The Wakeful Baby: March 2011

So many things have happened in the month+ since I have written a post...to start with, Wyatt turned 4 on March 18th. FOUR years old. I can hardly believe my baby is four. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday, and can't believe how quickly time has passed. We have lived in three different places in his short lifetime, and long for a place of our own, where he can have more than a hand-me-down bed in someone else's house. I think it often affects us way more than it does him. He seems happy to spend so much time with his Grandmommy. And we are so blessed by her as well.

Wyatt started preschool at the end of February. Unconventional timing, but when we arrived here in the summer time we hadn't thought we would be here for long enough to really get settled. That our time here would be a lot more brief than it has turned out to be, and we would soon be on our way back "home", or on to our next adventure, wherever God was leading us. We truly felt this, and the waiting and delays have been hard. But we are learning contentment and holding onto God's promises to us, because we know He is always faithful, and He never leads us astray, but sometimes allows delays to be merciful. And we are so thankful for that.

So, when fall rolled around I called a couple of preschools and found one that had an opening. I wasn't terribly impressed when I visited, and felt in the end that I should wait. I wasn't sure if it was a sign that we would be moving on shortly, but I really felt like the timing wasn't right. And in the end, it was best that way, because the car that had been so graciously given to us by my brother (which I had ironically made fun of him for driving for years...lesson learned, ha!) ended up having some problems and not being altogether reliable. Eric finally ended up pulling the engine apart and now it works great, but Wyatt would have missed a good chunk of school just from lack of reliable transportation.

Anyway, after Christmas I thought I would try again. I didn't know how long we would be here, but we were still here, and I have wanted to put Wyatt in preschool for some time. He is so bored here at home, and being an only child who struggles with socialization to some degree I knew it had to be beneficial for him to be around other kids. We visited two that had openings. The first we were not too impressed with, but the second one let us stay all day, and Wyatt fully participated. We liked the teacher, and that is the one we ended up going with.

So now Wyatt goes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9:00 - 11:30, and really seems to enjoy it. His teacher has noticed some of the issues I have been concerned about (very rigid, and getting upset easily about things he thinks aren't right, the need to correct people, and preferring to stick to solitary activities or activities with adults rather than kids his own age, etc.), but has noted that he is SO smart and is so eager to learn. I am really proud of the way he has apparently adapted so far to the routine and participates in group time. All the way up to a week before we enrolled him, he would sit on my lap the ENTIRE time at library story times, totally paying attention, but refusing to participate or move out of his comfort zone. It is so great to see this newfound independence and the fact that he is excited to go to school on his own.

Wyatt's first day. He wanted to hold his school bag in the picture and was so excited that he could hardly stand still. So this was the best of the goofy shots I was able to snap before we had to run so we wouldn't be late! ;)

About a month before his fourth birthday was when he really started reading. Not just putting sounds together, but reading...whole books. Like "The Giving Tree" and Dr. Seuss books. He still loves to be read to though. He has been writing his name and whole sentences phonetically. Stuff like, "Wyatt runs and jumps rily fast." His drawing has taken off too. It started off with lots and lots of trains (of course!), and there still are lots of those, but he will also draw houses and flowers and suns, and people. One of my favorites is a picture he drew of our family. Even though he forgot to give himself any arms. ;)

We had a nice day at the park with a couple friends on the morning of his birthday, and hope to celebrate with family later this week. Here are some pics of our brand new FOUR year old...enjoy!