Dominic - 4 Years Old

This year has been so different for our kids, but it's reminded me of their resilience, adaptability, and what really matters to them. Dominic is becoming an incredible little boy. His nature is so kind, gentle, warm and patient. Of course he's still 4 so he has his moments, but at his best, he is exactly what you'd dream for in a 4-year-old! 

Weight: 43-44 lb  (95th percentile) 
Height: 43.5 inches (95th percentile)

Likes:

• Garbage trucks - he was a garbage man for Halloween, he tracks his days of the week based on who's garbage day it is, and he received no less than 3 garbage trucks for Christmas! A little Hot Wheels one, a Lego one, and a bigger one that makes sounds and has levers to lift and dump garbage. Dominic heaven!
• Star Wars - I'm sure there's some level of "I get attention because I like Star Wars", but I also just feel like he really likes it. He's never seen the actual movies, but knows quite a bit from Lego Star Wars movies/shows. He had a few books and knows more about the characters than I do, and will correct my knowledge. The other day he had some narrative going as he ran around with his lightsaber (also a Christmas gift) about someone trying to steal the holocrons. That's beyond me. 
• Cars - fear not, his love for cars hasn't wavered. We got him a bigger (1:18 scale) Ferrari for Christmas. When he opened it, he goes, "A LA FERRARI!" Like who the heck knows what KIND of Ferrari it is? Again, beyond me. 
• Preschool - he loves his preschool friends 
• Breakfast food - cereal, pancakes, waffles, cinnamon buns, etc. This boy is definitely his father's son when it comes to interests and preferences. 
• The kids don't watch a lot of TV, but when they do, their most frequent requests are: Lego Star Wars, Mickey Mouse Club House, Racing Cars (Pixar's Cars)
• Tomatoes - he will sit and eat an entire container of grape tomatoes in one sitting. Weirdo. 

Notes:

• Size 5T clothing, size 11 shoes
• Started preschool in September (two 4-hour days a week), and frequently talks about his new friends. We plan for Emilia to join him one of two days in January and he's already begun teaching her about his friends and the routines at preschool.
• Everything is a competition/race (eating, colouring, puzzling... everything). Again, more of his Dad's personality! 
• Short attention span for art usually. He scribbles a couple times and is on to the next thing. Super age appropriate, but we're working on finishing tasks we've started, or cleaning up before moving on to the next thing. 
• Excellent pattern recognition - not a new thing, but still quite evident!
• Can count to 100 with a little help (mostly just reminding him which 10 multiple comes next.
• Can write his name, and recognize all of our names and some other random words (like Zoo) haha. I was opening up a Zoom call and he's like, "Mommy, why does this Zoo have an M on the end?" 
• He has been a huge help with Emilia's potty-training. He's her number 1 encourager and always cheers her on to get to the potty in time! (It's been a great success)
• He will generally sit with us for all of mealtime and usually eats what we serve. We try not to apply any pressure. We could probably use some more tools for keeping them at the table longer, but we try to be realistic. I think they say 2 minutes for every year they've been around? So we can realistically expect 5 minutes of table time from Emilia, and 8 minutes from Dom? Or something like that. They last longer than that 90% of the time, so we're starting from a good baseline!
• He is very excited about his new brother or sister. He loves to feel the baby kick, and feels like baby is playing with him. The way his face lights up when he's asked about feeling baby is possibly the sweetest thing ever. 
• He is always the "-est" at everything. "Mommy, I am the smartest/fastest." "I am too smart for you." "I am too good." No questioning his self-esteem when it comes to intelligence haha. Again, super age appropriate I've learned. 
• COVID has been pretty smooth sailing for him. He's introverted, so while he misses his play date friends sometimes, he's happiest at home with us. He definitely misses seeing family though, but we're in touch via Zoom with them often enough that there hasn't been any recognition issues or anything thank goodness. 
• He's very complimentary of others and patient with his friends (and sometimes Emilia). "Mommy, you look like a princess!" for example. With his friends, he wants to share his knowledge and experiences/toys with them too. He brought his new garbage truck all the way to Abbotsford when we dropped off gifts with Rachel and Kyle to show Rebecca. He was very patient and showed her all the parts and encouraged her to try them all too, and made sure she was understanding and having fun with his toy. 
• He does shorter quiet times now (sad, but I knew this day would come). He usually lasts 45-75 minutes in his room before he comes down. Sometimes less. He knows that it's still my quiet time when he comes down, and usually keeps to himself (ish)... as much as a 4-year-old with lots of questions about life can. 
• He can "read" an analog clock. He knows what all the "o'clocks" look like and "thirties". So if we say, "you can come out of your room after 1:00," he knows what we mean. We got him a "Cars" clock for Christmas to hang in his room, and I think that will be really helpful for his quiet times.
• He and Emilia play very nicely together as long as they're both fed - hanger is the ultimate shit-disturber between them. 
• He still has his favourite naptime blanket, but it pretty much stays in his bed now unless he's not feeling well or needs a special snuggle downstairs. He also only sucks his fingers when he's falling asleep now. Slowly growing out of his baby-ish comfort habits.

We love you Dominic!