Avery is 4!

What is Avery like at four years old?  Well, he is silly, sassy, snuggly, sweet and so much more.  The world would truly be a dimmer place without our spunky little guy...

These days he barely stops talking (which is why he takes FOREVER to eat dinner...well that and the fact that he thinks EVERYTHING that Eric and I make is gross).  He loves to tell us about his day and often gets himself a little tongue-tied as he gets too excited and fumbles up as his words try to come faster than he can spit them out.  We have to tell him to take a breath and slow down and then he does fine.  Up until very recently Avery also did not pronounce the 's' sound at the beginnings of words: 'nake' for snake, 'cool' for school, 'pider' for spider, but now he seems to be getting the hang of it.

At four years old he is still quite snuggly.  He expresses his love frequently and still likes to sit on my lap.  In the mornings he is usually the first face I see and loves to crawl into bed and snuggle if given the chance.

He is a feisty little guy that still mostly marches to the beat of his own drum but also enjoys following his big brother around and will do a large amount of what Asher tells him to do in order to do so.  He is quite independent and extremely strong-willed.  He rarely throws a fit but is quite good at ignoring you angry-faced with arms crossed when he doesn't like what he is being told...sometimes even throwing something or sending a kick in our direction to show his displeasure...which ALWAYS lands him in time-out.

Although quite different, Asher and Avery still get along quite well with some fighting here and there.  While Avery is a total morning person, cares little for organization and rarely cares to eat anything other than treats or fruit Asher is the complete opposite.  Even so, they get along pretty well as long as Avery is willing to comply with Asher's directions.  

Avery continues to hold true to his nickname "Stinker Pinker" as he is definitely the little stinker in the house and is often told "you are lucky your cute!"  He is, and he KNOWS it.  He loves to make others laugh and smile but also has a constant ere of sass to him.

Like Asher, Avery is creative and still loves to color or paint, but unlike Asher he is not as into building and creating things.  He is still in love with the color purple and makes sure that everyone knows it.  Avery also enjoys the stereotypical "boy things" such as monster trucks (Megladon is his favorite), superhero (Batman and The Hulk area his favorites) and dinosaurs.  He also loves sports and often wears his socks up to his knees so that he looks like a soccer player.  Additionally (& much to my delight), he still enjoys quieter activities like puzzles and board games as well.

At this time Avery really isn't much for helping around the house.  If you ask him to clean something or pick up his toys he will usually pretend he doesn't hear you or express his distaste in the activity by telling you it is "borin!"  He does like to help cook though when given the opportunity (which unfortunately isn't often due to my own disinterest in cooking and busy schedule).

Physically, Avery is looking more and more like a "kid" these days and loosing most of his toddler attributes.  He is not chubby at all, but he is a solid little dude.  He also is completely potty trained now and has been for a very long time.  He was potty trained during the day just a few months after his third birthday and then decided he no longer needed a pull-up at night a couple of months after that.  Thus, our household has been completely diaper free for more than six months!

Physically, Avery is above average in size, but no longer off the charts like he was as a newborn.  At his three year check-up he measured in at 35 lbs, 6.4 oz. and 38.5" tall (at age three Asher measured to almost a pound heavier and the same height).  Now he is measuring 41" tall (66%) and weighing in at just over 40 pounds (82%).

As mentioned above, Avery is still not a good eater.  He complains that he doesn't like what is for dinner EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT and often goes to bed with little or no dinner because he refuses to eat. Thankfully, I'm told he eats well at daycare so I don't worry whether he is getting enough.  Apparently he just isn't a fan of our cooking?!  Every once in a while I will get him to try something that he is refusing and then he will be pleasantly surprised with the flavors, but since he is quite strong willed (as I'm told I was during dinner back in the day) this is quite infrequent.  Usually, he will just sit at the table well past when everyone else has gone and then tell me that he "almost did a good job" in hopes for dessert...which usually means he has MAYBE taken a bite or two.

That said, Avery's choice of foods is quite limited.  He likes breakfast foods and enjoys PBJ sandwiches or salami roles for lunch, but is rarely a fan of dinner.  He does like pizza and cheeseburgers (maybe his favorite) but sometimes even getting him to eat those is a challenge.

While Avery loves to play he also enjoys watching shows on TV.  Thankfully he and Asher have similar tastes in what to watch and/or Avery is willing to let Asher choose, making life easier for everyone.  His favorite shows are Ninjago, Rescue Bots and Transformers, or anything with superheroes but when Asher isn't around he will often choose something else to get a little variety thrown in.  His favorite movie is Batman by far and could watch it day and night if I allowed it I think, but he does like other movies too...and even though he will say Frozen is a "girl" movie, he does secretly enjoy it as well and sometimes request that.

