4 years old

This is my post about who Liam is at the age of 4. It is long and will be boring but it is for me and Evan to look back on in a few years and remember him at this stage of his life.

Liam is 4! Where has the time gone? Liam is a happy, funny little boy and a great big brother. He does great with Caroline and has lots of love to give her. He goes to the babysitters on Tuesdays and Thursdays and stays at home with Grammie Walles on Mondays. He is enrolled for preschool next fall. He wears mostly 4T shirts and sweaters but mainly still his 3T pants. Liam mainly still naps for 60 to 90 minutes but there are also days where he just can't close his eyes. He will remain in his bed until we allow him to get up. He weighs 32 lbs and is 3 feet 3 inches tall.

Shark themed birthday party

Eating his birthday cupcake!

Likes: Liam loves superheroes still! Up until his birthday he would play superheroes every single day. Now he plays with his Legos. He is really into his Batman and Robin lego set and he thought I was the coolest Mom when I got my giant box of old Legos out for him to go through and play with. (I'm especially having fun going through my old sets and watching Liam play with all of them) He loves to imaginary play with Grammie and Daddy. He is still amazing at doing puzzles as well. He got 3 TMNT puzzles at Christmas that are 48 pieces each; while he needed help the first time putting it together he will now do them on his own, every single time. He also received 5 superhero puzzles that are 100 pieces each at his birthday. He does at least 1 of them a day. These he needs some assistance with but he did one the other day and almost had it completed by the time I got over to watch him. He enjoys reading and recently coloring and doing crafts. He adores Curious George, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, How to Train your Dragon 2 and Scooby Doo.

Liam has recently become a somewhat picky eater. He will eat chicken nuggets but not chicken breasts. (we keep explaining it's the same thing but his palate is just more sophisticated than ours) He still loves broccoli, cauliflower and carrots but won't eat green beans. He loves V8 tomato juice, bratwurst, corn dogs, most any fruit and all desserts. He loves when Grammie Walles brings doughnuts on Mondays for them to share.

Liam is very active and fun while around people he knows like family and friends and still quiet when meeting new friends. He says his best friends are Eli, Owen, Jonathon and Staley.

Liam's favorite shirts to wear are his "Flash" superhero shirt, his "Batman" sweatshirt and his new TMNT hoodie. Notice any similarities?

Dislikes: Liam does not usually want help while trying to accomplish something whether that means getting dressed, doing a puzzle or helping me cook. He will get very, very upset (tantrum) if I am even looking in his direction while he is doing these things if he has it set in his mind that he wants to do it himself. This has resulted in me having to close my eyes and being told when I can finally open them to see him once he is finished. (actually, this is hard for me to do but it is so much easier as well. otherwise I just want to try to help him which makes things worse)

Skills: Liam is getting really good at pedaling his bicycle (with training wheels and us right next to him)and he can manage the step stool in the kitchen so that he can help cook. He is getting really good at coloring inside the lines and does a great job writing his name. He can identify all of the upper case letters and numbers 1-20. He can count but it's really hard to say how high. Some days he wants to count with us and other days we are just counting by ourselves. Although he always asks if we can count to 300. Evan is working very hard with him on sounding out words with his chalkboard which he sometimes goes along with. He is more obliging with spelling and sounding out words when we are on pbskids.org

Liam will sometimes dress himself but is perfectly content having us help him as well. (only if we are allowed to) He brushes his teeth, goes to the bathroom, and washes his hands all by himself. (brushing his teeth is always followed by us brushing them again) He loves his ACT flouride Scooby-Doo rinse and does a great job of holding the liquid in his mouth in 20 second intervals and not swallowing it.

Liam is a great helper with Caroline. He loves to show her how all of his old baby toys work and helps to put on her socks and hat. He also enjoys picking out her headbands and/or bows. He is also very protective over her. If another child comes over to her or wants to hold her he will stop what he is doing and stand right next to his little sister. Sometimes even closing the canopy on her carseat to tell them to leave her alone.

One for her and one for me

Liam truly loves his Daddy! He gets so excited when Dad comes home from work or if it's the weekend as he asks Dad to "please play with me" as soon as he walks in the door. He loves spending time outdoors as well, whether it's building snowmen and snowforts or playing baseball with Dad and swinging on his swing he is a ball full of energy.

We couldn't be more excited to watch Liam continue to become a big boy! He rocks!