Everett: Four Years Old

It is so hard for me to believe I have been your momma for four years now. Everett you are such a joy in our lives. I honestly thought the threes were so hard but we survived them. I kept a record of so many funny and sweet things you have said or done in the last six months. You are hilarious and kind. You are also somehow both a bully to your brother and such a sweet loving example for him. You make me cry tears of joy and frustration. I wouldn't want you any other way. I still find myself staring at you in amazement at how wonderful you are and how incredibly lucky I am to have you be my son.

Here are memories I thought were worth writing down from you being 3 1/2 to four years old and there are a lot.

One morning the first thing you said when I went into your room was "I think my preschool friends are in the garage, we better go look." We headed right for the garage and to your surprise they weren't there.

You have started trying to spell words. You will spell out a few letters and then say what word you think you just spelled. It is adorable.

You are tracing letters at preschool. At the end of the year you brought home a folder of all of the letters you worked on during the school year. It was amazing seeing how your tracing went from nothing to actually pretty good by the end of the year.

One night I wrapped all of the Christmas presents after you went to sleep and I left them in a pile in my room. You walked by the next day on your way to the bathroom, looked inside, and said "Oh that is fun." It was so cute and funny.

The way you can be screaming and crying about something and then out of the blue mention something completely off the crying topic like you were never upset. It either frustrates me so much or just makes me laugh how easily you can change moods.

I asked you one morning what your favorite food was and you said pizza and grasshoppers.

I don't remember this one happening but am so glad I wrote it down. I walked into the kitchen, you were holding the salt because you wanted to make cookies and said, "We need the salt...oh I need to poop. You smell my butt?" So hilarious.

You know the greatest showman songs and I love listening to you sing the song Perfect by Ed Sheeran.

You surprised me one morning by singing your preschool snack prayer song to Nathan. You sang it over and over again to him while laying down on the rug in the front room. It was a definite melt my heart moment. 

Just a few of the not so fun things you do to Nathan, pinching, hitting, pushing him over, and taking any and all toys from him. Thankfully in the last month or so you have been incredibly kind to him with only a few negative situations a day.

For a little while I got you to start taking afternoon naps again. I started letting you watch a Disney movie in your room for resting time and you would be out in just a few minutes. Once we switched to paw patrol the naps ended again. You were too excited about the show.

Your favorite game for a while was your matching game with the different face expressions. You are really good at it too.

Getting you to smile for pictures is just about impossible now. Even more impossible lately is to get you to at least look at the phone to take a pictures.

For a while you were waking up once a night to either go potty or because your blanket fell off. Now you rarely wake up in the night but when you do I love it because it usually means you will sleep in a long time the next morning because you don't need to go potty.

One of your favorite foods is Jello. For a while you were asking me to make it every day.

You have a special way you eat mini corn dogs. You will eat the breading off of them first while lining up the hot dog pieces. Then you will eat those last.

Taking baths with Nathan is just about the cutest thing ever.

I love asking you open ended questions. Your responses to things are the best.

You love listening to Disney songs in the car and upstairs in the toy room.

The first thing you said to me one morning after you woke up was "The caterpillar was going around in circles."
I really should make a list of things you say first thing when I walk into your room in the mornings. You say the funniest things that are always guaranteed to make me smile.

I loved getting kisses from you under the mistletoe.

Everything we talk about that we did either the day before or even four months earlier you say was always yesterday.

We were on a Mulan obsession for a little while and you memorized the I'll make a man out of you song. It was so fun singing it in the car with you every time it came on.

Away in a manger is your favorite Christmas song because the version we listen to has a women and a man singing it so you think it is Mary and Joseph.

Another fun song we sing in the car is Hakuna Matata.

One night you woke up in the middle of the night and your eyes were so goopy you couldn't open them. I came in and you told me you had frosting on your eyes.

Any time you throw me a ball you say "I catch it to you."

I love dancing with you to the greatest showman songs.

During sacrament one Sunday you started singing jingle bells when it was really quiet. You actually got quite a few compliments afterwards from ward members at how well you sing.

One of our neighbors across the street has white rocks in their yard and you think it is snow.

On January 6th I asked you a few questions. These were your responses.

What is your name? "My name is I not know. Everett Peirce."

How old are you? "I am 1,2,3." You were counting on your fingers.

What color is your hair? "Brown." It is actually blonde.

What color are your eyes? "Brown."

What is your favorite color? "Green." It has since changed to red.

What is your favorite food? "Dis" Pointing to your breakfast. You were eating waffles with peanut butter and banana on them.

Who is your best friend? "I think it is Jack. Jack from preschool and Jack from the park that we met one time." Just a week earlier we had met a little boy named Jack at the park. I thought it was funny you had remembered him.

What is your favorite song? "I not know." You started naming off your favorite movies.

What do you like to watch on tv? "Paw Patrol."

What is your favorite animal? "A lion. No a man." By that point you had lost interest in this little activity so I didn't finish the questions.

One of your favorite books from your Christmas gifts was your piggy and elephant book. You will laugh out loud through the entire thing. It is so fun to read with you. You especially love when dad reads it to you.

Another cute thing we talked about one morning right when I got into your room. You were telling me about Max at preschool and how he has a paw patrol backpack too. But his has Ryder on it and yours doesn't.

Any morning you wake up before Nathan does I get to go lay in your bed with you and talk about your dreams you had the night before. Sometimes I get amazing cuddles too.

One morning on the way to preschool I heard you in the back talking to Nathan. You said "I love you bubba." 

We went to the post office one day and you were so excited and kept saying we had a party at the post office. You love going there because of the paw patrol and mickey mouse stickers you get.

Another thing you said first thing in the morning when I came in, "Aren't any boogers in my nose anymore. They are there." You pointing to the side of your bed.

I was having a hard time getting your shirt on over your head one morning and you said it was because of your big noggin. It was so funny.

Food. Biggest frustration. If it isn't practically cold then it is too hot to eat.

At the playground one day a little kid was having a hard time climbing up the slide. You offered your hand to help them up and said "take my hand, I help you." It was so adorable.

Pulling up to the playground one day you got so excited and said "This playground?! This is my favorite playground of the world!"

Your paw patrol toy Zuma comes with a boat that you call his "hover crap." (hover craft)

Sometimes when I answer a question that you had you reply with "You sure??" The way you say it is hilarious.

While playing upstairs one morning you got in a little trouble so I put your cars in time out for a few minutes. You were so upset that you backed into the baby gate but didn't realize it wasn't locked and fell down the stairs. You looked like a rag doll backward flipping down. It was so scary. You were so upset about your cars though that you didn't even realize what happened. Thankfully you were just fine.
We have started playing I spy on some of our drives in the car.
Your favorite stuffed animals in your room are monkey, teddy, squirrel, and owl. Lately you haven't wanted to sleep with any animals in your bed.
Dad will sing to you at night when putting you to bed. One day in the car you started singing go to sleep to Nathan because he was crying. It was so sweet because it is one of the songs dad sings to you.
You are sleeping all night with underwear. Some nights I try and have you wear a pull up when I know you had a lot to drink but you refuse. You are so good and rarely have an accident now.
You call dads scruff on his face crust. You like when he shaves his crust off.
The way you say garbage is so cute. It sounds like gwabage.
Your favorite games right now are candy land and zingo.
You used to say the letter w like saying double u. Lately I noticed you say it the right way and it made me so sad. It is hard for me sometimes watching you grow up and become a little boy instead of my little toddler.
At your four year check up you passed your hearing and eye test. You are right where you should be with your learning. You are 33 pounds (it is about time you passed 30 pounds) and 39 inches tall.