He's also starting to draw things on his own as well, some of which are just so adorable they make me giggle (though I try to wait until he's not around!), with the googly-circle eyes and funny-looking bodies. It's fun to have two kids bringing me artwork now!

Tobin's napping is more consistent at this time than Arden's, since our youngest is falling back into the nasty habit of climbing out of his crib at inappropriate times. We've discovered that Tobin really enjoys napping with Mommy, so it's been nice to catch a few naps myself, and it's great to know that he'll be sacked out when I wake up! I don't yet trust Arden to stay put, and I know I wouldn't be able to fall asleep with him, so I guess we'll have to wait to try that tactic out on Arden!

Another obsession for Tobin is Spiderman (or sometimes Batman or Superman, but Spiderman is the favorite). With that in mind, we got him a couple of Spidey items for his birthday. You'll have to wait to find out what they are...it's a surprise. ;-) The Spiderman thing is amusing to me, since really, Tobin has no idea who he is or what he does! But he enjoys walking around saying, "I'm SPIDERMAN!!"

I've seen Tobin mature a lot over this past year. He is still an energetic, loud little boy, but I love hearing his tender expressions of sympathy when a sibling gets hurt--and even more, I love that he's not always the one causing the pain! His Sunday school and AWANA teachers tell us often that he is polite and well-behaved, to which we say, "Whew! Thank you, Lord!"

I look forward to sharing some birthday stories after this weekend! I have other stuff to blog about, but it probably won't happen today.