Chris Lately

Up next is our crazy, cute Chris.

How would you describe Chris? No inhibitions, friendliest kid you know, willing to do anything (unless it's eating dinner), chatterbox, incredible imagination, loving, sweet older brother, silly, performer, and just plain cute!

Yes, Chris is amazingly friendly. I feel like most kids this age have at least a dash of shyness, but not this kid. I consider it a blessing and a trial ha ha. He wants to tell anyone and everyone everything on his mind. If someone is sweet and says hi back to him, say at the grocery store, he stops and tell them, "I'm Christopher Daniel Steeze-a-fin, I have a fin in my name. I'm FOUR years old and I can go upstairs or downstair at the gym. Lydia wants me to go downstairs but I want to go upstairs. Our house selled and we live in GRANDMA'S HOUSE!" Some of it changes but at the moment that's pretty much what he wants to tell everyone. It's a little embarrassing, and thankfully he hasn't disclosed anything personal to anyone yet (that I know of). Also thankfully, everyone always is so sweet to him and some people even ask him follow up questions. I'm always so grateful to the store clerks who engage with him. I hope he never loses his ability to talk to anyone. I would have loved to have that ability in high school! 

The amount conversation he has with strangers can give you a hint to how much he talks at home and in the car. In the car is the one that kills me! I often get lost in my thoughts and plans for the day, only to hear, "MOM! Didn't you hear me?" It's honestly one of my harder trials in life, the amount of attention Chris demands every day. He loves to talk, loves to perform and do tricks, and it can get tiring. This kid has boundless energy. I try to love it, though, and in general he is seriously a great kid.

Seriously, this kid is great. I have never had issues with him hitting friends or getting in fights with friends. He never hurts his sister. While he moves around a ton and runs a ton, he never takes anything out physically by hurting people. I've been so impressed with that! He is so loving. He will give us hugs and kisses all the time. He will give strangers hugs often, too, ha ha. (I actually worry that he would totally walk off with a stranger if they asked him to. We're working on the stranger danger!)

Chris has done preschool this year. His little group of six comprised of five girls and him. He has dealt with it perfectly, though! And all the little girls love him. Several times they wanted to play wedding, all of them wanting to marry Chris (their options were a little limited, I suppose). He has been chased around the yard by a couple of them when he resisted marrying them ha ha. While I can't say he made strides academically, he and all the kids have made huge strides behaviorally. They sit for circle time, know how to act in a lesson, and respect each other pretty well. Chris loved to help and pretend to be the teacher. He isn't much of a colorer, but now he will scribble on the entire coloring page rather than just a few scribbles here and there. 

Chris loves to perform, and recently I tried teaching him jokes. His favorite is: Why did the cookie go to the hospital? Because he was all crummy! (It should be, because he was feeling crummy.) He usually says "How did the cookie...." rather than why, but he's grow out of that soon enough, I'm sure. He thinks everything he does is hilarious. He loves to laugh. He's a great kid to chase and to tickle, and I'm pretty sure that's Jed's favorite thing to do with him. 

Chris loves to be outside and get dirty. He loves to play with water. Recently he planted the garden with Grandpa and I think it was the highlight of the month. He loves to check on his plants. 

Eating is not Chris' forte. He will eat fruit snacks 100% of the time you offer them. He loves granola bars, cereal, chocolate milk, cheese, and bread. Sometimes rice, chicken, broccoli, french fries, carrots, apple sauce, smoothies, eggs, yogurt, corn. Rarely he eats beef, green beans. Pretty much anything else he refuses. We've gone through a lot of methods of getting him to eat, but have given up on most. We didn't like dinnertime being a fight, so basically we follow the rule that we determine when and what he eats, he determines if he eats. He's still growing, and every once in a while he surprises me by trying a new thing on his plate, so we will continue with this method. 

Had his 4th birthday this year! He got to have his first friend birthday party, too. We kept it simple, a play date at the park with friends. I made an alligator cupcake cake (I may have swayed his opinion on what he wanted to what was easiest), and it turned out cute. He loved his birthday. His friends were sweet and got him fun toys for presents. 

