Uriah at four, rhymes. All day long his response to our questions is "ok bay". When referring to his sister it's "Ezra bezra". "Mom bomb, Dad sad, no bo, airplane bearplane, gopher peepofer..." Literally, everything.
He also sings - it's always made up songs about what he's doing, the toy he's playing with or simply just made up songs with made up words (that rhyme!)
He has the best facial expressions and hand gestures, especially when he's excited about something, telling a story or explaining something he did or learned.
He could play with Legos all. day. long.
He is 3' 6.5", in the 90%ile for height and weighs 42.5 lbs, in the 91%ile for weight.
He has a huge interest in all things science and I know that his curiosity and zest for learning will take him far.
He loves repetitive pretend play, usually something along the lines of "Ok, you pretend you don't know this airplane is here and then it makes a sound and you say, 'what?! I didn't know that airplane was here!' K? Are you ready?" and then we do it over and over and over again ;)
He could sit in our laps and read every book in the bookshelf and then would flip through them all over again by himself - he's a book worm and I love it!
Superheroes, Ninja Turtles and Dinotrux are all the rage.
But that sweet, sensitive side of him has a large collection of special stuffed animals in his bed and his blankey is never too far from sight. (Though since turning four, he no longer takes it to church or friends' houses. It just sorta happened one day and I didn't catch on until it had happened several times in a row. I shed a tear for that stage and realized just how quickly time is passing. Something I thought for sure was so far off happened without me even realizing. One more thing that makes him less of a toddler and more of little boy.)
He loves riding his bike, playing at the park and going swimming.
He's a homebody and can throw a pretty good fit about leaving the house.
He likes playing games and can even hold his own in a full game of Stratego.
He wakes up at the crack of dawn every. single. morning.
He always remembers his vitamin and gets so excited to see what animal and color he got (just a little morning scene I want to remember).
He loves building forts, playing hide and go seek and playing chase and tickle.
His mad face (squinty eyes and a pouty lip with upturned chin) and stance (arms pushed back with his chest puffed out) often comes with a foot stomp and while it's not at all acceptable, is very comical.
He loves the idea of being "taller than daddy someday" and will show his muscles off to anyone who asks (convincing him his muscles are getting bigger is the only way we can get him to eat his meat).
His favorite thing to wear is his "cozy pants".
He has a special smiles reserved for loved ones and baby animals (real and stuffed!) It breaks my heart and fills me with happiness and pride all at once!
Sometimes, when Ezra is sad, he will get down on her level and try explaining things to her in a different way, with his sweet voice he uses for little ones, and does all he can to make her happy.
He's painstakingly shy toward adults he doesn't know and he always covers his eyes with one arm, tilts his head away and twists his lips around when they try to talk to him. It drives me nuts!
He takes almost a two hour nap every day.
He extends his hands at the dinner table to pray as soon as Stephen and I sit down.
His aim is terrible and I am always cleaning pee up from his toilet and bathroom floor.
His voice is constantly one decibel higher than it should be.
In three words my Uriah is silly, sweet and stubborn.
What is your favorite color? Purple (This response never changes - purple has been his favorite color since he was one!)
What is your favorite food? Strawberries and pizza (Just as I suspected! This is what he requested for dinner on his birthday, followed by "chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles with chocolate ice cream ...with chocolate sprinkles!")
What is your favorite TV show? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (This is a new favorite - both my kiddos are currently obsessed, thanks to a hand-me-down shirt from a friend. Prior to this popular Ninja Turtles stage, I would have said Wild Krats was his favorite show)
What is your favorite game? Candy Land (We used to play this game quite a bit, though I would have guessed he'd say Hoot Owl Hoot, his new game for Christmas, or Spot It, a matching card game)
What is your favorite animal? A hippo (He's loved hippos since seeing one at the San Fransisco zoo last year. He wanted to spend his fourth birthday at the zoo and it was the first time we got to see the hippo actually out of the water - best birthday present ever!)
What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Really was not expecting him to say that...?!)
Who is your best friend? Paxton (We met the Appels last spring, just as Paxton was turning 4 himself. The two immediately hit if off and have been buddies ever since!)
