Four is a great age. I am really enjoying it.
Here are some reasons why:
- Humour. Fiona & Sophie are developing their own little sense of humour. They crack jokes all the time. They laugh at more mature things than peek a boo faces. And immature things like “poopy head” and “fart face”. OK. I laugh at those “poopy head” and fart fact” too. Admit it, it’s funny.
- Art. I am loving their art lately. Especially their drawings. Their fine motor control has improved so much and their art really reflects that. Fiona is really into drawing puppy faces lately and they are so cute.
- Independence. They are getting so much more independent. They dress themselves, entertain themselves, play outside and on the playground themselves. I met up with Sara and Will at the playground last weekend and was able to spend most of my time chatting, it was great!
- Super Cuteness. They were super cute at every age but four is different because now they’ve lost most of their baby fat and they look like little people. It is a little bit sad to see the baby faces fade away but I love their faces. I can’t stop kissing them.
- Singing. They sing all the time. Both of them are constantly making up lyrics and singing to melodies that they have learned. Sometimes they make up the melody also. The song is usually about what they are playing or doing. “Unicorn, unicorn, fly away to your home, past the rainbow and over to pony….”
- Sleep. They almost always sleep all night. And so do I.
- Storytelling. They love to tell stories. They make them up at random in their imaginary play. They also read books on their own and make up stories to go with the pictures.
- Reading. They are starting to be able to read a little bit. It is so cool to watch them start to blend the sounds they have been learning and figure out how to read a word.
- Analyzing. Now when we read books we can analyze them a bit. When we read the Berentstain Bears we can discuss the message of the book and apply it to our own lives. Awesome.
- Snuggles. They still love to snuggle. I want to hold on to my snuggles for ever.
What are you loving about your kids right now?
Loved 4. Well loved all ages really. But 4 year olds are some of my favourite creatures. One of my boys was stuck at age 4 in my mind for the longest time. It was such the right age for his personality is so many ways. He’s almost 10 now but in so many ways is still like his curious insightful busy 4 year old self.
I have to say though that every year it’s so amazing to watch them grow into these incredible people who are so much fun.
Enjoy!
Karen
Three was so damn hard (I swear, three year olds just have better PR people than two year olds, because for all the talk about terrible twos, three was way worse for us).
So four? What a relief. Not that all the testing and so on was done, but it wasn’t so unrelenting. Four was pretty nice. I am loving the toddler 2 thing again, they are just so sweet and adorable and yes, it’s true,k i love toddlers. The seven year old, though, can blow me away with stuff she comes up with all on her own, and we can really do interesting things together now, which is pretty awesome.
No teaching back ground at all. Plain old public school for myself and Cleo. I still remember my husband telling me back then…”you can’t reason with a 3 year old.” Ha ha!
Christine,
We have to get our 4 year olds together sometime! They would all be soooo cute!
I loved the photo of Eva practicing the finger, too priceless.
Kathy, Do you have a Waldorf background? I very rarely hear mention of 7 as the age of reason. The Finns know it, Waldorf knows it and I think Montessori does too. It sounds like it just keeps on getting better from year to year, until they move out that is. :).
Thanks for sharing.
Four was great…it certainly was the doorway to that greater understanding which now at 7 is very much realized. I remember thinking way back then “terrible 2’s…how about terrible 3’s!!!” Three was tough. It was this constant struggle for her to express her independence, but then get so very angry when she failed at something. Being told “No” was like the most painful word for her to hear. Not even wanting something, just having to explain to a 3 year old why we can’t stay longer when visiting a friend, or having to stop wearing a particular item of clothing as it no longer fit. It makes sense to a 4 year old, but a 3 year old – forget it. I remember being so relieved when she started down that path to “reason”, which started for her at age 4. So yeah…it was great…..but I have to say 6 & now 7….fantastic. I often wish I could just pause this time and make it last longer. She has so many opinions and ideas and thankfully still a lot of wonder. This last year the talk of Santa not existing started at school. The older grade 2 kids were saying that fairies (like the tooth fairy) and Santa were not real. But she came home and said to me, “I agreed with them just so they would not make fun of me, but I still believe in Santa and I think they just want to make other people feel bad because they don’t believe in magic anymore.” So far loving 7…..
I couldn’t agree more! Four has been fabulous so far.
I bought Eva a small white board with dry erase marker and she will sit and print her letters and number for hours. I am floored at how much she knows.
I love the conversations I have with her.
And you get it times TWO! How lucky are you?!?