Linnaeus 3.9

Still not that into art, here's a rare piece,
drawn with Toddler Paint on my tablet

As Linnaeus' fourth year is starting to come to a close, I think I can see the tantrums, hitting, pushing & screeching getting fewer & further between. (hopefully this is actually the case & not just wishful thinking) He's still difficult to move from one thing to another--getting him out of the door in the morning can occasionally be pretty epic--but I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel, as he's responding more to logic & reason.

Linnaeus has also continued to become noticeably more helpful & empathetic lately. If someone is having trouble with something & verbalizes this, he'll jump in with an offer to help. I can also send him on simple errands; today I sent him to go get his bike helmet. This required going down the back stairs, through the yard, into the garage, & looking for it, as I'd put it in the wagon, rather than on his seat where it usually is.

He is also clearly trying to pronounce words better & occasionally corrects himself when saying something that's a little challenging for him, like TH sounds or Rs in consonant clusters. I'm not sure what's behind this, or if it's just a normal stage of language development, because I rarely correct his pronunciation unless he's learning a new word & mishears it. The more I listen to other kids, the more I think he's fairly ahead of the game on his pronunciation & vocabulary. He still has a few cute little kid words, though. Here are a few examples: eequarium, dambylions, stwuller.

Linnaeus is still growing upwards & not much outwards. I pulled his shorts out of storage & realized he'll be able to get a third summer out of his size twos. No need to shop for more this year. They're just shorter, which is fine, as boys' shorts tend to be ridiculously long to start with anyway. I actually measured his & Bronte's waists a little while ago: they're the same size around!

Getting soaking wet playing under the leaking gutter

At three & three-quarters, his favourite things are:

• construction equipment & other large vehicles (he was fascinated when he got to talk to a firefighter & climb up into the cab of the truck when we were in the Okanagan at Easter);
• playing in water, be it puddles, fountains, water parks or the bathroom sink;
• chocolate (just like his mama);
• being read to or 'reading' books on his own;
• building things with his Duplo, wooden train set, or blocks;
• biking: riding his runner bike, or the trikes at preschool or the Family Centre (he's finally mastered pedalling this month!), riding on the iBert on my bike.

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