I haven't written in Mason's blog in a while, other than about the places we visit. While Mason continues to amaze us with his thirst for knowledge and quite a large vocabulary (in our opinion) the milestones are further apart as they were when he was a toddler.
A few updates for the now 4 year old (and 3 months!)
Sleeping
I have made Mason's sleep routine more of a priority as he's a bit older now. It usually takes him a while to settle down and for a long time I wasn't getting him to bed until 9. Now that has changed to at least 8pm so that we can get the teeth brushing, potty & story time done before 8:30 and he can fall asleep before 9. Which doesn't usually happen. While he stays in bed, he often talks to himself or simply lays there until at least 9:45pm. We no longer cosleep as he's fully potty trained and I'm paranoid that he will pee in my bed. He has an Oops Sheet on his mattress so there isn't any concern if he does have an accident. He's only gone to the washroom in the middle of the night twice that I'm aware of (toilet seat is up) and I often worry that in his sleepy haze he'll fall down the steps to his bunk bed.
Potty Training
I'd say Mason was fully trained well before 4. I wasn't so concerned about getting him trained asap as he determines when he's fully ready. I kept him in underwear throughout the day until 3.5 and then slowly took away the pull ups at night. Yes, we had a few unfortunate accidents and I keep a spare set of clothes in the trunk on outings, just in case. I'm happy to not have to buy expensive pull ups anymore!
Eating
Mason is still a carboholic and I've had little success getting him to eat new foods which is not uncommon for children. He seems to be growing (more in height than weight) but is healthy with little colds. His breakfast of choice is still toast with honey & milk but his lunches consist of cheese, fruits, veggies (cucumber/carrots), yogurt, crackers and a main. The mains are what I struggle with. Mini pizza's, some pasta or grilled cheese (on weekends as the dc doesn't cook). He won't eat sandwiches and I can get away with stir-fry on some days (mostly dinners where I can monitor the veggie consumption).
I recently got into a bit of a heated conversation with another parent of a younger child with concerns over Mason's vegetarian diet. I didn't go into defense mode but this is clearly our choice and we are okay with it. For now Mason will not eat meat or meat products and when he's old enough to decide otherwise, then he has that freedom. His Dad is a devote Pescatarian (recently changed over from full vegetarian) and Mason is also welcome to eat fish & seafood. (Side story below*). Mason is very verbal and understands what meat is and gelatin and refuses to eat it. So even with him being a Pescatarian, he won't willingly eat fish. I have hid shrimp and scallops in fettuccine Alfredo and that was a success (but even that ain't cheap). So back to the conversation. The concern was that Mason wasn't getting enough protein. Even though (at the time) I couldn't say that he was, I simply stated that I didn't have a concern with it. But after I got off the phone, I started to do my research on how much Mason needed at age 4.
*We went out for Mason's birthday dinner, I ordered fish and chips. I offered 'cod' to Mason which he reluctantly ate and prompted vomited (not spit up) on his plate. I guess it was the texture (I removed the batter). It made me hesitant to offer him white fish again! Yikes. Sorry to the Red Robin waitress for having to clean that up.
From what I could see, he needs at minimum 19 grams of protein each day. Then I went to the fridge to get a read on nutritional ingredients to see what Mason was consuming:
In speaking with his Dad about this topic he mentioned essential oils and Omegas which I agree are a very important part of a child's diet and this is what I need to work on. I personally am not a vegetarian (I call myself a flexitarian) while I do not buy meat to cook t home, I will consume it at a restaurant if other acceptable veggie options are not available. I also am borderline anemic and need more iron which supplements do not work for me.
So my upcoming kid project is to research those two items and ensure Mason is getting enough. For the rest of the food groups, we have him covered. He is a very visual eater so it's difficult to get him to even put new foods on his plate, regardless I do continue to try.
Play
The cartoons of choice have changed a bit, going from Treehouse to Disney Junior. Mason has developed a taste for Transformers and other 'good guy/bad guy' type shows which I think are part of boys childhood but what comes with it which isn't acceptable these days is the talk of guns, fighting and death. Especially out of a 4 year old's mouth. To Mason's credit, he uses the terms in the right context and doesn't outwardly offend anyone however he does talk about them way too much and we often get scolded from his daycare when he enthusiastically speaks about fighting. While I've had many talks to him about death and fighting, he's still too young to grasp 'why' it's bad to talk about (in the cartoon sense rather than real life).
He continues to play very well by himself and prefers the lego/magformer type toys along with the trucks and earth moving equipment. He claims that he doesn't like art however he comes home weekly with nice drawings. We recently signed Mason up for indoor soccer once a week with other 4 year olds (boys & girls) and he appeared to love it until he stated that he liked the running part and not so much kicking the ball part. He's only had 3 classes so I'm hoping he'll keep on it and find the exercise portion enjoyable.
Behaviour
Compared to other kids I've seen around his age, Mason's manners are quite good and his emotion level seems to be on track. He can get upset easily but it doesn't take long to calm him down. He is sensitive to other kids behaviour and wants to be part of groups and interact. He can act out when other kids prefer to play by themselves or with others. He doesn't really tantrum and when he does it's usually due to a lack of sleep or food and is quickly resolved when he eats or naps. Speaking of naps, he still is having naps at school (not so much on weekends). I'm not sure how long that will last but he's so high energy that if a nap is averted, he will fall asleep by dinner time. And no, it does not help bedtime. If he doesn't nap he will NOT go to sleep earlier, trust me, I've tried.
I have learned that 'Time Outs' do not work. His anger level quickly increases and he kicks and screams. I can eliminate this by giving him 'Time In's. Without words, I pick him up and hug him and shhh him. It takes about 60 seconds for him to be completely quiet. He allows me to do this without flailing or screaming. Once he is calm, I go over the choices he had before the tantrum. "Clean your room or face the consequences". Often I will compromise. I will help put away the toys if he puts away all his clean laundry. We tried this today and he was excited about the laundry. It will now be a regular chore :)
At this point I pretty much have him figured out and I do give myself a pat on the back for the level of patience I have with him. I'm not perfect and I do lose my cool sometimes but then I remind myself he is 4 and still figuring things out and that I have to set a good example, remain calm and explain over and over. He is a well adjusted little boy and is very loving. He goes out of his way to ensure things are fair and is very affectionate. His favorite thing right now is to randomly belt out 'You are my sunshine" which is very endearing.
I love being Mason's Mommy.