Richie D. Update!

Richie had a birthday & turned four. Wow! Hard to believe he is getting that old already, time is definitely flying right by! His grandma Cindy made him a SpongeBob Squarepants cake. He got lots of presents, all of which he loved, lol. He even got some birthday money & spent that on… more toys! He got a few different little ones (& a Mickey cup he wanted) from Toys ‘R Us (or Toys for Us as he was calling it for a while) & Target.

I had a conference at his center on his birthday. He is doing pretty well, as usual. He’s still a smart little boy! His teacher said he prefers to play by himself but occasionally will play with the other children. He does well with following classroom rules but is slow to transition from one activity to another. He is very curious & asks good questions. He explores things on his own & different ways to use them. He can recognize & create patterns (something he does often with his legos at home). He likes to rides bikes, music/movement, & other high activity (go figure). He correctly holds writing & eating utensils. He also has strong language skills & shows ‘emergent reading skills’. The major things he needs to work on are transition times & his occasional stuttering (which his teacher says occurs when he is under pressure, but I notice it outside of school as times when he seems as though he is trying to speak as fast(er) as he thinks. There was a little more discussion about the K word (kindergarten). I can’t believe he might possibly be going as early as next fall already. The lil CutieMan is growing up really fast!

He likes toys/things that light up or make music/noise. He also loves to do puzzles. He can spell all his names (first, first shortened, last) except his middle. He can write Richie & he draws recognizable pictures. He is still into all the Playhouse Disney shows & some on Nick, like SpongeBob & iCarly. And he is always saying silly things (what in tarnations, that’s incredible, etc), things that make sense, but sound odd or overly appropriate or whatever coming out of his mouth. He has been doing great with potty training, he hasn’t had any accidents during the day in months. He still wears a pull-up at night time because he doesn’t wake up to pee, but one pull-up a day is much, much cheaper & way less messes to clean up than before, lol. He was showing me math skills the other night, using x number of fingers on each hand & asking or telling me how many total there were. If I ‘guessed wrong’, he would correct me.

Richie had his 4 year check up today. The doctor said he looks pretty healthy! Not that I expected to hear anything different. He is still on the small side for height & weight. He didn’t have any shots to get, they were out of both flu vacs (seasonal & h1n1), which made him happy. He did get his finger poked to get blood to test his hemoglobin & lead & stuff. The MA said he was a good bleeder, she said some kids barely bleed. He got to ride the elevator, which he likes, & the doctor gave him a Handy Manny sticker. He also got Snoopy & Diego band-aids for his finger. He did really well at his appointment, even though he had his shy moments.

Also, I am including a video interview with Richie, so he can speak for himself a little bit!