Also for his birthday, we went out to Red Robin for dinner. The waiters came to sing happy birthday to him, and when they ended he yelled, "I luh-hove this!" He seriously loved it. The waitress said it was the most enthusiastic response she has ever gotten. He loves being sung happy birthday to. (Also, singing happy birthday and pretending to blow out candles is a pretend play that he does often.) When they sang to him in Primary, he was super happy and even danced while they sang ha ha. This kid could dance all the time if just given an audience.

I must also mention what a sweet older brother he is. Chris and Kara have always shared a room. Sometimes he doesn't want to share toys, but he is very generous most of the time. He never just takes toys from Kara. He loves to take her hands and lead her around in circles. They both think it's hilarious. If I tell him to go get his sister, he will bring her to me (leading her by the hand). He will help her feel better if I tell him to. He's a great older brother. 

And now for the random things. I've been keeping little notes on my phone for a loooong time of things I wanted to write down. So, here they are:

- Funny things Chris has said (most he has grown out of): 

      - suckadow (we have no idea what this means, but he used to say this ALL the time), 

      - torti-YA (tortilla), 

      - sue-ca-nack (fruit snack), 

      - see-dee-waiter (see you later), 

      - "are you sure?", 

      - "I'm so proud of you mommy. You're my best mommy ever," 

      - "I will just use my feet," (when he wants to be barefoot outside), 

      - "I have a giant noses" (I have a diagnoses), "I have blue on my eyes, and you have eyes on your glasses!"

      - merote = remote

- Chris says people's names with just about every sentence when he is talking to them.

- Counting in Spanish with Chris: uno, two no

- When Brittany was pregnant, Chris wanted the baby to come out. He asked her all the time if she could open her tummy so he could see the baby. Once born, he called the baby "Baby Germy" for a while (Jeremy)

- Most embarrassing stories, around the same time as pregnant Brittany, he asked just about everyone who looked remotely larger than average if they were pregnant. SUPER embarrassing. I felt so bad! 

- Christmas time, we played "Don't Eat Pete," but Chris calls it "Don't Repeat." Also, he is terrible at that game, because he can't keep a secret. Don't let Chris know your secrets! He will tell everyone ha ha.

- When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, it is either a daddy or a doctor

- When asked who he wants to marry when he grows up, he answers his cousins

- Rolls around terribly when he sleeps. He falls off the bed almost weekly

- No naps for this kid (too much energy!)

- Loves to read with you

- Can count to 30

- Starting to recognize beginning sounds in words

- Can't write anything yet, including his name, but he can recognize his name

- We've been stressing privacy when going to the bathroom, and at random times he will want privacy. Today he was pouting under a blanket, but Kara kept lifting it up to look at him. He got mad and told her he needed his privacy.

- Fully potty trained (May 2015), started standing when peeing around December, but only does it on rare occasions

- Not super coordinated with a ball, but has great balance on the strider bike

- The perfect day for Chris would include: playing outside in the yard with Grandpa, ice cream and fruit snacks, watching Big Hero 6, popcorn, dino chicken nuggets, and lots and lots of friends and cousins. He loves people! 

Last, some pictures from this year!

First Day of Preschool

July 2015

First time ice skating

First movie theater movie - Penguins of Madagascar

Potty Training

May 2015- Impetigo

Loves playing with his sister

Christmas Eve with Great Grandma Morgan

Pirate birthday present. "Arrr!"

Birthday party

Birthday Cake

Falling asleep in crazy positions--falling off the bed

Christmas cookies decorating

Swinging at Grandpa's house

At the beach with Daddy

In n Out Lunch

Holding cousin Jeremy at Christmas time

Fall leaves fun with bestie Lydia

Preschool Field trip to Apple Hill

Happy Halloween!

Family Pictures

Family Pictures

Telling Santa his wishes

Family Pictures

Family Pictures

Cute boy

Falling asleep after a tantrum (closer to age 3)

At our favorite sushi spot

Cuddling with Daddy