Corin at 4:

• Can talk your ear off, spinning wildly fantastic stories about any subject that has captured his imagination. He is sometimes shy, particularly in new situations, but he is also often friendly and chatty with strangers in the grocery store. He uses a very grown-up vocabulary and syntax, which can sound pretty funny out of the mouth of a pre-schooler. (For example, he uses “certainly” quite regularly.) He speaks clearly but still has a few holdovers from toddler speak, such as “y” sounding like “l” (“lellow”) and “th” sounding like “f” (go “wif” you somewhere). He also has a bit of a southern accent, which is more developmental than regional. He wants you to sit “next of” him at the table.
• Is a sweet-natured kid who generally remembers his manners and behaves well in public (with the inevitable off day here and there).
• Tends to be a non-participant in structured group activities like singing along at church or Mother’s Day Out. He prefers to be an observer, and he’ll then sing the songs in their entirety at home.
• Is usually a good eater, and with some encouragement will eat a wide range of vegetables and fruits, including salad. His favorite foods are haystacks (similar to a taco salad), macaroni and cheese, hardshell bean tacos and enchiladas. (There’s a definite Mexican theme.)
• LOVES books and will sit quietly and be read to as long as someone is willing. He is able to enjoy simple chapter books. His favorite Bible story is David and Goliath, which gets regular time in his imaginative play.
• Is fascinated with airplanes, construction vehicles and cars. His transportation-themed toys are in constant rotation.
• Is beginning to appreciate Legos and the skill of building things. He is pretty adept at following a simple pattern.
• Has really developed socially and loves to play with other kids. He interacts well with kids who are his age or even quite a bit older. An example: At a playground recently, I lost sight of him for a few minutes and then relocated him learning basic soccer and football skills from a couple of very patient 9- or 10-year-old boys. They were having a great time, and he was chatting away with them.
• Is becoming more independent all the time. This has never been one of his stronger personality traits – he’d really rather someone else do things for him, if possible – but he is learning to take ownership of simple tasks and will often insist on doing things himself, now. He feeds the fish by himself, dresses himself, cleans up his own toys and occasionally helps feed the dog or set the table for supper. He likes to help cook. He helps with simple yard work tasks like pulling weeds.
• Can be very bossy! He has very specific ideas of how things should go, and he won’t hesitate to hand out orders like a worksite foreman. He does not like having his carefully-arranged toys messed up by, say, a baby sister on the prowl.
• Does not respond well to pressure. If he senses a lot of pressure to do or say something specific, he will often shut down. If I want to know how his day at Mother’s Day Out went, I often have to let him tell me in his own time. The details will usually eventually emerge, but pointed questions may get an, “I don’t want to tell you” response. Reverse psychology works wonders at this age.
• Is a knowledge sponge. He asks lots of “why” and “how” questions, so we’re relying more heavily on Google these days. We recently spent a good hour reading about the Wright brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, super sonic flight and the space shuttle.
• Shows little artistic or musical aptitude yet. His idea of craft time is cutting pieces of paper into small bits or smearing water color paint around on a page until it all looks a murky shade of brown. His singing is…rather bereft of tune. His strengths seem to lie in communication, conceptual and imaginative pursuits and possibly technical or engineering-related skills. We’ll see if that persists.
• Loves the outdoors and is a great hiker. He has been known to hike at least a couple miles without issue.
• Is sometimes argumentative and certainly knows how to push the boundaries. He likes to test his parents. He has a rather loose relationship with the truth.
• Is very attached to his lion lovey. He can sleep without it, but he wouldn’t be happy about it.
• Still adores his mama and likes to take time in his day to “cuddle on the couch wif you.” Of course, he also loves his daddy and grandparents, and he’s a pretty sweet big brother to Lina. He loves to have her come with me to get him up in the mornings, and sometimes I have to respond to her wails because brother and trying to keep her with him against her will.

He is my heart.

His most frequent pose.

“Corin, your hair’s a mess.” “Here, I’ll fix it.”

“Is that better?”