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike (I assumed it would be this or running (man that kid is fast!) Uriah learned to ride his pedal bike without training wheels at the end of the summer and for his fourth birthday, got a bigger "four year old bike")
What is your favorite holiday? Easter and Halloween, because there's candy! (I'm a little embarrassed that that is his reasoning...! I assumed it would be Christmas! Though last year's answer will always be my favorite: "Ice Cream Thursday")
Who is your favorite stuffed animal? Pokey (Pokey is a small gorilla stuffed animal with a red bowtie. He was my Papa's and my mom recently sent him to Uriah to be looked after. His bed is full of stuffed animals, and Pokey has been a top contender as favorite since he got him, but his other usuals are Wink the penguin, Boy the golden retriever, Rain the snow leopard, Cougar Kitty and Edna the hippo)
What do you want to be when you grow up? A fire fighter. With a purple fire truck! (He always said he wants to be a fire fighter, though the purple fire truck is a recent necessity ;) He's talked about being a doctor before, too, or a police man, but mostly he answers that question with an "I don't know!" maybe hoping to just live in mom's basement forever ;)
What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Play with him and fight on the bed (Dad is the best at play time! The kids light up when they see him walk through the door and immediately request he join them in whatever their current activity. It's almost a guarantee that the boys will fight on the bed at least once a day that Stephen is home! Uriah's punches are almost getting to be too much!)
What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? Play Manga Tiles (My attention span for repetitive play is much shorter than his, so we find ourselves building a lot, Legos and Manga Tiles, and playing card games and reading books. I love that, for the time being, he loves to play with his momma!)
What is your favorite thing to do with Ezra? I like to tickle her and fight on the bed with her (Occasionally, the two of them will get up on our bed, Ezra with my help, and they will fight - aka, Uriah will let her punch him and he'll pretend it knocked him down making a big show of it and she will laugh and laugh and laugh and then he'll tell her she has big muscles and she'll show them off to him and maybe even let him gently pull her leg so she falls on the pillows and then he'll tickle her and come to tell me how gentle they're being with each other and how much fun they're having and it melts my heart every, single, time....! They often like to play "run around" together, too - they'll clean up the living room, set one object in the center and simply, run around it! Nothing gets them laughing harder)
What is your favorite movie? Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, to be exact! We watched it as a family on Christmas Eve (after seeing the play done at the children's theatre earlier in the month) and he was fascinated!)
Who is your favorite superhero? The flash (Batman and Iron Man are also top contenders, but ever since he got a Flash cape and mask for Christmas, he runs around our house at top speed asking if he saw that blur of red go by)
What is your favorite book? The Dinosaur one (aka, The Good Dinosaur. It's a recent library find and not at all what I was expecting him to say. He didn't particularly care for the movie when we watched it last year - he found it sad and a little scary (as did I!). I would have thought he'd say The Magic Tree House books, his current read: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, a current library rental: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mean vs. Green or the Elephant and Piggie books.)
What is your favorite thing to play with? DinoTrux. I like to build houses for them with Magna Tiles (It's true, he does! Those little figurines could have been the only thing he got for his birthday and he would have been completely satisfied. He had three and has been content playing with the two new ones he got at Christmas time and now that his collection is complete, he's thrilled! It's a Netflix show that he only has ever seen at Nana's (because we don't have Netflix) so I'm not entirely sure why/where the obsession comes from, but it has created a lot of imaginative and independent play so I'm all for it!)
What do you do really well? Head stands, fighting on the bed with dad and building Legos (I'd like to add running to that list, being a big brother, building with Magna Tiles and biking!)
What do you like to learn about? Science (I'm so glad this was his answer because it's so true! We've read through two of our science books for the year weeks ahead of schedule because he gets so intrigued! We often read National Geographic books from the library because something has sparked his interest and he wants to learn more about it.
What makes you happy? You guys (Oh, my, GOSH! Sweetest answer, EVER! And there was no prompting to it! What a sweet heart!)
What makes you sad? When I'm hurt (I sorta feel bad admitting it, but Uriah is a bit of a baby when it comes to getting hurt ...oops! He tends to make a big deal about it and drag it out much longer than necessary. Like, days later, that now invisible scrape he got on his knee still makes him cry and is the reason he won't take a bath... (insert eye roll) When he is truly hurt, though, truly sad, oh does it break my heart...!)
