Lordy Lordy, John is FOUR!

I know I'll say this every year, but I can hardly believe John is FOUR! On the other hand, I can hardly remember he was a "tiny" baby. Yesterday he had the big 4-year well check. Yep, that's the one with all the shots, when they know and remember what shots are. I told him about a week before that we were going to see Dr. Belvin. No problem. A bit later he asked me if he was going to get a shot. Yep. No problem (surprised me!). A bit later he asked if he was going to get a Transformer band-aid. Absolutely! We have some at home and I made sure to take them to the nurse. So, he did fine while the nurse took his blood pressure for the first time (80/50). He wasn't so keen on taking his clothes off for the doctor, though (again, surprised me). So he covered up whatever Dr. Belvin was trying to look at and acted shy the whole time, but still did alright. Even when the nurse came in with the shots he did fine...until we started to pin him down. He cried for quite a while, but I offered so many bribes that eventually he was fine. He weighed in at 44 pounds (94th percentile) and 42 inches (85th percentile).
On to the fun stuff...
His party was last Saturday at Giggle Bugs, a bouncy house place. I didn't realize how many friends John has until I started making a guest list. We could only invite a spattering of his friends, and ended up with 19 kids! It was a little chaotic, but lots of fun. The pictures didn't turn out well so I'm only posting a few.

This is John with his friend Aidan Turner from school. They were good buddies at school and haven't seen each other much over the summer, so they made up for lost time.

You can see by the red sweaty face...I think he enjoyed it!

John, Bella, Maggie (neighbor), and Aidan Turner

John had a Transformer cake. Of course. Afterward he tore through his presents so fast I have no idea which people to thank for what, but he had a blast ripping it all apart. Fortunately 99% of his gifts were transformers of some sort (exactly what he wanted), so I can almost bank on that for each of the thank-you notes.

On his actual birthday we went to Moe's for dinner (his choice) and had a cake at home with Grandma. He enjoyed opening even MORE presents. Now that he's opened them all, I think he's suffering from a little withdrawl.

So, John is 4. He's an interesting mix between sweet, sensitive, cautious, and all-boy bull in a china shop. He is still very nervous around things that are loud, crowds, and new places. He's still very strong willed and can do anything he sets his mind to...but only when he sets his mind to it. He has no tolerance to the head, and says he's tired to get out of doing things, but he's a great helper and almost always follows through when asked a favor. He often has surprisingly good manners. He's amusingly socially awkward (as are all 4-year-olds, or so I've noticed so far). He sleeps with Spiderman bear and a bunny that we made recently at Build-a-Bear. He's not so much on snuggling anymore, but still gives me some here and there, especially when we're reading. He loves books. He loves solving puzzles (I think one of the reasons he loves Transformers so much). He likes to pick out his own clothes...sometimes, and does and OK job...usually. He loves "fun TV" and his video and computer games. He learns really well from the video and computer games...not so well from Mom and Dad. He loves his sisters and knows well that his job is to protect them, but is, at the same time, a typical brother.
He learns the words to songs rediculously fast, and likes to sing, but will immediately stop when he realizes someone is paying attention, or he'll start to use silly made up words and voices instead. He's trying to master the knock knock joke, but isn't there yet. He's good at cleaning up when he wants to be, and once on task, will always finish the job. He loves one-on-one time (as do I). That's when we have some of our most precious time and conversations. He still has that special genuine smile with one dimple, and that genuine belly laugh that I love so much. He is still very expressive, another thing I love about him. He likes to be silly a lot, and makes us laugh a lot by what he says, but also thinks a lot and often melts my heart with what he says. I may have already mentioned that one morning we were eating breakfast (fresh peaches on yogurt) and his blessing was "Thank you, God, for growing peaches". I loved that. He is my sweet sweet boy and is growing so fast, and we all love him so much.

Happy Birthday John Winthrop!