Sleep-wise I really have no complaints.  Avery rarely puts up much of a fight about going to bed and while he does get annoyed by rest time he usually just plays quietly in his room for a little while and then doesn't get too grumpy without a nap.  He wakes up at the crack of dawn but thankfully is mostly content being told to go back to his room to play or read quietly until everyone else is awake.  At night time, we still enjoy reading multiple stories together before bed and he lately he likes to read his Star Wars "tractor book", which took me a really long time to figure out meant "chapter book".  We also enjoy a snuggle in bed and since he is still in his crib (although not for long) we do so in my bed.  He loves to hide under our covers and is quite thrilled that he now gets four minutes of snuggle time instead of three due to his increase in age! **Side note, this was written prior to last weekend.  Since then, Avery has moved into a shared room with Asher last weekend, so we are still transitioning into completely new bedtime/morning routines.

So that pretty much sums up our now four year old.  Here is his birthday interview:

1. What's Your Name? "Avwy Migwin" (Age 3: "Avwy Migwin")
2. How old are you? (holds up four fingers) (Age 3: "Dis" (holding up three fingers))
3. When's your birthday? "I don't know...at 17?...at 100?" (Age 3: "Now?...Friday?")
4. How old is Mommy? "4 or 5" (Age 3: 2")
5. How old is Daddy? "4 or 5" (Age 3: "4")
6. What's your favorite color? "Purple" (Age 3: "Purple")
7. What's your favorite food? "Apples or Soup (?)" (Age 3: "Pea-Butter") ...I also asked what is your favorite thing to eat.  His response, "essert."  (So true buddy...so true)
8. Who's your best friend? "Asher, my bruder" (Age 3: First time: "Um Margie...Ponder's doggie(?)"  Second time: "I don't know...Micah?")
9. What's your favorite song? "da alphabet" (Age 3: "Batman"  "...I wuv aphbet")
10. What's your favorite movie? "Lego Batman" (Age 3: "Batman")
11. What's your favorite animal? "Cheetah or Elphanents" (Age 3: "Ebra" (Zebra))
12. What are you afraid of? "Witches" (Age 3: "I not afraid from anything" (not entirely true, but a good example of his personality))
13. What makes you happy? "When I got a toy" (Age 3: "Mommy and Jesus")
14. What's your favorite place to go? "Movie Feater or Campground" (Age 3: "Nards...no Meijer intead"
15. What do you want to be when you grown up? "Hulk" (Age 3: "Daddy")
16. What's mommy's favorite thing to do? "Oh I know!  Take a nap!" (VERY true) (Age 3: "Color") 
17. What's your favorite treat? "Suckers" (Age 3: "Kelton Eetos" (Skeleton Cheetos))
18. Who is your favorite person in the whole world? "You...spell Momma" (Age 3: "Mommy")
19. What is your favorite television show? "Transformers...cause sometimes there is the purple race car or Star Wars"  (Age 3: "Thomas Train and Batman")
20. What is your favorite outfit? "Batman" (Age 3: "Darth Vader")
21. What sport do you like best? "Soccer" (Age 3: "Football and Bayball Bat")
22. What is your favorite cereal? "Da ones with da marshmallows" (Age 3: "Milk Kind...Mix Kind" (We mix all of the cereals at the ends of each bag in one container and let the kids eat that.))
23. What is your favorite book? "Dat doggy one by the aminal one" (Age 3: "Don't know...I like struction workers" (Construction Workers))
24. What are you really good at? "Soccer" (Age 3: "Paying Football")
25. What is your best memory? "Hulk" (?) (Age 3: "Gramps and Mommy and Grandma")
26. What would you buys if you had $1000? "Hulk flasher if Meijer has a hulk flasher" (No idea what this means) (Age 3: "Donuts" (This is probably true).)
27. What vegetable do you hate the most? "Broccoli" (Age 3: "Donuts" (giggling))
28. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? "Pirate kind at Grammy & Gramps ice cream shop" (Age 3: "Donut Ice Cream?" (Giggling)..."Chocate...Donut chocate")
29. Who is your biggest hero? "Hulk" (Age 3: "Batman")
30. What do you like to do best with your friends? "I jump in muddy puddles when it rains out and there's mud out" (Age 3: "Play")
31. What do you want to be able to do before your next birthday? "Color" (Age 3: "Make somfin in my woom...get some wapping paper and was up Asher batman book and see what in it.")

Avery enjoyed the birthday interview so much that when I was finished he insisted I ask him a few more questions:

1. How old will you be when you get married? "Hey, Boys do not get married!"
2. Who will you marry? "I want to marry with Grandma"
3. What will you do when you are bigger? "When bigger I will go to Meijer"
4. Who has the stinkiest farts? "Avwy...and Emma"
5. Who loves Avery? "Mama"
6. Who died on the cross? "Jesus"