jess and the gang: Connor {4.5 years}

Weight: 37.8 lbs

Height: 44 inches

Accomplishments:

Recognizes all the numbers

Can count up to 100

Gets himself dressed

Buckles himself into his car seat

Can spell "Connor"

Watching kids grow up is a blessing because you can watch them grow and change before your very eyes. Like when you are driving and hear from the back seat "Connor, C-O-N-N-O-R, Connor". Or when the fear of dogs barking is gone, just gone. Day to day, it's hard to see the changes. But then they come and just smack you in the face. And the pride that comes from your child learning and growing is like nothing I have experienced before.

Some of Connor's current favorites in life are all things Lego and Minion. He would prefer to be playing with his friends all day long, than being at home with his 'ole mom. He has an obsession with ham, thanks to my dad. And really, he would rather eat sweets over anything else. Water is about the worst thing in the world to him and he will choose milk to drink over water any day. Connor has declared his favorite color blue. He still enjoys reading, which makes me really happy. Some of his current favorite books are The Berenstain Bears and too much junk food, Warning:Do Not Open this Book, The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark and anything Dr. Seuss.

Connor's imagination is alive and well. He can often be heard in bed, talking away. The same goes for car rides. And I always find it fascinating and funny when he starts talking as soon as his eyes open in the morning. I figure it is something he was dreaming about, like, "I want to go get a minion shirt where the minions are at the beach." He has gotten really into role playing with his legos and really enjoys having there be a good and bad guy. And if Ian is playing with him "one more time" before bed, Connor won't arrest/catch the bad guy, so he can stay up as long as possible.

There are so many things that Connor can do on his own now, it is almost weird to me. He can fully get himself dressed. And if he doesn't like what I have laid out for him, he goes in his drawers and picks out new clothes. Basically, if I didn't lay out a minion shirt, he goes looking for one until he finds it! He can also completely buckle himself in his car seat. He is still in a 5-point harness. While he is buckling himself in he repeats, "Don't go, don't go, don't go...ok you can go now!" It's actually really cute.

Connor has figured out that people seem to come in pairs. He loves asking people, "Who is your man?" or "Who is your girl?". Then it is usually followed with a, "Is your man at work?" He is definitely learning how our family works and has learned through asking so many questions that other families don't work the same. After learning that one of my friend's works and her husband stays at home, he suggested to another friend that maybe she should go get a job so her man could stay at home. It was pretty funny. He also suggested that my sister-in-law and brother should get together after realizing that they each didn't have someone in their lives. That kid!

Connor is definitely a daddy's boy. He much prefers his daddy to tuck him in at night to me. If Ian isn't around, then I will do, but he then will ask over and over, "When will daddy be home?" Ian and Connor have taken to reading books in bed with a flashlight and it is pretty sweet. Connor still sneaks into our bed pretty much every night at some point. Some days it isn't until Ian is already up for the day. Other's, it is right after we got into bed. But I don't mind. I like having a cuddle bug around.