Some Super 4 Year Pictures!

We took Little Buddy in to get his 4 year pictures...and goodness did they come out well!  Pictures with him are hit and miss, but all of them this round were definite hits!  Can't believe how grown up our little man is already!

    

My super excited...

    

...super sweet...

...super adorable...

  

    

Four year old boy!

He loves Legos, his sister, and...

    

...Super Heroes!

 

So lucky to have this sweet boy as part of our family!

Good night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

A Super Friends' Birthday!

We have finally hit the last celebration of Little Buddy's fourth birthday and it was a grand time!  Today, Little Buddy and his friend, E, shared their second joint birthday party together to celebrate the big number 4.  We did a super hero themed party at My Gym and it was fantastic!  I think all of the kids and the adults had fun.  We are so lucky to have such an amazing Texas family to share in these moments!

The best thing about this?  I think that was our last bite of cake for awhile.  Little Buddy has now had, count them, FOUR birthday cakes this month:  one with Aunt D and Uncle C, one for his actual birthday, one ice cream cake for the party, and one personal cake.  So.  Much.  Cake.  But so worth all the fun of celebrating our little man all month!

The Birthday Kids, E and Little Buddy, ready to have a super birthday!

Riding the hotdog!

E having a ball!

Little Buddy is a super swinger!

 Parachute time!

Celebrating the birthday kids!

Pure joy!

 So much energy in this room!

Chilling with Uncle C and A!

      

     

Zip line!

Mommas and the little sibling of the birthday stars!

Enthralled by the puppet show!

So thankful for all these kiddos!

  

Is it cake time yet?

CAKE!

 

Family picture time!

The best Superman and Wonder Woman duo ever!

Can't wait for another wonderful year with this awesome little guy!


Good night,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Four Year Well-Check

Well, Little Buddy had his 4 year well check today.  Overall, it went well.  Our little man is perfectly healthy and still maxing out the weight and height charts while still being perfectly proportional, meaning he is just a big dude!  We did reassess all his developmental milestones, as our pediatrician said we would do way back in January when we came in at 3 1/2, and did find some concerns.  Based on his gross and fine motor evaluations, Little Buddy now has referrals for an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist, and a behavior assessment.

I'm so glad we have been realistic with ourselves about our concerns regarding his development.  The referrals didn't come as a shock (though it does take a minute to come to terms with the idea that this may not be something he'll "grow out of" and therefore needs extra help), but some of the milestones that he still needs to hit did surprise me.  I hadn't realized that by 4 years he should be able to hop on one foot and then alternate to the other foot, or that his inability to sit "criss-cross-applesauce" by this age is also troubling, or that his improper crayon grip and scribbling tendencies signaled that his fine motor skills really need attention.  Four really is the magic number to discern any difficulties!  

It's hard to hear that your child needs extra help, but we're trying so hard to focus on the positive that something amiss has been discovered is now being addressed.  That's what's important.  Our little guy is still as happy and loving as always and we're hoping that with some extra work, he'll be back on track (and that this extra attention to motor skills and concentration will help up with the potty difficulties we've been having as well!).  I've already talked to a few friends that said that early intervention made a HUGE difference for their kiddos, so I am hoping we'll see similar positive results.

Anyway, keep Little Buddy in your thoughts and we'll keep you posted!

As always,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Happy Father's Day!

Little Sweetie and Little Buddy and pretty luck to have such an amazing Daddy, and I'm lucky to have found such an amazing man to share this crazy adventure of parenting.  He is a wonderful guy who deserves celebrating everyday, but we were happy to make today extra special for him.

We slept in (mostly because Sister was up late teething the night before and we were exhausted) and then spent the morning opening presents...

Daddy with all his kiddos, even the furry one!

Then, after his requested solo trip to Home Depot (I was totally ok with missing that errand), Daddy played at the park with Little Buddy while I sat with a sleeping Little Sweetie and cheered for them.

Higher, Daddy, let's go higher!

We then went to Daddy's favorite restaurant, Chuy's, for our annual Father's Day Tex-Mex.

Little Buddy is a fan of Chuy's as well!

The rest of the day was spent as a family (and enjoying the rare occurrence of the dual nap), Skyping with grandparents, and was fairly low key, which was perfect.  Time spent together is the greatest gift of all!

Happy Father's Day, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

June 11: Four Years Old!

Somehow, some way, my sweet little baby boy has turned four.  Excuse me as I go cheer for him and sob in the corner at the same time.  So bittersweet!

He had a great day, starting with his birthday waffles with his coveted "4" candle in it.

Make a wish!

We then spent the day playing, having a birthday lunch at Chuy's with Uncle M and Aunt S, and opening presents.  We then ended our day with cake (our second birthday cake since we celebrated the June birthdays of Little Buddy and Uncle C last weekend) and his big present!

Make another wish!

     

     

        

Hmm...what could be under this big sheet?  Oh, it's my very own Mustang!  C'mon sister, let's go for a ride!

Our living room looked like this by the end of the day.  A successful day of birthday fun?  I think so.

 Height and Weight

By our measurements, Little Buddy is 54 lbs and thisclose to 44 in.  Can't wait to see what his official numbers and percentiles are at his well check next week!

You're too big to sit in Sister's chair, silly!

Personality

Getting more talkative and confident.  He's had a lot of personal attention this month with starting a new, smaller, class at My Gym and starting private swimming lessons; this individual time really seems to help him warm up to people and open up to them.  Otherwise, he is still loving and gentle, but the mood swings!  He can get very pouty when things don't immediately go his way.  Oh the life of a preschooler!  He's also starting to take friendships more seriously and asking more about his friends, especially our friend J's daughter, C.  They had lots of playdates this spring after their My Gym class.

First day of his new My Gym class and he was the only one that made it!  He loved the individual attention from Mr. Karl!  The other kids made it the next week, but this was definitely more fun.

Loves hanging out with C at Teddy Bear Park!

Developmental Milestones

Potty is still a process.  We are still worried that his body signals may not be fully developed and will talk to his pediatrician more about these concerns at our well check.  We thankfully have a support system in the form of our friend Ms. M and her daughter, A.  A is one month older than Little Buddy and having the same potty challenges.  Just a reminder that each kid develops at their own rate and it's ok for that to happen!  

Otherwise, his verbal skills continue to improve and he's very interested in working on his reading and writing.  Loved reading/acting out Caps for Sale with him the other day!

"You monkeys, give me back my caps!"

Fun Tidbits

Just enjoying the summertime!  He is very focused on learning to swim by himself so that he can go down the every elusive big kids' blue slide at the pool.  He also got to "drive" one of The Woodlands park vehicles by sweet talking one of the rangers at Town Greene!

Hi everybody!

Otherwise, neither Daddy or I can believe our little guy is four.  Where did the time go?  He was just our baby and now he's this little person.  We are so blessed that God blessed us with him and look forward to each day of watching him grow!

We love you, sweet boy!

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma