3 1/2 year update on Lil J

Looking back it appears that my last update was at 37 months.  He's now 42 months.  His weight is still 34 lbs.  His height is still around the same also, around 38" tall.  I recall that at his 3 year well check the doctor said that this is totally normal.  The physical growth sort of stalls out & the mental growth really takes off at this time.

I decided to skip size 4T pants.  He is currently still in the 3T pants that I purchased last fall & this year I bought 5T pants.  I'm hoping it works out.  When these pants get too short I will move him over & I do expect that the 5T will be a tad too long at that time, but I can roll them up for a little while & I do think it will save us money.  Hopefully it works out.

I decided to go ahead & do a blog update because I see him advancing so much mentally these days.  He is able to really think things through & make guesses if he isn't sure of the answer.  He communicates himself really well.  He is able to explain what he wants/needs very well these days.

Beginning in September we started attending church on Wednesday nights as well as Sunday mornings.  He's doing really well with this change.  He used to only go happily when he knew whoever was teaching his class.  But now he doesn't even care who is or isn't there.  He's very happy to be there.  The 3 year olds are split into 3 classrooms on Sundays & two of those classrooms are combined on Wednesdays.  Add to that the fact that there are 3 Sunday services & I am quite sure he must be with kids he doesn't know from Sundays on Wednesdays, but so far he doesn't seem to care.  I do hope that there are at least some kids that he knows, for his sake.  He is still doing really well with his memory verses at church.  He is always a little resistant when it's time for a new one, but each time I seem to find a way to make memorizing it fun.  So far I haven't yet repeated a method for doing this.  It's been a different approach each time & each time it has worked well.

At the beginning of September I also started working on a preschool workbook with Lil J but he wasn't ready yet.  This particular book required a lot of writing on the student's part & he really wasn't ready for that nor was he interested in it.  So far I cannot tell if he is left or right handed.  I am a lefty & hubby is a righty, so it really could go either way.  There are clearly periods of time where he favors his left hand for a while when eating & playing, etc.  But there are also times where he uses his right hand a lot.  I really don't want to persuade him either way.  And Lil J really hasn't shown much interest in writing in general, up until VERY recently.  He is now writing with his finger on the throw rug in the bathroom when he's sitting on the potty.  And he tries to write in the dirt when he's playing outside, usually with a stick.  So I think pretty soon I'll pull that book out again & give it another shot.  I don't want to push him, but if he WANTS to do it then I want to encourage that. 

We are still doing reading lessons & daily Bible study.  He really enjoys those, especially the reading lessons.  Whenever he sees a word that he doesn't know his answer is "pownten" (rhyming with fountain).  I have no idea where this comes from.  He is now really thinking hard on words he doesn't know & he often makes an attempt now, even if it's not quite right.  But still occasionally I get the "pownten" answer, especially with a word he has never seen before. 

I also have the letter sounds & words that he has learned written out & posted on the refrigerator.  That way he can look at them & practice them anytime he wants.  I had originally been also putting the sentences he learns on this paper, but it quickly became too long.  So for now I'm just going to put letters & words.

He is definitely showing more interest in books, which I am very happy about.  He likes to sit & look at them.  He spends a lot of time looking at the pictures.  And he often tries to imitate faces or body positions that he sees in the pictures.  He often makes up his own story based on the pictures & he tells it to me.  I really enjoy when he does this & of course that seems to make him want to do it all the more.  He REALLY loves being able to make people laugh.  Everytime we go to Costco he asks to look at the books.  They usually have something he is interested in & they are usually less than $10, so I usually buy him one.  We go every two weeks usually, so I guess that's about 2 new books per month.  When it comes to educational things, like books, I don't mind spending the money & less than $20 per month really isn't so bad.

He also still really loves his cars & trucks.  He has a lot of hot wheels & some bigger vehicles as well.  It seems that each time I have to go to the doctor & I need medicine I end up buying him a new car of some sort at the pharmacy while we're waiting for the prescription.  Of course I'm still praying for the day that I can find a way to heal my IC & no longer need medicine so frequently.  I guess we all have thorns in our life & this surely seems to be mine.  The antibiotics are causing lots of other health issues for me as the end result.  It's a horrible domino effect it seems.  And I know that antibiotics can cause cancer.  That is ultimately my biggest fear.  But I try to remind myself that no matter what, even if I get cancer, & even if I die from cancer, God is still with me.  The glory is still God's.

Ok, I've wandered off topic.........Lil J also enjoys playing outside & going for walks.  Thankfully the weather is starting to cool down to where we can go for walks once again.  And he is still doing weekly swimming lessons.  His instructor that he's used to has either changed his schedule or is no longer there.  He cried about having a woman he doesn't know teaching him for a couple of minutes but then he calmed down & was fine.  And this woman was doing things slightly different, most of it being for the better I think.  So I am pleased that he will be able to have a different instructor & experience a slightly different approach to learning things. 

I think that's about all the updates I have for now............until next time.