Jeff, DeAnna and The Littles: 2015

My dearest boy is now a 4 year old! I can't even believe he is so old. He is funny, witty, smart, logical, active, passionate, sensitive, loving, cuddly, sweet, helpful, creative, imaginative. He's a wonderful boy and I'm just so happy to be his mom.

At his 4 year check-up, Caleb weighed in at 36lbs (50th percentile) and measured 39 inches tall (25th percentile). They weren't able to measure his hearing and vision. He just wasn't interested in doing those screenings. He didn't talk much to the doctor, he was just too nervous about his shots. So basically, the doctor had to take my word for it when we talked about what he was able to do. :)

Caleb can count, recognizes and names the numbers up to 5, knows his alphabet and can recognize and name several letters. He knows his colors and shapes. He can skip, jump, gallop, hop on one foot. He continues to LOVE to read and loves going to the library to pick out new books. He now "reads" stories based on the pictures in the book. He also loves to listen to stories that we make up and he loves to hear the same story over and over again. He also loves to make up his own stories. His favorite stories involve monsters and dinosaurs or kings and dragons and some sort of moral (at least I like to include a moral). He loves adventure.

Caleb is starting to discover who he is and I am always praying that I can be the mother he needs me to be. As he gets older, I worry more and more and find that I almost constantly have a prayer in my heart to help me know how to guide him.

Caleb seems to be a little anxious about being in being in social situations, but he is doing better in primary and I'm so proud of him. He still needs a little help to get started, but he does great in there now and seems so happy, which makes me happy.

When he is around new people, it often times takes him a little while to warm up, but once he does, he's happy, wild and active! He has sooo much energy.

He is starting to ask deeper questions, which is awesome. I love that he asks questions all of the time. That he is so curious about how the world works, why Heavenly Father created something the way he did, how things are made, what things are. He just asks so many questions and it's awesome.

He is competitive when it comes to anything with his sister. He loves to play with her and doesn't like when she leaves him behind. He tries to persuade her to participate in all of his games. Sometimes he gets really upset if she won't play with him or if she leaves him outside.

He helps with regular household chores which include putting toys away, setting the table for meals, putting his dishes in the sink, helping to load the dishwasher, putting books away, putting his folded laundry in their drawers and helping to clean his room.

He chooses his own outfits most days.

Caleb still doesn't sleep through the night and has a hard time going to bed on own at night. Jeff or I (and most often Jeff) will lie down with him at night during bedtime. Sometimes until he falls asleep and sometimes he'll be okay before he falls asleep. Sometime during the night, he'll get up and end up in our bed. Most of the time, he's pretty quiet about it. He can get pretty grouchy when he's tired. He expresses himself with anger- but really he could just be tired, frustrated, anxious, sad or nervous, so I've learned that I really need to assess the situation before just assuming he's angry.

Caleb has memorized the First Article of Faith. We're currently working on the second one.

(For those who don't know: "We believe in God, the Eternal Father and in his son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.")

He loves to sing and dance and play outside. He loves puzzles and building with blocks and cars and he loves to color and draw. He has drawn his first family picture and his first self portrait. He loves spending time with his grandparents and his cousins. He loves Spiderman the best of all of the superheros. But his favorite hero is his daddy. He LOVES his daddy.

He wants to be a dump truck driver when he grows up. His favorite color is dark blue (still). His favorite number is 5. His favorite sandwich currently is crunchy peanut butter (which he calls peanut butter crunch) and blueberry preserves. His favorite treats are cookies and Twizzlers.

This little guy is seriously awesome. I am just so in love with him. He is hilarious, oh so funny. He loves to play around and he loves to make people laugh. He makes me laugh on a daily basis and he teaches me all the time and I'm just so proud of him.

His stats: 39 inches tall (25th percentile), 36 lbs.

Here are some photos from the year: