kid update: porter the four-nado

age: 4

poundage: 48lbs

what porter loves: snuggles. as my mother put it "you don't need a girl, you have one!". he is so affectionate and physically needy, it's a struggle most days. a blessing and a curse. it's my favorite thing about him except when he's losing his cool and can't figure life out. he loves treats but has recently started being ok with fruit smoothies, salad, and apples. otherwise, he is not a healthy eater. he LOVES ninjago and watches it almost every day during quiet time. he loves to be outside and legos for days. his love is most likely fueled by his older brother's obsession. poor middle children just kind of get jipped on some things. he loves caring for things. he has a couple of stuffed animal dogs that he loves and adores. and talks about. he'll often tell me that one of his puppies is too shy to come to school.

what porter hates: people [like his brother]. he likes to stay at home and is pretty selective on who he wants to be with. landon is constantly asking for friends over and porter hardly does. he hates sharing more then anything in the world [wonder where he gets that from?]. he will always tell me that something is REALLY REALLY SPECIAL to him. in that same vein, he's taken birthday privileges to the max. 'i get to go in first because I'M the birthday boy". that a million times during the day. dude HATES butter with every fiber of his being. granted, he loves it when there is butter on things and he doesn't realize it [noodles, toast, waffles] but if he senses it on there, he will NOT touch it. and crust. he's not a big bread fan either but he will not deal with crust.

what porter can do: ride a bike. we had an old bike that didn't work well so he got a new* bike for christmas and it has made all the difference. it still just looks so weird seeing my pooh bear up on a bike like a big kid! when did that happen? poor guy is so neglected. he is actually a smart kid and knows a lot of his letters. he's doing better on writing his name. he knows our address and phone number [sometimes]. he can wipe his booty ok-ish. he's really good at playing by himself, which is great because he doesn't have a lot of friends. at least not ones that are independent of his brother. he says that kellan is his best friend but that's probably not true.

*new to him; it was landon's old bike. he got the new one. poor porter.

what we're working on: getting stronger on the bike, more letters and numbers, we've started on 'teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons'. not digging in his underwear: so freakin' gross. controlling his emotions. he is easily angered and lashes out by hitting or biting. sleeping through the night dry.

what we're looking forward to: preschool! a different preschool then me next year. i've got him signed up with someone close by [a plus] and who will teach him when i'm teaching [a double plus] and who has some church friends/neighbor/family members who can help with carpooling [i'll give you a senior citizens discount because this is legit AAA plus stuff].